SHE was a trained kickboxer, and he is one of the most prolific players of the Indian cricket team today. With Harbhajan Singh as the mutual friend, Ayesha Mukherjee (now Aesha Dhawan) and Shikhar Dhawan got into a whirlwind online romance in 2011, which resulted in a fairytale wedding that was anything but traditional. Shikhar even got along with Aesha’s two daughters from a previous marriage. Cut to 2018, and the couple has now put together their style aesthetics, and launched their own premium home décor brand. DaONE Home, named after Shikhar’s nickname, is a happy blend of elegance and practicality and reflects everything that this couple holds dear in their lives. While the two travel a lot, they are people who very much love being at home, and believe that a home plays an important role in weaving memories.
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The law of opposites
“This label came about from our own interest in home décor,” says Aesha, co-founder of DaONE. “We decorate our own home with a lot of beautiful products that reflect our personalities, for a sense of belonging. And we suppose, there could not have been a better way round this, than to start a label that reflects our core values.” Ask the two whose idea it was to start the brand and Shikhar explains how he always envisioned starting a business, but was not very sure what we wanted it to be. “We let our everyday lives inspire us,” says the 32-year-old international cricketer, “Like Aesha previously mentioned, we are both individualistic yet very home-inclined. Although this was an alien industry per se, we jointly decided about delving into home décor.”
Look at the collection and you see it is an amalgam of two varying and opposite styles — traditional Indian and classic modern. “The overall vibe is pretty sophisticated, yet comfortable and cozy. It’s a combination of soft and subtle elements with bolder patterns and vibrant colours,” explains Aesha. So how does the brand reflect both of their opposing personalities? “I relate more to the neutral and feminine ranges and like to see those around when at home. Shikhar likes more of the bold range so we basically have a blend of both our tastes and they complement each other.” At ground level, DaONE Home has an in-house creative designer, who knows the couple thoroughly and comes up with designs that cater to their taste and personal styles in the best way possible.
Boho blues & breezy whites
Colours, according to the two, play a pivotal role in being a temporal mood-setter to even deciding the overall ambience that one’s house radiates. So, Aesha says that it amuses her how something as seemingly trivial as colour combination sets impacts. “We chose to use breezy whites, neutrals and pinks to bright blues and assertive blacks and yellows,” says the 43-year-old. In the collection you can now find pillows, quilts and throws, while the two plan to expand into upholstery and soft furnishing options like bed linen and table linen. If you’re looking to get cushions from them, there’s a colour and mood for everyone. While the Honey Grey collection is a beautiful mustard colour, the Boho Blue boasts of an indigo colour palette. The Boaster Flicker has peacock green elements in it with tassels and dramatic floral patterns. Love monochrome designs? Then, the Moonstruck collection brings together the purity of white and the magic of black in statement-making décor. The Feminine Neutral collection has a mix of pinks and whites, and even paisley embroidery. Some of the techniques used for all the collections are zari work, adda work, Chevron Ikat embroidery, crochet lace applique and aari work.
From sateen to silk
Talk about fabrics, and Aesha chimes in saying that while cotton has been the dominating fabric, they have mixed that with velvet, slub, sateen, viscose sateen, flex, sheeting, cambric, voile, slub gauze and chambray to name a few. “We are very particular about the optimum quality of fabric and the intricate designs and patterns that we offer. And we also experiment with silk varieties like sateen and Haboutai,” adds Shikhar. As the conversation comes to an end, we ask him the question that’s on everyone’s minds. Is there anything cricket-themed in the collection? “I understand where this assumption comes from, but when it comes to a home, I keep it separately from cricket. Nobody knows what the future holds, though!” he laughs.
Pet peeves
“There are times when I make the bed and set all the cushions and pillows the way I fancy them near the headboard,” says Aesha. At such times, Shikhar would come back home and just jump in and spoil the very assembly of all the soft furnishing on the bed. I know he doesn’t do that deliberately to ruin the display of it, and that it is just his way of poking fun at me, but it bugs me to quite an extent!
From ground zero
“We go through each of the designs and select each piece upon reaching a mutual decision,” explains Shikhar, who personally visits the factory, sits with weavers and tailors to get a first-hand experience of where their products come from. With their base set up in Tilak Nagar in New Delhi, all their manufacturing processes, right from the first yarn to the final product, come out of the same unit.
Available online.
Cushion covers start from `1,500.
Quilts start from `9,000.