A larger-than-life mural adorns a white background. And scraps of wood installed on the wall display the growth ring of the tree. As I admire the wall art, I can’t help noticing chandeliers made from recycled arms and legs of old wooden furniture. Scrap material gets a second life at VKR Woman, an exclusive boutique for women.
“To create the mural, we collected discarded logs and cut the edges to make the design,” says architect Ranjitha, who has designed the interiors of the store that dates back to the 1940s. Founded by V.K. Ramasamy Chettiar, a Binny wholesale dealer, VKR is one of Pollachi’s trusted stores.
While the original outlet caters to all segments, VKR Woman is a new addition managed by his grandsons Someshwara Kandan and Devasenapathy. “We have been selling textiles for many generations and we wanted to bring some exclusivity and cater to a niche crowd. We have hand-picked handlooms directly from weavers across India to build our collection of Ajrak, Kalamkari, soft silks, matka silks, and our own Negamam cotton. We have tried to cut down on synthetics in our collection,” says B. Someshwara Kandan. Over many cups of refreshing home-made lemon tea, I admire the décor some more. An antique door placed at the cash counter draws my attention, as do the wooden compartments made from discarded packaging wood, rugged wooden benches; windows have become display stands and hold neatly folded saris; there is a fully-functional antique radio in a corner, and a recycled MS Grill is now a stand for tunics, kurtis, leggings, and more saris.
A customer walks in, holds a sari against herself and checks the effect in front of a Victorian swivel mirror. “We want to take our customers along in this new journey,” says Ranjitha, Somesh’s wife. Somesh adds that even today his father, V.K.R. Balasubramaniam, shares a personal rapport with his team. “Our oldest staffer is over 80 years and has been with us for many generations. My father often visits the old outlet to meet his customers.”
Ranjitha plans to hold block-print workshops for children, have book reading sessions, exhibit recycled furniture, and convert it into a space where people would love to hangout. “We want to give an all-new shopping experience and live up to the brand legacy,” she says.
Ranjitha spent a lot of time at the scrap market digging out stuff. “Also at the spare-parts market in Pollachi,” she smiles. Saris sit inside trolleys that once transported cement bags at construction sites. The glass doors have metal handles that have been picked up from defunct lorries. A carpenter tool-box holds colourful dupattas... four used biriyani andaas have become lamp shades on the ceiling. “We just had to turn it upside down and fix it on the ceiling,” says Somesh.
Black-and-white photographs of VKR in its heyday grace the walls. “My grandfather introduced door-to-door promotion then. He visited customers at their homes with a manjappai holding a sari. If the customer guessed the colour of the sari in the manjappai , she got it free! Khusbhoo and Manorama have shopped for saris at VKR when they were shooting in Pollachi,” he says.
The store will soon feature in Bloomberg TV in Spain. The Spanish Television crew has zeroed in on the store as one of the locations holding a clue for a treasure hunt show that travels to various locations from Kochi to Mumbai.
Care has been taken to ensure that fabrics are free of chemicals in any form. For example, they only source vegetable-dyed block prints. “With so much damage being done to the environment, it is time to go eco-friendly,” says B. Devasenapathy, who sources the fabrics. Ravitha, who is married to Devasenapathy, ensures that the employees are happy. “It is overwhelming that even today people buy the first piece of trousseau from VKR. They consider it auspicious.”
VKR Woman is one of the first places in Pollachi to hold an in-house fashion show during the inauguration. “We want the store to represent what we think as a generation. We wanted to create a place that is organic and friendly. Our customers have warmed up to the concept in a big way,” says Somesh.
To know more, visit VKR Silks page on Facebook or call: 04259- 227677/ 96006-11122
