Monsoon Discoveries: Culture, Craft and Comfort for Rain-Soaked Days
What we’re leafing through, where the Amex runs warm, the threads we’re slipping into, the haunts worth a detour, and the scents that linger long after the elevator ride. Consider this BeejLiving’s cheat sheet to the season’s small luxuries.
Style & Living
From couture maisons to beauty playgrounds to craft-driven sanctuaries, Mumbai is having a moment. Rahul Mishra, Armani Beauty, and Eka each unveil spaces that are as much about storytelling as they are about style—where fashion, beauty, and design find new ways to dazzle the city.
In Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda, an 80-year-old ice-storage facility has been reborn as Rahul Mishra’s most ambitious maison. Architect Rooshad Shroff has transformed 7,500 square feet into a stage for Mishra’s couture, poetry in fabric and now, in space. It’s a fitting home for the designer who took India to the Paris Haute Couture Week in 2020.
Armani Beauty just landed at Jio World Drive, Mumbai and it’s serving pure glamour. Think glow-giving Luminous Silk Foundation, swipe-and-slay Lip Power lipsticks, and Eye Tint shadows that stay put from brunch to afterparty. A one-stop playground for anyone who loves their beauty with a side of red-carpet drama.
Eka’s new Kala Ghoda flagship is more than a store, it’s a living homage to Indian craft and circular design. Built from reclaimed wood, natural materials, and heritage techniques, it bridges past and present with quiet luxury. A space where sustainability, simplicity, and artistry seamlessly converge.
Art & Artefacts
Design is steadily segueing into art, with visionaries like Asha Gautam, Pankaj Heritage, and Rahul Mishra transforming their craft into collector’s pieces, pushing craftsmanship beyond fashion and décor, into the realm of timeless art.
Asha Gautam’s limited-edition threaded narratives collection elevates embroidery into art, with each piece hand-crafted by two to eight master artisans over 400 to 1000 hours. Using techniques like aari, French knots, resham, moti, and dabka, the works interpret themes of heritage, nature, and devotion, transforming textiles into heirlooms.
Pankaj S. Heritage, recently launched an exclusive Retail Residency at Aashni + Co. and debuted his first bridal collection KRISNAA. Working with handwork such as chikankari, gulkaar, kharra gota, jamdani, zardosi, paithani, and danka with layered storytelling, commissioned art pieces are also available.
At Rahul Mishra’s newly minted Mumbai maison, his atelier artisans create artworks using his signature embroidery techniques. These collectable pieces extend his couture language from garments to the walls.
Baubles and more baubles
Two of India’s most diametrically different jewellery houses marked milestone moments in bold new ways. Sabyasachi embraced digital luxury with Tata CLiQ, while Outhouse rung in the teens with Alchemy, a collection that turns adornment into power objects.
Paving the way to meaningful access to Sabyasachi its quarter-century milestone, the design house launched its first-ever digital boutique with Tata CLiQ Luxury. Preserving its legacy of craftsmanship, the boutique features a curated selection of Sabyasachi Fine Jewellery in 18k gold, starting from ₹55,000.
Outhouse just turned 13 and instead of cake, they served Alchemy, a jewellery collection that’s more talisman than trinket. Bugs, safety pins, seashells—every piece is a power object, celebrating chaos, change, and quiet triumphs. Trust Kaabia and Sasha Grewal to make growing up look this edgy.
Beauty & Bubbles
From redefining beauty to reimagining wellness, three homegrown brands are rewriting the rules. Masaba Gupta’s LoveChild turns three with its bold, inclusive take on beauty; Secret Alchemist introduces clean perfumes that marry luxury with safety; and Sohrai spotlights the Mahua flower in science-led skincare with its clever new mosquito shield.
Masaba Gupta’s bold and beautiful beauty brand turns three. Reflecting on how a word once seen as a burden became the heart of her beauty brand, LoveChild celebrates rebels, rule-breakers, and the joy of keeping beauty simple and inclusive, against rigid beauty norms.
Secret Alchemist, rooted in holistic wellness and aromatherapy, is now redefining personal care for the conscious consumer with the launch of clean perfumes crafted from plant-based essential oils and grain-derived alcohol, ensuring safety and skin-friendliness.
Sohrai revolves around the legendary Mahua flower, the long-cherished treasure in tribal traditions and now reimagined through science-backed skincare. We love its newly launched Mahua Mosquito Shield, where Mahua meets Citronella and Orange to protect, soothe, brighten and keep those pesky ‘uns away.
Book shelf
From kitchens to looms to rivers, three new books remind us that culture lives in what we eat, wear, and revere. Vegetables: The Indian Way reimagines the overlooked staple with authority and flair; Threaded Tales of Vidarbha honours a weaving legacy stitched into regional identity; and Water Memories flows through myths and futures alike. Together, they offer a feast of memory, craft, and care.
Vegetables: The Indian Way reclaims the spotlight for India’s most overlooked ingredient, treating it with the imagination of home cooks and the authority of a master. Camellia Panjabi turns centuries of tradition into a vivid, vegetable-forward feast.
The Weavers’ Service Centre, Nagpur, in collaboration with designer Shruti Sancheti, has brought out the coffee table book, Threaded Tales of Vidarbha, which celebrates the region’s rich handloom heritage, a tribute to Vidarbha’s artisans, and a valuable introduction to the region for designers, scholars, and craft enthusiasts.
Water Memories is less a book than a river of voices of artists, artisans, and storytellers tracing how water holds our myths, our rituals, our futures. Born of Karishma Swali and Moonray, it arrives in a time of crisis, reminding us that the lifeline binding us all is both sacred and fragile. Its proceeds flow back to the land, supporting Paani Foundation’s work with farmers and communities.
