I am an international creative with over two decades of experience in luxury retail design, scenography, art direction, styling and creative production. I approach work with a pragmatic, energetic, and resourceful mindset, and I am passionate about creating exceptional environments. I am a leader of innovation and bold design concepts. In my current role as the Founder and Creative Director of KA PAI studio, I get to combine my love for design and creativity for clients including The Standard, Galeries Royale Saint-Herbert, Brussels Major Events, KAAI, Ralph Lauren, The Sydney Opera House, embassy’s and cool brands.

Sarah Bruford

I am an international creative with over two decades of experience in luxury retail design, scenography, art direction, styling and creative production. I approach work with a pragmatic, energetic, and resourceful mindset, and I am passionate about creating exceptional environments. I am a leader of innovation and bold design concepts. In my current role as the Founder and Creative Director of KA PAI studio, I get to combine my love for design and creativity for clients including The Standard, Galeries Royale Saint-Herbert, Brussels Major Events, KAAI, Ralph Lauren, The Sydney Opera House, embassy’s and cool brands.

Available to hire

I am an international creative with over two decades of experience in luxury retail design, scenography, art direction, styling and creative production. I approach work with a pragmatic, energetic, and resourceful mindset, and I am passionate about creating exceptional environments. I am a leader of innovation and bold design concepts. In my current role as the Founder and Creative Director of KA PAI studio, I get to combine my love for design and creativity for clients including The Standard, Galeries Royale Saint-Herbert, Brussels Major Events, KAAI, Ralph Lauren, The Sydney Opera House, embassy’s and cool brands.

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Work Experience

Founder & Creative Director at KA PAI studio
January 1, 2021 - Present
As the Founding Director of KA PAI studio, I lead a multidisciplinary creative studio, focusing on creative conception, art direction, visual merchandising, and spatial scenography.
Creative Producer at RALPH LAUREN
January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2020
In my role at Ralph Lauren, I contributed to the creative direction for major campaigns and projects, ensuring alignment with brand values and aesthetic.
Creative Director at Ralph Lauren
January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2020
Creative lead for Ralph Lauren's artistic vision, responsible for directing visual campaigns and brand identity initiatives.

Education

Bursary at Glendowie College
February 1, 1993 - December 19, 1997
Fields of study were art history, photography and fashion and design. Certificate in patern making- 1997

Qualifications

Add your qualifications or awards here.

Industry Experience

Retail, Professional Services, Travel & Hospitality, Media & Entertainment
    paper Street Party

    KA PAI’s 2024 installation for the city of Brussels was a big, colourful celebration of flowers-in illustrated form. Taking a less literal approach to how outdoor floral events are designed, we were inspired by the vintage floral bedsheets of childhood. We believe we have enough materials and our job as designers is now to create a new way of using them. This spark resulted in a month of sourcing and sewing 120 metres of (vintage and dead stock) fabrics into giant tasselled banners. Street Party! was installed outside the Fashion & Lace Museum to complement it’s vintage exhibition.

    ​A beautiful collaboration with our client Brussels Major Events who believed in KA PAI’s vision of reducing the environmental impact of public art installations.

    paper Flower Pop!

    KA PAI studio concieved this project as part of its ongoing exploration of how to create floral events with a reduced environmental impact. Our client Brussels Major Events selected the theme of surealism for the 2023 addition of ‘Brussels in Bloom’ event. Our flower motif was taken from the cartoon wall art found throughout downtown Brussels. The studio chose to work primarily with recycled materials to create oversized visual representations of flowers as an alternative to masses of plastic flowers. ‘Flower Pop!’ project has since been donated to a local childrens charity AMK.

    paper A Living Garden

    Project conception and installation for client Brussels Major Events. The annual ‘Brussels in Bloom’ event fills the city centre with flowers, for 2 weeks every August. KA PAI studio continued its exploration of how to maximise the WOW and lifespan of floral events by planting a living garden. We filled the iconic enclosure of the Manneken Pis statue with moss, plants, flowers and a fig tree. Over the weeks of the installation we watered the garden, fed children its figs and watched nature blossom as bees, insects and butterflies visited this otherwise concrete city corner. All plants were relocated to Grandma Francoise’s garden to live a happy second life, making this our first zero waste floral event.

    paper Clouds of Joy

    This project was concieved by KA PAI studio, during the Covid pandemic, for the city of Brussels. KA PAI studio wanted to brighten the city during difficult times, and celebrate its diversity by embracing the joyful colours of the rainbow. The goal was to maximise the scale, lifespan and WOW of a floral installation whilst reducing its environmental impact. Located inside the Galeries Royale Saint-Hurbert over the summer of 2021 the installation was designed to evolve as it hung suspended in the sky. People could watch as the fresh hydrangea’s slowy dried in-situ. The project generated significant media interest.

    paper A Study of Movement and Light

    We reimagined festive design for The Standard, Brussels. Inspired by the high-shine glamour of 1970s disco, the piece channels KA PAI’s signature energy — playful, tactile, and immersive — into a sculptural, monumental, shimmering arch that transforms the Red Bar’s interior. Composed of silver foil curtains, cascading tassels, preserved amaranthus, and vintage ribbons, the installation dances under LED strip lighting, creating a layered, textural experience that shifts with every movement. Blurring the line between nostalgia and modern design, ‘A Study in Movement and Light’ captures the opulence and rhythm of the disco era while reimagining it through a contemporary lens — a celebration of motion, material, and the timeless appeal of shimmer.