r collection set to launch in February. The next Vera Wang Khalil is known for his bridal, red-carpet, special occasion and ready-to-wear Maison Collection gowns. His eponymous boutique is on Glenmore Road in the Sydney suburb of Paddington, where customers can shop for jewellery, fragrance and accessories alongside his gowns. “I wanted to do bridal gowns because I loved wedding dresses. I’ve always loved them, from a little boy,” Khalil told Inside Retail. However, Khalil always knew he wanted to design and create across multiple product categories – like designers Elie Saab and Vera Wang. Steven Khalil Interieur is the home interior offering that Khalil plans to continue expanding on following the collection with Australia’s Designer Rugs in November. “My friend Owen owns a company called Branch Out and he’s always encouraged me to venture into interiors, similar to how Elie Saab and Vera Wang moved into other avenues of design,” Khalil said. “So one day it was just a conversation and then, next thing, Owen connected me with Designer Rugs; that snowballed, and here we are. “If this goes well, I feel like the world is my oyster with anything I would go into – beautiful homewares, cutlery, plates…anything to do with the home.” Even sofas and artwork are on the cards, Khalil said.  Couture floor Khalil was a customer of Designer Rugs before launching his collection with the brand. “I’ve always admired the work they did with Catherine Martin, who is Baz Luhrmann’s wife – she did all of the costume design and production on all of his movies,” he said. “I kind of had it in my mind that one day I’d love to collaborate with them.” The three-piece collection with Designer Rugs presented some challenges translating Khalil’s vision into the “nitty-gritty of the finery inside the rugs; the colours, tones and textures were all very new for me”, he said. Khalil submitted a range of beading to the Designer Rugs team, which translated them into rug details. The De Miel and La Nuit are hand-tufted rugs, made from semi-worsted New Zealand wool and bamboo silk, with a rectangular shape – retailing for just under A$6500. The Perles rug is of the same material construction, but retails for A$5590 and takes a circular shape; inspired by the pearl beading on Khalil’s bridal works. Each of the three rug designs can be customised in shape, size and colour by Designer Rugs – online and in-store – similar to Khalil’s bespoke clothing designs. Cinderella moment  Khalil is also keen to expand his fragrance and footwear lines to a broader market.  “I’ve created boutique fragrances with a specialised scent that wasn’t commercialised and available globally,” Khalil said. “The next step…would be retailing to a bigger market.” Khalil’s shoe line is yet to be named, but supplier and manufacturer trips to Italy have helped the idea evolve into a product over the last six months. The initial footwear collection will begin with bridal styles, but Khalil said he wants to “become known for shoes as well; going into colour collections”. Fittingly, being made in the Italian town of Vinci, the expectation is that the footwear collection will be nothing less than a work of art. Initial costs place the shoes within the premium market, at a price point of around A$1000.  “Being handmade in Italy, they’re just a bit more expensive,” Khalil said, though he plans to work on the pricing to eventually offer them for A$600-A$800. This would competitively position the shoes within the luxury market, against established players such as Christian Louboutin. There are no major retail partnerships for the footwear range currently, but “I will be putting it out there,” Khalil said, adding that retailing in “David Jones and Harrods would be amazing”. Khalil’s creations are sold in boutiques globally – across London, the US and Italy – where he plans to stock the new line, with existing and new retail partners.  Khalil is confident that, by February, clients will be taking their first steps in his shoes.