Coimbatore has finally come of size. Enter The Residency Ballroom, turn right and there in the corner is a shop that has elegant, pretty, well-tailored garments for the generously built. Called ‘K Clothing”, you have stylish linen creations mostly in blacks, off whites, olive greens and some in delicious shades of plum. They are stylish and look and feel so comfortable. Kaveri Lalchand, whose designs these are, says they are inspired by her travels.
Take a deep breath, there is plenty more. Organzaa 2011 has refreshingly new things to see and buy. Take, for instance, Crisp, the multi-brand store. It has Nina Ricci, Gucci, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, Ferre and other European bigwigs of the fashion world. It also has some American designers. You would recognise the handbags, belts, t-shirts, sequinned tops and interesting tote bags if you shopped in Europe. Now they are right here. The prices are competitive, says Shivkumar from Crisp, and he is confident that the ‘discerning Coimbatore shoppers' will enjoy their ware.
You will fall in love with the prettiest party frocks ever, for little girls, at Ambrosia. They are cute, not fussy and oh-so-lovely. In fact, Organzaa has another really nice kiddy place to shop in. Called Peek-a-boo, it has jolly cushion covers, rugs, curtains, baby sets, wall paper and all kids of other happy stuff to go ooh and aaah over.
As exhibitions usually do, this one too makes you wonder at the richness of Indian fabrics, prints, weaves and craftsmanship. Vishal Kapur is an NID graduate who works with craftspeople and fuses different styles to create his line of saris and textiles. Gorgeous phulkari work from Punjab joins Uppada from Andhra Pradesh and the outcome is beautiful saris. His delicate Chanderis, Maheswaris and silks with various printing techniques make for some interesting salwar-kameez-dupatta combos.
There is the trademark Mumbaiyya zing in the stuff from there. Ffluid has something called drape stoles. These are difficult to describe, but do check them out. Ffluid also has some very attractive mix-and-match kurtas and tops in gorgeous voiles and georgettes.
So many stalls, so many lovely clothes. But there is jewellery too. Sunflower, from Mumbai again, is worth a dekko. Hand-crafted silver earrings glimmer with semi-precious stones. There are bangles and jhumkas, and in any colour you may care to name. Trendy and quirky jewellery is also on sale at Joolry, where young designer Preeti Vyas tells you she designs contemporary stuff fit for both the sari-wearing types as well as the Western clothed. The big, fat, colourful wooden beads are particularly eye-catching.
There is footwear, bed linen, multi-brand upmarket watches, batuas, trays, wall hangings, silverware. If you like traditional saris, then Russet N Gold it is. It is a rustle of tussars and Maheshwaris with delicate phool patti work as well as other embellishments. Manju Goenka, Jini's Designer Studio, Kaaya, Evoluzione…Organzaa is a great way to start the week. There is so much to see and relish and buy. The last thing you should do before you leave is to get mehendi put on your hands from Kiran and Bimla who have come all the way from Mumbai. That is one way of keeping your hands off your purse, in case you are tempted to go in again.
