Desi Chic

enticing,it is the quirky name with a carefully crafted storyboard that is wooing the new breed of customers.

On a sultry evening last week,Spanish designer Veronica Jorda Martinez,39,unfurled her collection— floor length maxis,pink cocktail dresses in chiffon and gerogettes to the Capital’s stiletto set at the LAP in Samrat hotel. Her label,called Masala,is available both in hometown Valencia and New Delhi in India. “I picked up the name on my visit to India,when I first came here in 2003. The word has many connotations and is quite popular in Spain,thanks to Bollywood’s recent success Slumdog Millionaire. Then again,it also gives the brand a recall value,” smiles Martinez,kitted in a summery pink halter dress and looking much younger than her age. The collection is replete with Indian motifs,but is rendered in western silhouettes. “ The fabrics,embellishments are Indian while the silhouettes are Western,” says Martinez,who supplies in stores in Spain such as Ibiza,Coruna and Barcelona. In India,she sells only by appointment. The outfits begin at Rs 4,500.

Delhi-based Masala Tee-Wallahs Sheikha Mattar-Jacob from Singapore and Indo-French Noelline Besson who launched Masalatee boutique last year say their label is very “Indo-centric and is emblematic of all the things we do”. “ The word masala allows us to play with colours,making it more fun,alive and enticing . It also refers to our diverse background. The brand itself is very visually driven and emotional,” says Mattar-Jacob,who has a background in advertising having worked for 15 years in the Publicis group. The duo literally teamed up over a cup of tea,merging their professional experiences,devising the storyboard and rolling out the first batch of 2000 tees with screen printed faces of women,embellished with Swarovski crystals that were a sold out,via social networking sites. Currently,the two,who operate more like a mini-advertising agency,are working on an e-commerce website. “ What we have right now is an ebook that doesn’t allow you to shop online,” says Mattar-Jacob. So far,they retail in 20 stores in India,including Ogaan in Khan market and Santushti shopping complex,The Neemrana Shop and Bombay Electric in Mumbai and five star hotels around the country. The duo also has plans to go global. “The product can easily be localized according to the market requirements” says Mattar-Jacob. The tees are priced at Rs 2,500.

In the post-economic slowdown world,India has emerged as one of the more resilient economies,leading to international brands and designers flocking to the country for better retail options. Besides,the presence of well-heeled and well-travelled expatriates along with a slew of local trendsetters based in the Capital,give these designers ample opportunity to register an instant recall value. Greek-Lebanese designer Alecca Carrano who floated a range called Tandoori in 2007 says that it is quite commonplace for designers to use Indian words even at home. “One of the first words you learn as a foreigner are masala and chai which are easy to catch on,” says Carrano,who pulled off the collection from her Sunder Nagar store after one season.

Perhaps,it could be for a similar reason that British designer duo Reem Archibald,43,and Jo Butler Dwyer,48,set up the label Khush in Delhi,cranking out dainty baby smocks with paisley patterns for six-month-olds and nehru collared kurtas for boys. Of late,the two-year-old label has moved base to Sydney,the label’s morphed to BeKhush but the line remains the same,with kaftans and long dresses for women on offer. “We wanted to create something nice,comfortable and colourful that one could wear. Also,the stress was on the fun aspect so we decided to call it Khush,” said Archibald.

Meanwhile,Frenchman Chris Balzac’s label Goachic with it’s collection of lacquered helmets are on sale at the Ultra Confidential design studio in Hauz Khaus. “I have been a frequent traveller to India for a long time,but I didn’t really sit down and decide about the business. It just happened and the name stuck when I was biking in Goa,” said the 30-something Balzac. The helmets draw majorly on the Indian-mythological character Ganesha and come in flaming colours,and are pegged at Rs 14,000.

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