As my car drove up a quiet street in Ballygunge – a genteel part of Kolkata – I suddenly spotted a store that was incongruent to the city.
It was strikingly redolent of the prettiness of Europe. And it was right in the heart of the city!
It could have been a store right out of the cobbled streets of the ethereally beautiful Le Maris, a fashionable area in Paris – or a boutique store on one of the by lanes of St. Christopher’s Place, hidden just behind Bond Street in London.
The two street lanterns over the facade of the store gave it an immediate charm that conjured the beauty of both rustic and chic Europe.
Coral, the first and only European concept store in Kolkata, whipped up the beauty of a coral reef right in the heart of a bustling urban sprawl.
Bringing Europe’s Fashion to the City of Joy
Step inside and you are serenaded by distinctively different pieces of clothing and accessories in colours that are reminiscent of coral splendour – together calming and energising, beautiful and lifting – all at once. Each piece in the store, (whether of clothing or accessories) and lifestyle items like wooden themed clutch bags to silk cushions for your home are individually curated by the owner of the store, Vibha Kejriwal, straight from Europe’s fashion capitals of Paris and Milan.
Vibha, a fashion connoisseur with 20 years of experience in a fashion export house, took me through the stories of each of the pieces I took a liking to and then gave me tips on how I could style the silhouettes for Indian climes.
It is the stories that intrigued me, that made me want to know more and to wear the clothes almost as a way to get closer to the stories they were telling.
A Stellar Fit for Kate
As I browsed through the clothes on the railings, a peach ensemble caught my eye. A Kat-esque dress, it is what Princess Kate ought to have worn for her Indian tour! It is a dress tailor-made for her and she would have looked resplendent. It is both ‘Princess’ and ‘girl-next-door’; romantic and real; Indian and Western. The drape of a dress marries the skirt of a lehenga – the Indian embroidery marries a translucent Western lace.
Pieces of character jewellery – that can be paired with the clothes – are displayed on shelves.
The pair of earrings that I bought – that I call ‘sunset earrings’ – would offest the ‘Kat-esque dress’ with a mix of swagger and sensuality. The beads are wine, marigold, turmeric and amber – splayed out in a half-sun...
Coral is a one-of-its kind store in Kolkata and I believe Vibha when she tells me there are few European fashion stores across India.
While Indian fashion labels are making their presence felt all over the West, why is it taking so long for a journey the other way round – for lesser known but beautifully creative Western designers to come to India?
A visit to the Coral Concept Store is not mere retail therapy, it is a slice of experience –of a European soul in a Kolkata-shaped heart. And the clothes come alive because they are all about the stories you want to tell.....
(The writer is a political and economic analyst.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)