IT WAS a random doodling of Mojo Jojo, the evil primate from the cartoon Powerpuff Girls that led Vijayta M Ratusaria (26) to name her company, The Monkey Brain Co. The Jaipur-based outfit calls itself a free-spirited handicraft label that focuses on the artistic side of a garment. Along with her sister Akshita Ratusaria (22), Vijayta uses handwoven fabrics and includes, techniques like hand embroidery, hand painting, block printing and other handcrafts. Launched earlier this year, the brand launched two collections already — The Summer Blocks and The Whites with over 25 pieces ready.
Block ’n’ paints
“The Monkey Brain Co is nature-inspired clothing,” says Vijayta, co-founder of TMBc. “I remember every time I shopped for clothes, it was just too hard to find good fabrics with sharp cuts and modern silhouettes at a reasonable price. This made me want to be a part of the clothing business segment. So here I am today.” With a mix of chic, street-style and artsy designs, Vijayta says that their aim is to provide customers premium fabrics like linen, handwoven khadi, cotton tussar silk with hand embroidery and hand painting. Akshita and Vijayta both put in their effort and contribute to the designing process to keep the designs unique and wearable. The designs are then handed over to craftsmen and artisans who then use various techniques to bring out the final product. It takes five carvers up to three days to create a printing pattern in one block. To further create a design, it can take up to 5-6 days.
Tussar on the beach
While The Summer Blocks is inspired from summer evenings and big sunny hats, and has a range of designs from an Autumn cold shoulder dress to a detailed Victorian bee dress in shades of white, indigo and aqua blues. The Whites on the other hand is white (obviously!), ethereal and almost magical, with simple straight silhouettes like their georgette lavender fields dresses and cotton tussar crossover tops. “We use georgette, cotton, cotton silk, cotton chanderi silk, cotton linen and cotton tussar silk,” says the Cardiff University graduate. “Since Jaipur is well known for cotton, we source raw materials from here itself.” One of their hot sellers this season in their handwoven indigo maxi, which has already seen several orders. This light, chic ensemble is perfect for a party, a brunch or even a girls night out!
From `3,000 onwards.
Available online.