The week is often defined by decisions around product, design, and a constantly evolving consumer landscape, where attention to detail and instinct play an important role. Building and growing brands in this space leaves little room to pause, which is why time away from work takes on added significance. Long drives offer a rare sense of quiet, where thoughts settle and ideas come through with greater clarity. Weekends are largely centred around family, while also leaving room to follow global fashion and technology trends and observe how consumer preferences are shifting. There is a conscious effort to stay engaged with what is changing, while also stepping back enough to take it all in. This balance continues to shape how work and time outside it come together. In this conversation with BrandWagon Online, Sahil Malik, Managing Director, Da Milano and Rosso Brunello shares what helps him reset and the influences that inform his thinking. (Edited Excerpts)
Q. What is the one thing you like to do when not working?
I enjoy long drives - they give me the headspace to think, reset, and often arrive at my best ideas. There is something about being in motion that helps quiet the noise. Some of my most considered thinking happens not in boardrooms, but on open highways, where the only decision is the direction ahead. When one is building something every day, moments of true stillness are rare. For me, this is one of the few spaces that allows a genuine step back - enabling a return with sharper perspective and greater clarity.
Q. How do you spend your weekends?
Weekends are a blend of active recovery and exploration, usually spent with family, or unwinding over a quiet afternoon catching up on global fashion and technology trends. Family time comes first, always. Beyond that, I make a conscious effort to stay curious - tracking shifts in consumer culture, and observing what is emerging across design and technology globally. It allows me to stay informed and sharp. Weekends also offer the space to slow down and observe more deliberately. More often than not, this pause, simply taking in the world around me, proves to be the most valuable input into the week ahead.
Q. What are your favourite gadgets?
My phone and smartwatch are essentials - they keep everything streamlined. What genuinely draws me, however, is thoughtful product design - where functionality and clean, intuitive design work in tandem, without compromise. I have also recently developed a strong interest in AI-driven tools and the role they play in shaping everyday experiences. Not the headline-grabbing applications, but the quieter, more integrated innovations that are fundamentally influencing how people work, make decisions, and engage with products and services.
Q. Given an option to choose another career, what would it be?
I’d likely be an architect. Architecture is about creating something that endures - not for a season, but for decades. Every decision carries weight, from materials and proportions to the way light enters and shapes a space. That level of discipline resonates deeply with me. There is also something inherently compelling about how architecture sits at the intersection of art and function - a building must be both aesthetically refined and purposefully designed. Resolving that tension is where true craft lies. In many ways, great retail design operates on the same principle; the two are far more interconnected than they may initially appear.
Q. Which is your favourite vacation spot?
Italy. It offers the perfect blend of culture, craftsmanship, and pace - elements I deeply relate to. It's one of the few places where I find equal inspiration in the history around me and the effortless style on the streets. There is a deeply embedded belief in Italian culture that making something well is, in itself, a form of respect - both for the craft and for the person who will ultimately use it. That sensibility stays with you long after you leave.
Q. A TV show, a movie, and an ad campaign you highly recommend watching
TV Show: Succession, for its sharp writing and nuanced take on power dynamics. It offers a compelling lens on ambition, leadership, and the complexities of legacy, delivered with notable precision.
Movie: The Intern - simple, yet insightful in its portrayal of work, relationships, and perspective. Beneath its understated narrative lies a thoughtful exploration of intergenerational dynamics and the evolving nature of professional life.
Ad Campaign: Shot on iPhone by Apple. It’s the gold standard for user-centric storytelling. It shifted the focus from the product’s specs to what the user can create with it, which is a powerful lesson for any brand.
