The iconic Outhouse’s “unigender” Le Lien Lanyards and The Nano Furbie bag are fun, young, cool and “in tune with the times”. Sasha Grewal, one half of the sister duo Kaabia and Sasha, the founders of Outhouse, chatted with The Telegraph on the spring-summer range.
The Nano Furbie bag looks too cute...
It is a trend accessory and it can be worn as a small top handle. It comes with a faux fur handle and even a long chain. You can also wear it crossbody. So, it can fit in your card, your lipstick and a small pair of keys. It can also be used as a charm on a bigger bag. It is an international trend. Everyone is carrying the nano bag and we wanted to introduce it in India and it is something we have been working on for a long time. It also has the monogram of Outhouse on it with all the five motifs and is very well-priced. So, the idea was to make the bag accessible to more people. It has versatile factors. It has a latch for the belt. So, you can pair it with your belt too. This we have introduced in nine colours. It’s all vegan.
You have also launched the Le Lien Lanyards...
They are basically multifunctional. You can use them as optical chains, mask chain or AirPod holders. You can of course wear it as a necklace or as an accessory for the nano bag as an add-on. These, too, we have in nine colours and different styles. The most iconic one is the Outhouse Lanyard which has the entire monogramming on it. It is in gunmetal, which is unisex.
This has a vibe of nostalgia. When you are young, you want to play with colours and wear colours. We have done a colourful monogram for the first time and we’ll be introducing it further in our collections to come. There is one which has the choker of Outhouse to which the lanyard is attached. It looks quite elegant and statement-y. The whole idea was to bring about freshness in terms of colours because we had been doing basic things for such a long time. We wanted to uplift people’s moods.
And give a spin to the mask, which is such a grim accessory! Life-saving though...
Yes, yes! That’s a very good way to look at it.
How did the idea of a Nano Furbie bag come about?
Everybody has these big bags, something easy to carry and usable on a daily basis. We wanted to introduce something on-trend, easy to carry in the evening or day or when you are working. Furby is a character from our childhood, a cartoon character. We wanted to bring that essence of nostalgia. The colours are fresh for spring/summer and autumn/winter. It is an affordable trend that we wanted to set. For a lot of people who don’t like carrying a lot of things, this is the right bag for them.
Especially now since there isn’t much to carry...
You also don’t want to be sanitising everything. It is made of patent leather. So, cleaning it is also easy.
Veganism is gaining ground; do you find a lot of takers for vegan products?
When you make conscious products, you attract conscious consumers automatically. People who are not conscious about buying, get groomed into buying it. There is a feel-good factor. As a brand, you should build that consciousness.
So, you are experimenting with a lot of new things...
Yes and the new collections that are going to come up will be even more experimental. This is just a starting point and we just wanted to change the way we were doing things.
We want to evolve. From a jewellery brand, we are doing accessories. We want to keep doing things which are high on design and trend. We should do fashion which will help what is going on right now. The future is unforeseen at the moment. People really want to be in the present moment and enjoy a product for the present aspect of it. We definitely take care of the quality. Our products are 22-carat gold plated.
What next?
We are coming up with a cute, interesting bag and we will also be launching a new logo, more on the resort and holiday side. It is inspired from one of our holiday travels.
How is your Calcutta store at Quest doing?
It’s doing very well, just that we need to build more awareness around the store. It’s a market we have built over the last four years. Calcutta as a market is very much on-trend. They are well-travelled and don’t question the aesthetic of design. You’ll get all the Le Lien Lanyards and The Nano Furbie bags at our Quest store.
Sasha’s five accessory investments of the moment…
• I would definitely call a lanyard an essential accessory because it can help you dress up in so many ways.
• Nice delicate earrings. We did these threader earrings which are beautiful, easy to put on, and also a trend accessory. You can wear them up or down.
• A Furbie is practical. An easy, go-to accessory... just dresses your outfit up.
• We have spent so much time in the last two years with ourselves that we have realised the importance of giving respect and time to ourselves. Personalisation is amazing. One of the pieces from our collection that could help accentuate that trend is the Charmes des Céleste earrings and necklace. There is a nice bracelet too. You can go and initialise.
• Rings. I got myself a garnet ring recently. I believe in gemstones in a big way and we are also planning to do gemstones in our coming collections, something that heals you and makes you feel good.