Two people who met by chance, with no formal design background but fascinated with color, creation and craft bonded over two common threads -- NOT WANTING to be in the corporate rut and WANTING to go to work everyday! Thats Sonal and Archana for you. Here's a snippet from our conversation with the Moira team
What's the story behind Moira? What drives your passion for design?
Sonal and I, both come from a corporate background, having previously worked with a bank and a law firm respectively. We met by chance, through a common friend. We have no formal design background but we were both fascinated with color, creation and craft! We bonded over two common threads -- NOT WANTING to be in the corporate rut and WANTING to go to work everyday! What started as a stall with a lot of 'handmade' 'crafty' 'things at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai in 2010, has now become Moira.
The inspiration comes in many forms from every day things we see around us. There is the 'Gol Gol' coaster which was a poem we heard at an arts workshop we did with a bunch of kids at a construction site. We have trays with jibes about the quintessential 'filter kaapi' 'cutting chai' 'daawat'. Our 'kitabi keeda' notebook was actually a concept which we had discussed to make for a very dear 'kitabi keeda' friend. The 'bollywood' notebook is a subtle and funny way of putting across one of the most pressing issues of today - the environment. One of our Tote Bag says 'my other bags are Prada' because its everything unlike a high end bag - its a jute, no fuss basic 'jhola'. So the idea is to make some fun products that people will identify with.
Which designers do you admire and why?
Its difficult to point out specific designers or stores. We both have slightly different sensibilities and what we bring to Moira is a combination of both - so you'll see fun products which have an 'earthy' feel to them. We love traditional art and craft forms from India. We love the look and feel of handmade things. We try to give them a fun twist and make a product which is more palatable to urban India. What catches our fancy the most are the 'Arty' stores, That is what we always look for when we travel.
What can we look forward to next from Moira?
While we started with home accessories, we have just branched out and done a few products for personal use. There is a huge scope to innovate with personal products, mainly in terms of the number of things one can do. Also, we started out with smaller products and knick knacks. With no formal design or business background, that was most feasible then. We are now working on new range of products. More signature pieces, both in the home decor and personal space.
