If you fancy local indie designs on your clothes, we recommend checking out the homegrown brand, Ghuri by city-based designer Debjani Ray Chaudhuri.
Debjani does amazing hand-painted sarees and blouses, inspired by childhood memories and the world of Bengali art, cinema, music and literature. Our favourite has to be her collection of brightly-hued hand block printed sarees, bearing local motifs like taxi, rickshaw, sandesh, gupi-bhaga, Feluda and kash ful. We came across this stellar white and pink handloom saree block-printed with scenes from the 1965 timeless classic The Sound of Music. Another one has to be a mulberry silk saree boasting the nine forms of Maa Durga. Every collection tells a story and bears a heavy dose of nostalgia.
Ghuri's range of blouses are equally drool-worthy. From one bearing a bor-bou (husband-wife) motif to another embroidered with the Kolkata skyline, we love how she uses atypical Bengali embroidery on her designs.
Debjani also does customisations. So you can order a saree or a blouse as per your choice of design, embroidery or colour. While her sarees start from INR 2,600, blouses are available from INR 1,600.