About us..
Bijoyeta Kayal
Gouri Kayal
Moumita Jana(Owner)
I am Bijoyeta. Born in the city of Kolkata. I draw my inspiration from my mother (Gouri) and my elder sister(Moumita), who have been managing the boutique - নেপথ্যে(Nepothye) ~ Gouri&Moumita at our hometown, Kolkata, West Bengal,India.
Despite having an IT job, I have always been involved in the art of designing and creating attires along with my mother and sister. Our super talented mother always keep herself busy either knitting something for us or doing some embroidery stitch on a sari or a material and on the other hand my sister manages her boutique.
It was during an effort to publicize our boutique, that I got this opportunity to host a fashion show during a stage function organized at my then workplace, Infosys, years back. A collection of hand printed Indo-Western dresses carefully picked up from our boutique was showcased and nothing had pleased me more than seeing our designs and creation worn and appreciated by many. It definitely added boost as I was able to merchandise some items as well. I always wanted to help my sister showcase her passion and i was proud to have got the opportunity to display our collective effort in this platform.
This website is my mere effort to bring forth our long time passion and association with what we call as wearable art.
Our journey so far..
Our earliest initiative, Phulkari started purely based on a mere eagerness to innovate and experiment on that little piece of cloth that we probably picked up for our own wardrobe.There was no clear aim as to who would be the target audience and how do we make the items saleable. As I look back, Phulkari ventured, with the smallest room of our home as the studio, and a small corner of the roof top of my father's factory as the Block printing unit giving two young boys a way to earn their livelihood.
We specialize in application and experimentation of color blends and block printing over very basic materials, handlooms( Indian khadi) , cotton, linen, silk, raw silks, tusser, jute, gheecha etc. Being preoccupied for hours in selecting designs best suited for tropical climates of India is what we never get tired off. Today we have four people working at our Block printing unit. Its still on small scale. However, it is amazing to study how India's intrinsic textile printing techniques can work wonders in turning a faded old sari or a drape of any sort, or a scarf, or a curtain or a discarded lampshade into something which you are bound to be amazed at. This has been a continuous journey with ideas, designs, colors, art and transformation into wearable art.
Finally, after all these years, we have opened our independent small outlet outside in the city of Kolkata under the banner, নেপথ্যে ~ Gouri&Moumita. নেপথ্যে being a bengali word meaning 'Behind the scenes' signifying the individuals for all the effort that goes behind every item of creation. Hence followed by the two names, Gouri&Moumita. Each collection is unique and produced in limited quantities to ensure individuality and exclusivity.Our clothes are made with meticulous attention to detail starting from choice of textile to the best suited style, artisanal craftsmanship, the finest, richest Indian textiles as well as tailor made fabrics(like dyed or hand block printed textiles).
