Journalism of Courage
Cushions have stopped being bland add-ons,they have acquired an eclectic personality that mixes pop art and traditional motifs
The Contemporary Arts and Crafts (CAC) store at Koregaon Park is a veritable melting pot of colours. Furniture pieces,grand mirror frames,rugs,vases and cutlery creatively co-exist across the three floors of the place. Adding the most confident surges of colour in this scheme are the cushions. This is a decidedly eclectic range which juxtaposes pop art motifs of canary convertibles,with maharaja screen prints. There are brilliant red and black cushions that are shaped like roses,and there are also traditional weaves with elephant motifs. Stores like CAC,and more like Fabindia,Viva Sol and others,have started stocking up on cushions which are emblazoned with images that travel the range between quirky,abstract motifs as well as traditional,heavy thread work. Cushions have graduated from their plain jane reputations to morph into bold furniture accessories. The contemporary Indian home is an eclectic mix of modern and traditional. It’s a fusion of styles,an interesting blend. Traditional Indian interiors are a thing of the past,many are completely modern and minimalistic, says Jayesh Sachdev of Quirk Box,whose repertoire boasts of cushions with bold fluorescent prints.
Patell too agrees that the demands of the clientèle has emboldened the trend. People want cushion covers with a difference. We have a maharaja series which is screen-printed and then with some embellishment,which sells very well as an accent cushion cover. People today are rediscovering typical Indian motives on cushion covers like animals,birds and fauna. We also sell children’s cushion covers with dogs and ducks and other child-friendly motives,and these are well appreciated by the market, he says.
