I received an invite to visit Kolkata to cover Shantanu Goenka’s fairy tale of an art-meets-fashion exhibition. With a little push from MissMalini and team, I managed to turn this into our first #MMFashionTour. This will be a series where we travel to cities to meet your favourite designers and discover how they do what they do!
So the first destination on our #MMFashionTour list was, as you now know, Kolkata: The city of Joy. We met up with Nupur Kanoi, Shantanu Goenka, Dev R Nil, Eina Ahluwalia and of course, there was a mandatory visit to the Sabyasachi store to take a good look at all the cool stuff these creative minds produce in their home town. Here’s how it all went down!
1st stop: Nupur Kanoi’s workshop
The moment I landed in Kolkata, I wasted no time. I dropped my bags at the hotel and jumped into the car that Nupur Kanoi so graciously sent to pick me up. After seeing almost every collection she’s presented, I was excited to visit the place where all her pieces start of.
Over a cup of chai, we spoke of the genesis of her label and how her workshop expanded from just one master tailor and a room, to a whole team of karigars and a voracious take-over of her dad’s office space!
Sure, we discussed her career and the stories behind the clothes… but more on that later.
2nd Stop: Shantanu Goenka’s Fashion Fairy Tale Exhibition.
My short visit to Kolkata was now picking up speed as I rushed to my hotel room for a quick shower and change to attend Shantanu Goenka’s exhibition that brought together art and fashion, all wrapped up in a glittery fairy-tale theme. At the event, I met Dev, of Dev R Nil, who invited me to their store and workshop, to take a look around. As stop number 2 of my #MMFashionTour, the journey was shaping up to be just what I expected!
This was day 1, which ended with me making new friends and forming the basis for a fun day 2 with Dev R Nil, Sabyasachi and Eina Ahluwalia.
3rd Stop: Dev R Nil’s Store & Workshop
With an early start, I headed to Remount Warehouse where Dev R Nil runs their swanky store. I was warmly welcomed by the boys, along with a cup of chai and some cookies. This was accompanied by a detailed story-telling session as we walked around and discovered all the cool stuff stocked at their store. From here, we drove to their huge workshop to see where all the magic begins. Dev and Nil’s warmth as hosts matched their artistic talent as designers and I can’t wait to spill the beans on all that I learnt about the label in our 2 hour conversation. But for now, here’s a collage that sums it up in pictures!
4th Stop: The Sabyasachi Store
I had butterflies in my stomach with the thought of spending 1 on 1 time with the one and only, Sabyasachi Mukherjee. Although I couldn’t fix a meeting with him, his PR hooked me up with the woman who knew all the inside details about the man and the Kolkata store. Meeta Ghosh is a close friend to Sabyasachi and the one woman who is connected to the heart of this store. After catering to clients and sorting out a million little details at the store, she sat me down and told me stories: stories of the conception of the store, anecdotes about the man himself and about how his secret to joy lies in simplicities of all kinds.
Post our meeting, Meeta mentioned a small Bangladeshi restaurant that served authentic Bengali food (this, we will soon feature in our BandraRoad’s Secrets Of The Street). I needed all the sustenance to carry on with my day! I had one more meeting and it was with one my most favourite names in Indian accessory designs – Eina Ahluwalia.
5th Stop: Eina Ahluwalia’s Home/Workshop
I was already in talks with Eina’s sister Atikaa Ahluwalia to fix a meeting to understand how the label functions. After a few delays and a long day, we managed to meet. “What! You haven’t tried puchkas!” In disbelief and the will to change that, Eina and Atika took me to eat puchkas and then to The Corner Courtyard, where Ahuwalia’s art installation is now open for guests to see. Post this, we drove to her apartment/workshop to learn the tricks behind the designer work process. Wanna see how she does it? Well, she gave us a quick look! Stay tuned to find out more!
Don’t be disheartened by the short summary of my trip. There’s still a lot left for me to share with you and I’ll be doing that in the next few posts with pictures and stories on each of these designers!
Till then, let us know your thoughts on our first #MMFashionTour! If there’s a fashion city that excites you, tell us in the comments below and we may just add that to our list!