What started off as mere passion for Indian handicrafts and décor has today turned into two stores in two cities and a bunch of beautiful stories for radio and music professional-turned-art curator Karthik Vaidyanathan. Varnam, his baby, began in Bengaluru in 2012 and is known for its large collections of handicrafts, handlooms and indigenous home décor with a loyal clientele who swear by the authenticity and quality of his curated products. The brand opened its second store in Chennai a few weeks ago and we managed to get a quick dekko before we caught up with Karthik.
“While we’ve come to be known for our Channapattna handicrafts collection, we’re also becoming a destination for our handloom and hand block-printed shirts for men. We’re also slowly expanding into curated collections of handwoven dhurries from Warangal in Telangana and are increasingly becoming a destination for Chettinaad, ilkal and patteda anchu saris too,” begins Karthik.
Originally from Chettinaad, Karthik grew up in Mumbai before shifting base to Bengaluru around two decades ago. “I was always surrounded by South Indian handicrafts, handloom and therefore the passion was expected. That I would be able to moonlight as a curator with my own stores while I worked as a communication designer professionally, is something I never expected,” he enthuses.
Housed in a beautiful heritage property on Wheat Croft Road in Nungambakkam, Varnam in Chennai houses everything the brand has come to be known for. From handcrafted dolls (from Coimbatore) to kitchenware and kidswear to jewellery — most of the products are fashioned from Channapattna lacquer ware or are woven at handloom clusters across South India. “My roots are in Tamil Nadu and so, I really want the Chennai store to feature more ethnically Tamil arts. I’m therefore also planning to curate Tanjore paintings and work with more handloom and handicraft clusters from the state,” he adds.
Next up, the curator also wants to work with groups like Porgai from Sittilingi (whom he has collaborated with before) and is looking for other such groups or handicraft/handloom collectives he can partner with. “Varnam partners and creates new products, we just don’t buy and sell, we create products that also reflect our brand ethos,” Karthik concludes.
INR 300 onwards. At Nungambakkam.
romal@newindianexpress.com
@elromal