Tidbits from Calcutta

It's been almost a week since I came to Calcutta (Kolkata). I can't believe how quickly time's passing and I still have so much to do. It is unseasonably warm for November but from what I hear about the current grey, rainy days is Vancouver, this is a welcome break.

This time I've noticed that the pollution level has decreased noticeably. With new and improved public transport in the city the people are enjoying a cleaner quality of air. However, it's a long ways to go but signs of improvement are always encouraging.

I've been looking all around for inspriration for the next collection. A small exhibition on tribal art and handmade jewelry, ethnic chic Indo-Western fashion, accessories was a good start. The level of detail in the craftsmanship and the simplicity of design in some products was refreshing to see. Didn't have my camera with me so can't share those lovely images trapped in my head. Next time, for sure.

For those who are familiar with Park Street in Calcutta, my favorite coffee shop, Barista, has closed shop! Not sure why. However, don't even bother going to Flury's as it has lost all of it's old charm, service and quality. It's a shame. If you're looking for a delicious chicken/mutton roll, try Golden Spoon, across from Sourav's. It's one of the best.

Bold, Vibrant or Toned Down, Cool - Rajboori has it all..

Are you looking to spruce up your home with some fun and bold colors this winter or looking to curl up with some soft, neutral, cool tones?  Whatever your wish is, RAJBOORI has it all.

Now pillows are available without the gold fringes.  Stop by at Provide to select your Rajboori pillow or throw.

 

 

 

 

Create Your Own Style with Rajboori

Sometimes people ask me, how can I best mix the different Rajboori pieces to create an elegant, vibrant and fun look for my bedroom.

To help our creative and adventurous customers, here are some suggested styling options.  You can see how versatile and mix and match this collection is!  Just remember, creativity knows no bounds and with Rajboori, your options are limitless!  So, have fun!

  1. Rangoli Quilt and Coverlets in Fuchsia and piled high with soft pillows. 2. Rangoli Quilt with Teal Throw/Coverlet and lots of pillows. 3. Fuchsia Throw/Coverlet with Holi Duvet Shams and Rangoli Quilt.

 

4. Holi Quilt with Teal and Fuchsia Throw/Coverlet.  5. Holi Graphite Duvet and Shams with Rangoli accent pillows.  6. Rangoli Quilt and Teal Throw/Coverlet mixed with Holi, Rangoli and Mookti pillows

Maison, Rajboori and Europe...

I have been meaning to write about our great experience at Maison & Objet and Paris but life of an entrepreneur has me juggling too many balls to be able to sit and write.  However, I felt it would be great to put down a few thoughts.

This being our first time at this amazing show, where some of the brightest stars in the design world get to display their talent, we went with very low expectations and an open mind to absorb all that we could learn.  And, boy did we learn!

Rajboori had an amazing spot very close to the entrance in Hall 2 and surrounded by textile industry veterans such as Anke Drechsel, Margo Shelby, Decopur, Lisa Corti, Deschamps, and more.  My special thanks goes to Anke and Margo for being so supportive and showering us with valuable insights and advice those 5 days!

Our Holi Quilt was a show stopper and we had people stop and pick up catalogs, brochures and ask more about the unique and quite unfamiliar Peace Silk.  We also got placed in great stores like "nanimarquina" in Barcelona, Blanket Store in Frankfurt and Unternehmenform in Stuttgart.  Buyers, interior designers, personal shoppers, textile designers were all intrigued with our vibrant collection.  Thanks to all who stopped by and loved our collection!

Some key points to note:
- From our observation and the feedback we got from veterans, there was significantly low attendance from American and Japanese buyers
- People were buying but very conservatively.  No impulse buying but they were willing to try something new, in small quantities
- Even the veterans experienced lower volume orders and mostly from repeat customers
- The display in Hall 5A (more design focused) was amazing but the attendance was thinner than previous years
- There were more people scouting than buying

Overall, it was a great learning experience for us and an opportunity to show our products to the European market.  We hope to make the next show a bigger success.

In my next post I'll put up some Dos and Don'ts for any newcomer like us, how we looked for resources in Paris without knowing French and some great places to stay and enjoy.

I'll also explain what a "Bobo" is!

A trip to the Island of art and natural living

To take a break from thinking, strategizing, planning, selling and more brain-wracking activities, we took a trip to Salt Spring Island which is about a 2 hour ferry ride from Vancouver.

