Student entrepreneurs set up shop at The Fresh New Love pop-up

Cafe Bianco on Ekdalia Road was abuzz on February 12 and 13 as seven student entrepreneurs set up stalls at The Fresh New Love pop-up curated by Trishita Nandi and Utsha Nandi.

A wide variety of items — handmade jewellery, lifestyle products, hair accessories, artworks and more — were on sale. The Nandis, too, had a stall under their brand name Butterfly Tree.

“The pop-up scene is picking up in Kolkata and it is getting competitive. Being an entrepreneur and doing something you love can be therapeutic. This pop-up is a platform for young start-up owners. We consciously kept it right before Valentine’s Day. The name The Fresh New Love should evoke the same passion that you feel towards your first love,” said Trishita, who is pursuing a diploma in Dance Movement Therapy from the Tata Institute of Social Science.

Aneesa Parvin, a second-year BCom student of St. Xavier’s College, started selling resin art jewellery, scrunchies, headbands, and masks under the brand name Hayaal, which she began on February 20, 2021. She later started making candles, lip gloss, soaps and other lifestyle products under the brand name Good2glow. “I was intrigued by fluid art. I started this very casually as I was getting bored at home. Apart from online classes, we had nothing to do. I wanted to invest the time I had into something productive. Once I started it, I began to enjoy the process and turned it into a business,” said Aneesa.

Bristi Banerjee, 21, started Kagajphool in 2019. “I am a self-taught artist. I had never imagined I would have a start-up of my own. I initially started making dreamcatchers and then tried my hand at jewellery-making. What I have today are very developed versions of my initial products. I have hand-embroidered and handmade keychains and earrings, too. I usually sell through my Instagram page. The Fresh New Love is the first pop-up I participated in,” said Bristi, who is completing a diploma in Graphic Designing from MAAC, Park Street.

Start-up Mizrab was formed in April 2021 by a group of five students — Utsav Khamari, a second-year master’s student of South and Southeast Asian Studies at Calcutta University; Shraban Banerjee, a fourth-year LLB student from Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College; Meghdipa Kar, a second-year master’s in Psychology student at Calcutta University; Madhurima Banerjee, a second-year master’s in Biochemistry student at Calcutta University; and Shirsha Sarkar, a 2022 postgraduate diploma student from FrankFinn Institute. They make apparel, jewellery and hair accessories.

“We are trying to build an audience through Instagram. We launched ourselves with garments and apparel and branched out to scrunchies, headbands, bow clips, earrings. All five of us are constantly trying to bring our creativity through our newly designed products. The pandemic initially made it difficult for us to meet. We had to come up with ideas. We do everything by ourselves. I can make earrings and scrunchies. There is no gender stereotyping,” said Utsav, 23.

Swati Boral, a second-year master’s student in Historical Preservation and Conservation of Historical Monuments under The National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, was present at the pop-up with her brand Soul met Soulmate. “I started it back in October 2020. After graduation, I took a gap year. Finding jobs during the lockdown was tedious. I had free time, so I started off with basic products like scrunchies and hairbows. I have designed them in layers by pairing them with translucent fabric and designing two-way ruffle scrunchies. They are loaded with pom poms and sequins. I have oversized bows that people like these days. I work with resin, freshwater pearls, clay and beads. Beaded bags are my top pick. I never learnt these skills. Social Media helped me pick up the basics,” said the 24-year-old girl from Murshidabad.

Moubani Sengupta, a 2021 Microbiology postgraduate student at Calcutta University, has been running Goyna, Dulwaali & DIY Stories with her sister Poulomi since 2018.

“We took to online business and scaled it up. In late 2020, we started online deliveries as well. Earlier, we had only handmade jewellery, now we have home décor items, bookmarks, masks, and bottle art. We believe that fashion should not be limited to clothing alone. Our products are pocket-friendly. Jewellery made of crystal, chemical beads, crochet and bottle art are high in demand. We have unisex bracelets, resin neckpieces, rings. We re-use every possible thing, even the smallest bead while making our jewelry,” said Moubani. The 24-year-old dreams of making her business a brand, “maybe as huge as Sabyasachi” some day.

Shweta Chaklader, a 2019 postgraduate in Fashion and Textiles from De Montfort University, Leicester, UK, runs The House of Sphinx, a slow fashion start-up. “We make statement attire. I started this brand because I saw that mass fashion is not only harmful to the environment but is also decreasing individuality in people. When I started off, I wanted each piece to be unique so that they bring out the personal style in each individual. I started in December 2019. I design and make all outfits from scratch. T-shirts sell like hotcakes. They are pocket-friendly, comfortable, and catchy. Right now, I’m trying to find a scholarship or investor for my PhD on Dhakai Jamdani. I want to work with different craft forms and incorporate them on a global level,” Shweta said.