Rina Lipa has just found out that Pierpaolo Piccioli—the man who designed the look she graduated from Goldsmiths University wearing—has separated from Valentino after more than 25 years at its helm. “No, no!” she says, gasping. “Wait, that’s insane. I can’t believe it! Has StyleNotCom posted about it?” The aspirant actor is phoning Vogue mere weeks after she made her debut in the April edition of British Vogue alongside FKA twigs, Lila Moss, and Ayo Edebiri, the aftermath of which she describes as being “so surreal!”
But to certain corners of the internet—i.e. pop culture Twitter, now X—it’s her holidays with sister Dua for which she is best known, their various uploads from the Greek islands loveable meme fodder. “It’s actually too funny!” she said during the interview for her April profile. “Dua’s my biggest teacher and I’m so in awe of her work ethic, which is why we laugh at all those memes that say all she does is go on holiday and eat olive oil ice cream. The thing is, we’re in on the joke. If we’re in India, reading our books or whatever, I’m just like, ‘It’s fine Dua, you can enjoy it. Take the time off.’”
It’s India where the Lipa family’s latest batch of travel photos are arriving from. “I think that was the first time we’ve ever just had two weeks to adventure and explore somewhere together,” Lipa says of the trip, which stretched from 1920s palaces in Jodhpur to elephant sanctuaries in Jaipur to floating hotels in Udaipur. “It just worked because we were all so excited, but we also understood each other’s boundaries. If we were in the car for three hours, the headphones were very much in! As kids, the Lipas would visit places like Montenegro and Albania, and Lipa still feels as though “something’s not quite right” if there isn’t a group trip to southern Albania during the summer months. “Most of our holidays are spent reading on the beach, and so I didn’t have all that many expectations going into this one. But I was struck by the harmony in which everyone in Rajasthan lives. It’s a secular state, so everyone follows different religions, but at the same time everyone is just so spiritual.”
Below, Rina Lipa shares a couple of snaps from the most recent Lipa vacation. “The family group chat,” she says, “is popping off.”
The City Palace, Jaipur
“This was in Jaipur and it was on my little brother’s Gjin 18th birthday. We went to The City Palace there, because you can have dinner in this stunning blue room and they had invited these dancers as a pre-dinner celebration for us and they were absolutely amazing. There was a whole troupe of them and they did all of these insane moves, spinning so fast with fire on their heads. Just absolutely gorgeous.”
Dera Amer Wilderness Camp
“This was taken at the Dera Amer Wilderness Camp, where they look after saved elephants from tourist exploitation. It’s really quite special, because you can bathe them and walk with them. I had never seen an elephant before!”
Chain in Jaipur
“This guy was amazing! Throughout our trip, we were completely obsessed with chai, and he was known to make the best chai in Jaipur. We literally sat there and had well, I don’t know how many cups. You can see he uses clay receptacles, which can be composted. It’s quite traditional. I asked if I could take a picture of him and he started proper posing! I think he was really feeling himself, he loved it. It was one the best times we had.”
The Aman-i-Khás Hotel
“The Aman-i-Khás Hotel hotel. You basically stay there and go on a safari, which is incredible. You stay in these tents, which have full-on rooms, living rooms, and bathrooms within them. It was perfect, like really nice glamping. When we ventured on safari, they’d pack us chai, banana bread, and snacks. You’d see tigers, bears, monkeys. It was surreal because you’re in this open jeep and you feel as though you should be scared, but it also felt like something out of a storybook. So stunning.”
Amanbagh
“This was taken at another hotel called Amanbagh, which is the sister hotel to Aman-i-Khás. An incredible location in the countryside, among the most beautiful mustard fields, which just felt so serene and relaxing when everything else involved lots of walking and exploring. One day we went on a drive and saw all these gorgeous camels just sitting there. On the final night, we had dinner where they cooked everything on an open flame. Everyone was really shocked at the way we handled spice. We’d order our food and they’d be like, ‘Just to let you know it’s really spicy’ and we’d always be like, ‘No, no we can handle it’. We actually ended up asking for more green chilies on most meals, so on our last night they gave us a box of green chilies from their garden. It was really sweet, like they had gotten to know us.”
Udaipur
“There are monkeys everywhere in Udaipur, literally on any wall or tree. They’re super chilled! But we were also told not to look them in the eye because they might take our sunglasses. The hotel with a little fountain in the middle is called Taj Lake Palace, which is in the middle of an artificial lake with a view of the City Palace. I took this photo on a boat, as a reminder of the view we had from the hotel. We cycled along all these lakes, which is where I took the photo of the monkeys.”
Jodhpur
“This was in Jodhpur—which is a gorgeous, completely blue city—and if you zoom in you can see this woman is actually rolling cigarettes. We might have bought a couple from her. In fact, all the women we saw on this trip had the most incredible jewelry, and their clothes were so colourful. I asked our guide if he could ask some of these women if I could take photos, and they were pleased to pose.”
Mehrangarh, Jodhpur
“We were also in Jodhpur at this point. This is an incredibly gorgeous room in a beautiful fort where the king would hold all his meetings. The whole ceiling was painted and there was so much stained glass everywhere. It was so meticulous and there was so much attention to detail in the architecture. There was this one really special area—a manifestation temple—where you’d walk in, take your shoes off and a guru performs a blessing, wrapping a thread around your hand. It was a very sacred space, and you weren’t allowed to take any photos. I’m not going to tell you what I manifested! Let me not jinx the manifestation.”
Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi
“This was in Delhi, at the Humayun’s Tomb, a landmark for Mughal architecture. Some people say it inspired the Taj Mahal, built as a burial palace for the Mughal emperor of India. Hundreds of family members have been laid to rest there.”
The Taj Mahal
“It was quite a foggy day when this was taken. The Taj Mahal is just huge and mind-blowing. The size and symmetry is just unfathomable. This was built by another Mughal emperor for his favourite wife, who is said to be buried there.”
The Umaid Bhawan Palace
“There are loads of palaces that have been turned into hotels, and this is one example called Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, which was one of the largest residences for the royals with incredibly lush gardens and peacocks roaming around. There was always live music at breakfast, which felt super regal, and a lot of people get married there. I don’t know where I’m gonna get married, to be honest. I just need to find a man to actually accompany me first…”
Parsi dressing in Mumbai
“This was in Mumbai, which is when we discovered traditional Parsi dressing. We tried on a couple of Parsi dresses and there are just so many intricate layers to the look, wherein everything gets wrapped around you in a very specific way. It’s such a beautiful craft.”