I didn't know how much I needed this little getaway until I actually got to the island of peace and tranquility! The quiet solitude overhanging our rustic yet cozy B&B, the occasional chirps of a bird or two, and the gorgeous views of the water, mountains, and greenery from our patio transported us to another time. We somehow got caught up in the palpable Bohemian beat the island dances to.

Upon arriving at the B&B, I promptly inquired if their advertised wireless connectivity actually worked. Our lovely hostess politely explained that they were having some issues so it wasn't working at the moment. The look in her eyes said - you city slickers! Why do you even bother coming here?? And my eyes probably had the look of a panic stricken person who had been thrown overboard into a stormy sea! Noticing that color had drained from my face, very quickly she said I could use the computer in their office and she could get their IT guy on the phone to figure out a way to make the wireless connection work.

Having come from a world of IT, I knew that would be another undertaking that I wasn't particularly interested in on this little trip. It was amazing to note how quickly my mind was able to let go of the fact that I wouldn't be able to check emails or surf the web for a few days! So I asked her not to worry.

The next few days were absolute bliss. Salt Spring Is is a haven for art lovers as many artists have found a home on this island full of sunshine and beauty. We took the Studio Tour of artisans who allowed us to come into their studios to see their works of art - ceramics and pottery by Ruphi Ceramics (Annie was delightful), textiles from Lori Davies Textiles (Lori let me weave a little!), sculptural art from Blue Horse Gallery (Anna is such a great storyteller) and many more were our top favorites. One shouldn't miss the Sacred Mountain Lavendar farm and the Salt Spring Is Cheese Co. The truffle goat cheese is amazing!

The directory of Artists is available at http://www.saltspringstudiotour.com/#/artists/4531676470.

If organic food and natural everything is your passion then Salt Spring Is is your place! The food tasted great, whatever it was. Fresh, natural, and perfectly cooked. A wide variety of artisan cheeses and wine from two really great wineries (Garry Oak and Salt Spring Vineyards) are part of the "must taste" list.

An afternoon of kayaking, a stroll in the lavendar farm filled with English and French lavendar, easy conversations with people we kept running into all over the island, all of this made up a wonderful getaway before returning to the mad world of an entrepreneur.

Thanks to Salt Spring Island. Can't wait to get back there!

TiA Award - Best Eco-Friendly Coverlets out there!

Is it the end of June already?? How time flies! It has been six months since we launched Rajboori in NY and now we are getting ready for our European launch through Maison&Objet in September! It's crazy but so exciting! Love Paris.

We just received our Textiles Industry Awards plaque for "BEST ECO-FRIENDLY/ORGANIC NEW PRODUCT - MILON COVERLETS"! TiA is awarded by members of the industry - retailers, suppliers, designers, and more.

Thanks to Home Textiles Today for sponsoring TiA and giving us this opportunity!

Life Cycle of a Peace Silk Silkworm - Why is it Peaceful?

Click on the image above.

Did you ever wonder what the life of a Peace Silk silkworm looks like? How do we manage to get all that gorgeous silk from the silkworms without harming them?

Here's a visual representation of the happy life of a Peace silk yielding silkworm.

Now, you can sleep under our Peace Silk bed linens in peace.

Rajboori at Provide in Vancouver

One of the trendiest and boutique home decor stores in Vancouver is now home for our Rajboori collection. Provide is a wonderful store located on 529 Beatty St in the trendy and up and coming Crosstown area of Vancouver, Canada. More info on http://providehome.blogspot.com/

Do stop by and see our collection.

The Rajboori Bloopers

"All’s well that ends well" and "It is what it is" are the two main mantras I lived by during the sample development process and the launch of Rajboori in a terrible economy. I had my doubts about how we would fare as a newcomer into this already saturated market of home textiles. However, I always knew that our story was a really strong one.

Stephen's innovative designs, the gorgeous colors of the jacquards, the intricate craftsmanship -all packaged beautifully with the bow of sustainability and "green" tied to it would certainly appeal to a market thirsty for exactly what we were offering. Walking through the rain drenched city, sometimes flooded streets, almost getting run over by vans, buses, plywood-carrying men, rickshaws, and what not, enduring the stifling humidity, all became part of my patchwork of the birth of Rajboori.

From a design sensibility perspective, both Stephen and I wanted to create something bold, defining, other-worldly, and vibrant. The designs would be contemporary but the artisanship would be traditional. Now, looking at the collection, I truly believe that we were able to accomplish just that. How can one resist Rajboori?

