Five years ago, Devyani Kapoor quit her media job to chart her own course. She started a fashion blog with a conscious effort to showcase smaller, independent labels. Shuffling Suitcases, a travelling pop-up dedicated entirely to ethical fashion, was born two years ago. “We curate sustainable brands from across the country and invite them to share their stories and products with the world. Shuffling Suitcases is more than just a pop-up—it is a platform to begin the dialogue for change.
We are curating and creating a community of like-minded individuals who practice crafts while being conscious about social and environmental needs,” says Devyani. Having completed 12 editions across five cities and two countries today, unlike your regular exhibitions, the focus here is on celebrating fashion and art under one roof. “While fashion is the major part of our curations, we also invite underground artists from different cities to be a part of the edition. We make sure people start the conversation and ask #WhoMadeMyClothes to make the hands that make, matter through our curations,” says the curator. With her first-ever show in Kolkata, Devyani was expecting about 50-60 visitors at most, but ended up having a footfall of 2,500.
This motivated her to take her pop-up to Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Singapore, and there has been no looking back since. The brand also follows a CSR programme, wherein it brings people and their craft forward without charging them anything. Earlier they have had Okhai for multiple edits in Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru, and this year they are bringing Enactus—a student-led community from Kirori Mal College that helps refugee women learn crafts and find employment.
“We create a market for them and help them in their visibility and sales so the underprivileged don’t feel left out. We help empower them and work along with them,” says Devyani, known on the online circuit as Miss Breviloquent where she portrays an edgy yet elegant world of thrifted and high-street fashion. The next edition of Shuffling Suitcases will be hosted from August 2 to 3 at Club Patio, Gurugram. It will feature 16 brands in all, including Enactus.
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