Sonam Kapoor has tweeted about her creations, actresses like Shraddha Kapoor and Ileana D’Cruz are among her clients. Calcutta girl Vedika Merh is making fast inroads into the Bolly style scene, especially after she moved to Mumbai post-marriage last December. Her two-year-old label Vedika M is literally going places.
In Calcutta, Vedika has relaunched her flagship store, Vedika M — at 8/2 Loudon Street (next to Belle Vue) — with a fresh look and feel. The 450sq ft space is done up in a minimalist way, with the clothes on the racks being the stars. A few interesting decor highlights catch the eye — a light fixture with thick ropes, a few miniature models and some antique dolls.
The collections on the shelves right now are the brand’s autumn-winter line as well as a new festive line that has been introduced recently. The autumn-winter line comprises her signature resort wear and pret pieces — maxis and dresses in a variety of cuts and styles, with her trademark hand-block prints in geometric patterns. The festive line, too, uses the geometric motifs as the base, with the block-prints jazzed up with touches of embroidery and embellishments. The silhouettes here are lots of skirts of various kinds, including on-trend cowl skirts, paired with crop tops, capes and more. The diffusion line is apt for festive wear and destination weddings.
The La Martiniere girl took t2 through her store and told us how her brand is drawing the attention of Bolly stylists.
Your label is being worn by quite a few Bolly stars now… how did you make a foray into Bollywood style?
We have been focusing on evolving our prints and styles over the last year and growing the brand as a whole. We are moving into different segments of womenswear, like evening and festive wear. In this process we have been fortunate enough to be sighted by stylists and various celebrities who have shown their support to our label, pushing us to work harder.
You work with resort wear only, which is quite a small area...
Our brand’s focus has been hand-prints, brushstrokes, block prints and hand embroidery. From resort wear, the label has evolved into a blend of everyday chic wear, evening wear and our recently launched festive collection. People are open to experimenting with new looks and colours for different occasions. This has helped our brand creatively to experiment with different styles, fabrics and colours. The market in India is continuously growing with social media influencing and penetrating cities we never thought would appreciate our work. The response has been great thus far and we are excited about our new collections hitting stores across the country.

Tell us about your newly launched festive wear line...
Our festive collection with its playful silhouettes and geometric prints is for the bride’s pre-wedding day, the bride who loves experimental textures, hand-painted fabrics and abstract prints. It is a fusion of the traditional and the modern, making the designs young and bold. The collection is a blend of hand dye, brushstroke patterns and geometric hand-embroidered motifs alongside watercolour tints, easy and flowy silks with organzas in bright, seasonal hues.
What have you learnt about the fashion world in the past one year living in Mumbai? How is it different from Calcutta?
The last year for me has just flown by trying to manage both manufacturing in Calcutta and marketing and sales in Bombay. The two cities both have their individual charm. Bombay is super fast, filled with tons of energy. This relates to fashion too, and the city is definitely a great platform for upcoming and established designers alike. Spending this short time in Bombay, I have realised how competitive this industry is and remaining true to our values and focused on our strengths is important.
Tell us about your new-look store...
We’ve kept the look of the store very minimal, we had limited space with unlimited ideas. It’s a clean look with pastel shades and textured walls, we didn’t want to take away from the print and colour of the garments, hence keeping the look very classic and simple.
What are your expansion plans going ahead?
My husband, Yashovardhan Sonthalia, who is heading the business and management side, and I both strongly believe online is the way forward. We are focusing on growing our e-commerce and digital presence by continually working on increasing our global reach. We plan to push our online retail presence aggressively in the coming year with hope to increase our global customer base. On the offline front, we would like to be a part of more shows both nationally and internationally, followed by another store next year in Mumbai.
Smita Roy Chowdhury
Store pictures: Pabitra Das