Kochis world of kitsch

KOCHI: Ashima Arjun woke up one morning to catch her train to Bangalore and thought “Why am I always leaving the state to buy fun stuff? There should be a fun and exciting shopping prospect in Kochi.”She proceeded to her garage, dumped the car on the lawn, rolled up her sleeves, splashed a bit of paint on the wall, put up a couple of shelves, made a few calls and in few weeks ‘A.’ (dot) was born.For  Ashima,  even phased-out articles at home can be made attractive with a splash of colour knitted with ideas.She says about her store, at Devoor Road opposite Gourmet house at Thevara, “I have a collection of kitschy cool clothes and accessories from designers all over India, most of which will not be found in Kochi.”Cool and summery‘Black Sheep’, fun and functional ‘Trumpet by Meister’, to the earthy yet experimental ‘Gecko’ are some of them. The store is also the first in Kochi to stock exclusive items from the ‘Happily Unmarried’ franchise, a collection by the Indian graduates of National Institute of Design (NID) Ahmedabad. These youngsters who have a flair for ‘whacko things’ give vent to their bizarre imagination by bringing into the market funky, desi products.The store has collages with ‘desi jokes’, ‘shayaris’, ‘double entendre’ and also ‘fancy wine shoppers’. There’s a bar maid’s leg as bottle opener, beer glasses with funny one-liners, creative tiffin carriers as CD holders and vibrant tote bags.Most of the collection is targetted towards the partying crowd. Bottoms-up printed shot glasses costing Rs 750 on stand resembles a chai walas glass holder.There’s also an assorted collection of junk jewelry picked up from various stores in Delhi and Mumbai. The store has some trendy silk saris with unique work and two-in-one stoles from Delhi’s branded showroom, Eco Tasar. These stoles are two fabrics woven into one, so one can mix n’ match. The silk saris are priced at Rs 5000 while the stoles are for Rs 600.The shop also has Jaipur printed laptop cases and other travel collectives named ‘Trumpet’ by Vanessa Meister, a Swiss-french lady. There’s also a collection of dresses with halters, straps and off shoulders called the ‘Black Sheep Collection’.And ‘Gecko’ is German designer Dorothee Imhoff’s unique and earthy clothes’ collection, where  western casuals are made out of traditional Indian fabric and bamboo Viscose. All the dresses are pre-washed to ensure a perfect fit without shrinkage.Gecko’s collection has a good number of wraps,shrugs, formal trousers and shirts, all perfect for office goers in Kochi’s humid weather. Certainly, a visit would be worthwhile.