However, not all what we undertook as products to be part of our debut collection was successful. We had planned on having some funky, unique, hand-painted floor pillows as part of the collection. The fabric was silk but in a different texture than the Peace silk. The idea was for the artisans to hand-paint some abstract patterns inspired by the jacquard designs onto the fabric.

Easier said than done. The process entailed sketching the pattern onto the fabric, then using certain azo-free colors to paint the designs. A few hand-picked artisans were asked to give it a shot. We waited patiently for them to finish and then came the task of drying these fabrics to see how bright the colors were and how the final feel would be for the fabric. The trick was, this idea of painting onto the this silk had never been tried before so we didn't know how the fabric would react to this treatment.

This whole process taught me a valuable lesson - during monsoons, don't plan on any work that requires the use of the outdoors. The fabrics were placed on a clothesline outside the workshop as the sun was out in its full glory. The sunlight helps bring out the true vibrancy in the colors and it's also a more energy efficient process of drying . All was fine, when all of a sudden, within a few minutes, hundreds of dark clouds came rushing to our spot of the city! We had to run out and bring the fabrics indoors to avoid ruining them. Huge commercial fans were turned on to dry the paint and we waited and waited and waited.

Once dry, with hopes the size of Mt. Everest, we touched the fabric with the design painted on it. To our dismay, the paint had dried to such a level of stiffness that unless you were an armadillo or something similar, lying on such a floor pillow to watch your favorite TV show would never be a pleasant experience. The silk being the texture it was, didn't like being dabbled in these paints and behaved very poorly.

So, to avoid future production disasters, we decided to table the idea of these particular floor pillows until a more appropriate solution was to be available. But, if they had worked out, they would've been fabulous!

The Rajboori Story - Design to Life - Monsoon in Calcutta II

Aug - Sep 2008

I returned to the city where our workshops were getting ready to begin the stitching process. A plan was put in place so that we could complete at least one set of each line in 4 weeks, which meant, 11 products before I had to fly back to Canada. A tall order for such a highly technical project but my talented team was up for the challenge.

The Holi quilt has over 200 patches that had to be cut precisely in the right sizes and then stitched together to create the contemporary design that we now see in the final product. The circles were then appliqued on top with careful precision. The range of colors is truly amazing in this product and even though it took the artisans a little longer to get this done to perfection, it was worth the wait.

For maximum energy efficiency in production, all the fabrics are usually dried in natural sunlight so abundantly available in India. Since our collection is inter-changeable across product lines, the fabric production was also done in the most efficient process, hence, reducing wastage of raw material and minimizing environmental footprint.

Like I said, monsoon was in full swing in Calcutta. One of those days, as I was on my way to the workshop, the rain came pouring down. The already narrow streets of Calcutta were now getting jammed with cars with nowhere to go and water filling up every possible place that it couldn't get drained out of. I did have my rain boots with me, so I donned them on, and got out of my cab to walk the rest of the way to the workshop.

Needless to say, my fashion statement caught the eye of every rain-drenched passerby. These people having lived in this city for years and years, and having dealt with many such monsoons, found it very amusing that someone actually wore rain boots to protect their feet from getting soaked in the filthy waters of all the open drains around us! I, on the other hand, couldn't help but wonder if they were actually envious of my foresight and my cute little boots!

The designs were challenging yet fun to work with. It was not always smooth sailing as we had trouble keeping the cotton-like-jacquard tops to work with the smooth silkiness of the backs when the quilts had to be stitched through and through. Keeping all the various geometric patterns straight posed quite a challenge even for the master artisan. They came up with their own methodology and technique to match the various jacquard triangles.

There were many such issues but with careful attention to detail and skilled artisanship, we were finally able to put together our samples for our first collection. It was time for me to say goodbye to my production team in Calcutta and head back for Vancouver and then onto New York for our photo shoot and review of samples.

The Rajboori Story - Bringing Design to Life - Monsoon in Calcutta I

Aug - Sep 2008

Filled with memories and inspiration from our trip to India, the design phase began in New York, primarily in Stephen's studio. After an intense 2 - 3 month design process, quite a few iterations, we were ready for the next phase of Rajboori - Sample Development. This would be the phase where we put the skills of the weavers and the artisans to the test as our designs were by no means - SIMPLE.

