KOCHI: Who doesn’t like to get various sorts of lifestyle products of different brands from one place? If the displayed items are sourced from handcrafted brands, the reception will be more encouraging. My Cup of Tea, the curated pop-up store concept, will bring premium and niche handcrafted fashion and lifestyle brands from all over the world to Kochi for the second time.
The event, propounded on the umbrella concept of showcasing a curated collection of fashion labels, is the brainchild of Kochi-based Rosemary Jacob. For her, the event is all about going back to her roots. “Many of these vintage handiworks are made by my family members. Be it the embroidered cotton dress by my aunt or the tablecloth hand-knit by my grandmother, this was all part of my life. Growing up in the thick of it instilled in me a deep-rooted love for handmade things,” says Rosemary, an alumnus of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Chennai.
Since the beginning in 2017, the brand explores new markets to present curated works on the lines of culture and quality lifestyle. Banking on the response of last year’s edition at Pepper House in Fort Kochi, My Cup of Tea has since then explored new markets such as Bengaluru and Chennai.
The latest edition features 14 handcrafted brands from all over the country across many categories such as apparel, bags, footwear, jewellery, gourmet food brands, paper products, home linen, garden accessories and so on.
In the women’s wear category, the pop-up store will be featuring offbeat and individualistic designs from Bengaluru-based Sukritaa Singh, hand-woven saris by Priyanjoli from Chennai, ‘Maati’ - an Udaipur label - by Neha Kabra with her ‘Bougainvillea’ collection and ‘Plavate’ from Mumbai showcasing minimalistic, easy-wear silhouettes using Jamdani and Khadi cotton weaves. For men, the Chennai-based brand Linen Trail will offer shirts in soothing colour palettes.
Liz Jacob from Bengaluru will exclusively feature artistic kidswear. Avant-garde jewellery collection from Zariin, a brand from Delhi, will offer sophisticated models to the customers. ‘Flames of the Forest’ from Bengaluru will present rare semi-precious stones.
Funky Kalakar, a Mumbai-based pro-sustainability brand, will showcase their line of vegan footwear and bags. Bluecat Paper from Bengaluru makes handmade paper using cotton, coffee husk, mulberry, banana and other plant fibres into beautiful paper products. While the Village Décor, based in Palakkad, will feature home linen and furnishings, Lily’s Plant Boutique from Kochi will provide for all plant lovers. Bhuira, a brand for artisanal jams and preserves from Himachal Pradesh, focuses on creating handcrafted fruit jams using natural ingredients. The curated pop-up of handcrafted labels will be open on November 17 and 18 at French Toast in Kacheripady.