Dastkar Delhi Design Fair by Nature Bazaar

From 21st of January till the 1st of February, at Nature Bazaar at Andheria More ( just before Chhattarpur Metro station ), there’s a lovely design fair going on. I visited during the day on the 21st. It was just starting to pick up – I’m guessing because of it being a weekday, there weren’t many people out shopping, which means, perfect time to go shopping yourself. Friday during the day will be like that in all likelihood but the weekend will be NUTS. There’s very little parking space, I recommend either a chauffeur-driven vehicle or the nearest Metro station.

I’ve been to Dilli Haat recently ( after a break of 15 years – will be blogging about it soon ) and this Design Fair by Dastkar Delhi felt better-curated. There were the usual “Pashmina Shawl” booths but most were indie brands that I’d not heard of earlier for the most part. There were some I recognized but not even a handful. I prefer discovering new brands – especially for the #MadeInIndia series that I’m currently obsessed with. I never know where I’ll find someone doing incredibly good work ( design aesthetic + quality + economics ) and might agree to collaborate!

There’s a Rs. 20 entry fee for a one-time entry, which makes the design fair accessible to most. I ended up purchasing two door mats made of recycled material from the Pala booth. The featured photograph up top is from their booth as well : laundry basket and larger rugs. All polyester and recycled and really thick. I’d been looking to add to my stash of recycled doormats and was thrilled to find two in the perfect size in bright pink and yellow.

Below, I’m sharing photographs of some of my favourite booths at the Design Fair, alongwith links to their websites, if any. If they didn’t have websites, I will identify with brand name and the end of this blog story has photographs of all their business cards in case you’d like to get in touch with any of them offline. Meanwhile, the best way to experience all these products in one place to go visit Nature Bazaar. I highly recommend it.

Above and below, beautiful clothes by Shweta Gupta. They have a website on their card but there’s nothing on it. Check for contact details in the cards at the end of this story.

Above one and below two photos from the booth by Paulami Saha. Lots of beautiful application of the kaantha stitch.

Two above and two below from Harshita Gautam’s booth NOMAD. Clothes and revivalist jewellery. they’re also having their annual sale at the design fair. One of my favourite booths there. The jhunkis and the ghaaghras are so lovely!

One above and two below from the HARYARNV booth by Kanishk Bhardwaj. Home decor as well as some lovely clothes that I have my eyes on. We also took a selfie!

Above and below, enamelled silver jewellery inspired by saree motifs at the Vijayshree Sovani Designs‘ booth. Fine quality work too.

Above, by Patrena.

The one above and two below at the IDITRI booth. Some interesting products.

Manas Ghorai also creates beautiful jewellery using ebony wood, glass and other material.

Above and below, fabric woven from Yak & Sheep wool aourced directly from Leh / Ladakh is stitched into these lovely jackets. FayaKun Design Studio is run by Aastha & Padma and I’m going to be writing to them and pitching my #MadeInIndia series.

Above and below, jewellery by Zola. Gina Joseph has come all the way from Chennai and is freezing in the Delhi cold. Go show her some love and maybe carry a hot cup of tea with you! ( Or you could buy her one from the Food Court at Nature Bazaar itself. )

Above and below, some beautiful clothes by ARDRA.

Above and below, shoes and bags ( they’re currently testing the market for the bags but the footwear is their mainstay ) by KARMANTIK.

Above, some very interesting work by Shilpa Madaan. They also have a beautiful little trial room set up in the booth AND it comes with a heater! How thoughtful! Shilpa’s work can be bought online on the Jaypore website.

Above and below, POOCHKI. I love their cute animal / insect motifs. I also learned that the label’s name comes from their beloved cat who was call “Pooch Kati” ( tail cut ) because her tail got severed in an accident! What an adorable story!

Above, the Pala booth that I purchase door mats from.

Above and below, leather good by Antidote – the weave you see is also leather cord! Beautiful work.

Above and below, some lovely bags by a label that I’m not sure how I’d write their name in English. The red business card with the email “[email protected]” belongs to them.

Two above and two below at the beautiful multi-brand booth by Read India. I was particularly interested in the fabrics sourced from Manipur and the crocheted home decor. Lovely work.