Two friends, from two different cities, share one common trait — creativity. Purvi Shetty and Meera Ganapathi are friends, who discovered a way to pool their creativity together to make items from things that would otherwise go waste. The ideas are simple, but innovative. Earrings made from paper clips, tiny showpiece chairs made from bottle caps, coasters made by gluing a rope into a coil and fancy candle holders made by gluing glass bangles together. Purvi says that most of their products are made from reused, discarded material.
Purvi and Meera had always shared creative ideas until, one day, they realised they could put their talent to further use. They started a blog called Material Girls in February 2012, and began posting creative uses for old materials.
"We received an overwhelming response and soon people wanted to buy the things we made. So, we decided to open a little store with anything and everything handmade. We opened the store in March 2013, and it's still going strong," says 28-year-old Purvi. She's a publicist based in Bangalore, while Meera, 28, is a freelance advertising and feature writer in Mumbai; the girls run their business on the side.
The girls sell a wide range of bags, home décor items, shoes, accessories and much more. The Whimsy Store is an eclectic mix of every kind of handmade product. "You can find anything here from hair accessories to vintage sewing kit boxes, to toys made by underprivileged women. We keep the stock simple, unique, and appealing, and we work with various designers, who share our do-it-yourself mindset," says Meera.
One of the challenges of running the store, the girls say, is that both of them work in different cities. "Sometimes I wish Meera could be here and everything would be so much easier," muses Purvi. While the store now accepts help from volunteers, supporters and contributors, she says the venture was originally much simpler, with an amateurish feel to it.
"There was never enough time for all the things we wanted to make and display. But, with experience, we have been able to understand the business and have pulled various artistic talents into retail. This helps us strike a balance between managing the store, making sure it's interestingly stocked and handling our own work schedules. It's difficult to juggle work and a shop but, since we love what we do, we find ways to pull it off," she adds.
The girls say they want to keep the essence of the DIY atmosphere alive and encourage other artists, who share their vision of creating something out of nothing. Speaking about their target audience, Purvi says, "It would be a crime to restrict ourselves to one group. Our products appeal largely to people in the age group of 15 and 40 but, in fact, we've even had a 73-year-old customer. So you never really know. It feels wonderful to meet complete strangers from outside the city, who have never seen our blog or our products, and have them stumble upon our store serendipitously."
Store prices for items like bags begin at Rs 150, while most other items are priced according to the material used. The girls also say they plan to eventually take their products to other cities too. "We want to take it one step at a time. We are creating new collections that will also be available online," they add.
Find the Whimsy Store at 105, Old No 68, KH Double Road, Opposite Corporation Bank, Next to KH Road Bus Stand, Shanti Nagar, Bangalore. and take a look at their products online at https://www.facebook.com/TwoMaterialGirls and http://twomaterialgirls.tumblr.com/
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