KOZHIKODE: A packet of her unused cotton dress items packed during her shifting from Bengaluru to homeland changed Anjali Chandran’s entire concept of working. Being trapped in the busy schedules of a high-salaried software company in Bengaluru satisfied her financial needs, but somewhere within her, Anjali nourished a dream of finding out the original craftsmen behind her cotton wardrobe and that pulled her to the interior lands of India, where traditional craftsmen sold their handloom cotton materials at cheap rates to middlemen and merchants.
“The craftsmen take months to prepare the original traditional handlooms, and what we get in luxury stores here as authentic cotton is actually the effort of the poor men, who sell them at a very low margin. This prompted me to take the materials in bulk at a higher price avoiding middlemen and selling them directly at very reasonable rates. I quit my job in Bengaluru and with the support of friends and family, started visiting the remote villages of India and selling materials online,” says Anjali. Anjali, after successfully publicising her brand ‘Impresa’ from 2012 onward, launched her showroom at Emarald Mall on Mavoor Road on October 22, 2014 .
Gradually, her loyal customers, who had been following her page on Facebook regularly, started visiting her store and spreading the word. Now, it has grown to be the only private store in town with a large collection of Ikats - Sambalpuri and Pochampalli, Kalamkari - block print and Sree Kalahasthi, Maheswari silk, Cotta Doria, casual block print cotton, Phulkari, Tussar, Gicha silk, Matka silk, Chanderi and Kantha work. Along with them, she has the usual trends of Kozhikode also.
Mostly, the customers prefer duppattas. “Setting a trend in Kozhikode is very difficult. The land has a special affinity towards chiffons and georgettes. But there is a special group that searches for authentic cotton, especially the Dabu, Ikat and Kalamkari prints. Only Khadi and Mrignayanee, both stores under the government, were specialising in cotton. Not many textiles were focusing on cotton products and the customers who once visit the store become regular visitors,” says Anjali. The young woman is now on a mission to revive Calico cotton, the special clothing variety of Kozhikode. “The last shipment of Calico cotton exported from India was from Ahmedabad in 1970s. I got the contact details of a trade union worker there and we are trying to locate some of the workers who were part of the production,” she says. In the immediate future, Anjali is planning to introduce Shantiniketan prints, Ajarakh prints and Kutch work in her Kozhikode store.