Continuously showcasing the latest trends in home decor, Fashion Labels hosts the ‘Bed and Basket’ story
Unlike your average interior design store, Jyoti Jahnavi Saxena-led Fashion Labels constantly houses the very latest trends in home decor that stays neck-to-neck with the industry. Backed with an extensive background in home design, entrepreneur Jyoti dreamed this project into existence with the aim of bringing skilled artisans from across the country together under one roof. A stroll into Fashion Labels store is nothing short of enchanting, as you are bombarded with a series of classy boutique furnishings. In keeping with this vision and inspired by the cultures from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Jyoti’s collection does not adhere to any one style alone. Rather, every piece found at Fashion Labels speaks of her experiences, India’s diverse ethnicities and their unique aesthetics and the Bed and Basket story is born.
From her ancestral home Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, which has not been used by the family for years, Jyoti is trying to revive the art of Sabai, Moonj grass and Water Reed Basketry with help from her mother. These techniques of weaving, which had been passed down in families through generations are being forgotten as most families were finding it hard to sustain this cottage industry. Jyoti tells us that “These traditional products used to be easily available in the market and often given as gifts at weddings are now fast disappearing. I wanted to help the people of my hometown and hoped that they would be self-sufficient enough without letting this artform die out.
“The idea is that the artisans can work from home with no overheads and still earn a decent wage to sustain their families. At Fashion Labels, we aim to showcase their talents and products and make them easily available to the rest of India via digital selling platforms too”
Jyoti Jahnavi Saxena
The basket story is an extensive collection of contemporary designs using old weaving techniques. Fashion Labels is also incorporating other materials such as bamboo, jute, kanua grass and dori (thread work) into their modern designs of basket weaving and much more. Jyoti has taken this a step further and is also promoting recycled plastic baskets, also made from her hometown and other rural artisans of India. There is a large selection of grass wall pieces and art and not just the baskets at their Arpora store. Cratering to other states as well, Fashion Labels is also incorporating shells from Goa into their basket work. They are also using coconuts table tops to help promote environmentally savvy furniture. The bed story part of the store hopes to help rejuvenate the handloom elements by creating exquisite handmade quilts, bed sheets and other bed linen for any modern home by using techniques such as Ikat, Jaipuri and Kanta work.
The quilts or comforters can also be customized and carry themes should any customer require it – from monograms to animal motifs for the kids.
With a surreal selection of items, Fashion Labels – wholesales and manufacturers by Jyoti Jahnavi Saxena is about bridging the gap between remote villagers who have preserved their rich tradition, handicraft skills and have handed them down from generation to generation and the outside world that is still exploring hidden treasures of rural India
