Chennai’s Baro Market pop-up celebrates artisanal goods and conscious living

Chennai's Baro Market pop-up celebrates artisanal goods and conscious living The fashion edit includes names such as Chiu, S24 Parganas, Rimil Design, De Wardrobe, Karma Ashrama, Mayur Thakkar, Lata Sita, Wrii and Foolstop.

Key points

• The fashion edit includes names such as Chiu, S24 Parganas, Rimil Design, De Wardrobe, Karma Ashrama, Mayur Thakkar, Lata Sita, Wrii and Foolstop.
• From August 27 to 29 at The Folly at Amethyst, Royapettah, from 11am to 8pm.
• Rates commence at ₹700 and go up to ₹40, 000, offering a wide range for shoppers and collectors alike.
• Acrylic and pen on paper by artist Samik De Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.
• Baro Market is coming to Chennai with a pop-up bringing together fashion, craft, art, accessories and lifestyle products, with a focus on conscious living and handcrafted design.

Baro Market is coming to Chennai with a pop-up bringing together fashion, craft, art, accessories and lifestyle products, with a focus on conscious living and handcrafted design. Curated by Srila Chatterjee, the showcase marks her third pop-up in the city. Srila Chatterjee Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

"We have put a lot of though, and the experience of having gone through places before, " notes Srila. "It's our third time in Chennai, and so we kind of figured out the things that Chennai audiences like to prefer. We worked with that in mind, " she adds.

Meanwhile, the pop-up will bring together 19 brands, spanning women's and men's fashion, children's products, jewellery, home and lifestyle, art and food. Rather than grouping together multiple labels doing similar things, Srila notes the selection is deliberately varied, with every brand bringing something different to the mix.

For context, the fashion edit includes names such as Chiu, S24 Parganas, Rimil Design, De Wardrobe, Karma Ashrama, Mayur Thakkar, Lata Sita, Wrii and Foolstop. While Foolstop brings playful storytelling and unconventional design to handcrafted accessories like funky earrings and pendants, lata Sita, for instance, turns pre-loved saris into contemporary dresses. The selection additionally makes space for men, with a brand specialising in shirts – an area Srila feels is often overlooked in such markets. Bowls by Koorm studio Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT.

For context, the pop-up additionally ventures into home and lifestyle with brands such as Homeland, Koorm and Nest, whose products draw on Indian craft traditions, natural materials and artisanal techniques.

Art forms another part of the showcase. Srila describes an art selection from a Calcutta-based emporium, including digital prints, original works and prints of works by various masters. Some of the artists featured include Samik De, Subrata Gongopadhya, and Rajendra Malakar. "All of it is very affordable, " she notes, describing works that are intended to immediately resonate with visitors and find a place in their homes, without being intimidating either in subject or rate.

"Every single one of our brands is hand-picked, and each one separately lends to the bazaar, " she notes. The compact format is designed so visitors can easily walk around and encounter every brand.

Accessibility extends throughout the pop-up. Rates commence at ₹700 and go up to ₹40, 000, offering a wide range for shoppers and collectors alike.

"Our markets are all about things that are joyous and handcrafted in every way, " Srila notes. For this Chennai edition, that philosophy comes through in a deliberately eclectic mix where fashion, art, food and lifestyle meet under one roof.

Taken together, the developments around chennai's Baro Market pop-up celebrates artisanal goods and conscious living point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.