Bobo Calcutta’s ‘The Dawn of Bloom’ is an intensely intricate and poignant conversation between the maker and the making, which Ayushman Mitra welcomed us to be a part of. Stunning art meets the larger-than-life, a signature Bobo Calcutta aesthetic. Colours blend in yet stand out. Their edges are defined but with a certain softness. Of memories, magic and full of passion, much like Ayushman. The artist and fashion designer chatted with t2 about the collection and why it’s a “great time to be alive, with hope, (and) fingers crossed”.
Tell us about the name of the collection.
The collection is called the ‘The Dawn of Bloom’. It is a collage of memories. As you’ve seen in the past, most of my works are derived from paintings of mine. This time what we have done is that we have actually mixed and matched a lot of paintings from the last five years and put them together... almost celebrating the entire journey of the brand. So, it is a mix of elements that may have existed in my scrapbook or in a little pad or a painting. So, it is a collection of all these memories, of the journey that the brand has had through the artworks that have been developed. So, when you see the garments, they are actually narratives of elements filled with anecdotes of memories. There are poems and animals and there are also photographs embroidered in parts. Obviously the eyes and the flowers (are there).
I call it ‘ The Dawn of Bloom’ because it is the dawn of the brand as we are nearly completing seven years. So, it is the dawn of that journey, that bloom that we have celebrated through these seven years. It was also inspired by a poem I wrote....
At midnight when geckos hunt butterflies
Rays swim in ponds laden with scarlet bloom
The breeze dotted with a thousand fireflies…
I will kiss you, again.
The collection was launched at Bridal Asia, Mumbai. We have shown it at Bombaim in Calcutta and then the collection travels to Delhi, again with Bridal Asia (September 22-24). We are doing a three-city tour with it.
Was this collection a little more nostalgic because you revisited the brand’s journey?
Not just the journey of the brand but also my personal journey as a human being. In the last five years, a lot has happened, right? The pandemic has happened and I have faced personal loss. There have been people in my life whom I have really enjoyed having. Obviously, there has been a great love story. So, it is a homage to all those factors. It is generally taken from every day that I have spent and every day I have spent thinking about the things I have. It talks about family and my love for travel and the environment, my love for everything which is coloured and flowers. There are these little hidden elements in the garments that I obviously know. It is fun for me when people look at something and they can spot something somewhere and then there is a story to tell.
One garment can contain 50 stories from various stages. So, it’s putting my life together and celebrating it in forms of hand embroidery and prints.
Is it a tight curation?
For the couture pieces, we have around 17 pieces and they are one of a kind. They include long trail jackets, bandhgalas, sherwanis, bomber jackets, suit pants, lehngas and saris. What we have also experimented with this time is a few monochromes where I have desaturated some of the garments, where everything is in grayscale. Obviously, there are new elements which have not been seen before in terms of the technique of embroidery that has been used. So, we have a lot of pearl work that we have never done before. There are a lot of appliques which we have not done before.
Who is a Bobo bride and groom?
From my personal experience, I always advise people to go traditional when you take the pheras. Being a Bengali, I would always imagine a bride in a red Benarasi and the groom in a white dhoti-kurta. With my clothes, what people perceive is more the celebratory part of it where it is the after-party, the Sangeet or the Mehndi, where all the song, dance, colour and jumping around (happens). It also lets the bride and groom let their hair down because the moment you wear these garments, I personally feel, there is this ecstatic nerve that clicks in your body and you feel a certain way. These are all very happy pieces. I think it just uplifts the mood and (fits into the) celebratory part of Indian weddings and a lot of young couples are actually going into thematic weddings.
As a designer and artist, I love to co-create with clients. We did a lehnga and the person wanted her dogs to be in the lehnga. We actually had a dog hidden in the lehnga which she is wearing for her Sangeet because she wanted that personal touch. Of course, everything will be in my style, but it also holds meaning for the person wearing it. That is a part of custom couture that I am ready to experiment with where the garment has something special.
From our last collection, there was an LGBTQIA+ couple, two women who got married in Goa and I was so happy to dress them. I have a couple coming up this year as well. They are getting married in London. I come from the same community and it fills my heart with so much warmth and pride that I am able to dress them for these ceremonies that are happening all over the world.
And of course, you have our big, fat, Bollywood-style wedding where the clothes fit perfectly because it’s all song and dance.
So, I think they are diverse and you can style them in as many ways. They can be modern-chic, fun and traditional.
Who is your muse?
When I think of who I would like to dress in the colours that I do, I think Sobhita (Dhulipala) fits perfectly. She is modern and has various shades. In her portrayals in Made in Heaven and the other characters she does, she has a lot of diversity and a sensibility for style, which I think is very important. These garments are overwhelming, so it’s important that the bride or the groom has their own personality which shines more than the clothes.
What colour do you think is Calcutta?
Ayushman Mitra
I think Calcutta’s heart will forever be red because if I shut my eyes, that’s what I see, from the Goddess to the old buildings to the jaba phool. That colour is embedded in my memory, but if I have to give it a modern twist, I would say hot pink would be nice. I think that’s the mood of the city now.
Give us a colour each for all the years of Bobo Calcutta...
The Pride flag. I am a rainbow, right? So, you choose! (Laughs) That marks my journey, as an individual and the progression of our community (the LGBTQIA+ community), my brand.
Saionee Chakraborty