The sibling’s penchant for collaboration is also part of their family lineage. Decades before Ila and Vikas launched their collection, their father, Vasu, who had retired from a long career as a nuclear engineer, partnered with his wife, Pratibha, an FIT graduate in textile design, to start a wholesale diamond business. After humble beginnings, the two soon began providing diamonds and high-end jewelry to well-respected jewelry stores and brands. And yet, Ila and Vikas did not immediately follow their parents into the trade; Ila studied Business at University of Texas, while Vikas went on to study engineering at MIT.

Ila sensed almost immediately that she needed a level of creative freedom in her profession that she wouldn’t find in an office cubicle, and so she joined her parent’s burgeoning business designing engagement rings. Vikas however, went on to get involved in the dot com boom of the early aughts. Following the demise of that bubble, Vikas spent three months backpacking through India. Encouraged by his family, he began working in a diamond sorting facility in Bombay, and that’s where, as he put it, he “caught the jewelry bug.” In 2007, he flew home to Houston and soon after, the ILA brand was launched.

While Vikas is attracted to the engineering and science of design, his mechanical edge is tempered by Ila’s sense of elegance, beauty and a love of textile design she inherited from her mother. Vikas continues to utilize his engineering degree, recently launching Unbridaled, artificial intelligence that simplifies the diamond buying process. This technology allows any brand or store to create a seamless e-commerce experience with a line of code. Vikas and Ila’s working relationship is enhanced by their closeness as siblings. Their ability to quickly come to a common understanding throughout the process of co-designing and running their business allows this duo to build one another up and support each other throughout the ongoing evolution of their creative expression and professional success.