True to what Style Noir says in their blog (http://stylenoir.blogspot.com/2009/01/stephen-burks-eco-silks.html), Stephen is noted for "his seamless integration of classic handcrafts and modern aesthetics". Our debut collection would be a luxurious blend of contemporary design and age-old techniques and craftsmanship.

Given the highly technical nature of the designs and the intricate details involved, I decided to travel to India one more time, to personally oversee and manage the sample development process. Our goal was to have the first iteration ready by September so that we could apply for the NYIGF Winter 2009 show to launch Rajboori.

Monsoon season was in full swing in the Eastern part of India but that didn't deter me from diving right in to the process. Armed with my design folder and Vancouver-proven rain boots, I arrived in Calcutta in Aug. The cool nights and balmy days reminded me of my childhood spent in this bustling metropolis where the Rajboori organic silk collection would take shape.

First, I made a short trip to the village, where I documented the weaving process and captured the moments through photographs. The unique and extremely geometric jacquard pattern was woven in looms with 10 paddles, that had to be monitored by two people constantly so that the weave would be done in the exact shape and size. Such intricate weaving technique is known only to a few master weavers, whose skills are preserved exclusively within their families.

The dual tones in the diamond shaped patterns were even more difficult to weave but when they were done, the final effect was much, much better than what I had imagined it would be. The women of the house also get involved in the whole process where they make the bobbins that go into the looms in which the fabrics are woven.

It's pretty amazing to see a concept design come to life right before your eye, step by step. In our case, the initial steps was long but the end result was worth the wait.

The Rajboori Story - Design Concept - Journey to India II

MAR - APR 2008

In March, 2008, Stephen and I journeyed to India, mainly the Eastern part, to develop the design concept for our very first collection that would be luxurious, artisanal, eco-friendly, and contemporary. A wide variety of silk was available to us but we decided to use Peace Silk as our fabric due to it's amazing texture that resembles cotton mixed with wool with the sheen of silk. It's a very durable silk that offers everyday luxury. Peace Silk is also the only eco-friendly silk as the silkworm remains unharmed during the silk extraction process. It is allowed to live a full life and become a moth from.

Together, we travelled to the heart of the silk industry and into the homes of the weavers who create these amazing fabrics. Their skills are inherited from their forefathers and this weaver community has been practicing this trade for centuries. It was truly amazing to find that each home contained a loom. The expert weaver's hands flew through the warps and the wefts of the weaves, creating magic in the fabric right before our eyes!

We created quite a stir in this otherwise quiet village. A tall American, a somewhat westernized young Indian woman, and our Indian collaborators caught the curious attention of the young and old in the village. Wherever we went, we had a following of about 8-10 people with us!

The time of our visit conveniently coincided with the Festival of Colors - Holi, which is a celebration of the arrival of Spring. The colors of Holi provided us with some of the inspiration for our bold and vibrant collection. Holi is a colorful and vibrant festival where the colors of nature are replicated in the form of powdered color and applied on each other.

After spending a good amount of time in the village and the vibrant city of Calcutta, we returned to NY/Vancouver to develop the design concept for our first eco-silk home textile collection.

TO BE CONTINUED.....NEXT POST MAR 16

The Rajboori Story - Design Concept - Journey to India I

Through my writing I am hoping to share the amazing story of our journey of how Rajboori came to being. There are many companies that are born every day and each person responsible for making that happen has a story to tell. So, this is my story. Nurturing a childhood passion for entrepreneurial initiative and specifically in the realm of home fashion led me through miles of exploration in other worlds, gathering valuable experience, before I found myself here.

I met industrial Designer Stephen Burks (Readymade Projects, NY) at a sustainability seminar and that's when the Rajboori story began. Having owned a silk bed linen and fabric business (Melange Creations) in Vancouver, Canada, I wanted to explore a more eco-chic, sustainable, and contemporary design aesthetic for a new luxury line of top of the bed fashion. I also wanted to create something that would contribute back to the sustenance of an ancient skill and a community that requires serious patronage. Luckily, Stephen was intrigued at the opportunity and hence Rajboori was formed.

A lot of people have asked what does Rajboori mean. So, here goes - we wanted a name that evoked luxury but was unpretentious and fun at the same time. Raj as we know means "regal, royal" in India and "Boori" in Bengali means "old lady". Bengali is the native language of Kolkata (Calcutta). Silk being our main fabric of use is an old, traditional but very regal fabric. So Rajboori literally translates to "regal old lady".