“Be it funerals or weddings, there used to be countless platters of food going in and out of our homes,” reminisces designer Nur Kaoukji of her childhood in Kuwait. “We’d leave the doors open all day so people could come in freely without feeling the need to knock. Such hearty hospitality has always been central to our communities, our gatherings, our very existence—in both the good and the bad. When I came to India, I was struck by how things are no different here.”
It has been seven years since the Lebanese designer and her friends, Noor Al Sabah and Hussah Al Tamimi, set up Ecru in Jaipur. The brand has risen to distinction in the time since, thanks to the way in which it unites the design and craft traditions of the Middle East and India to create a unique language for decor offerings, clothing and homeware. The juxtaposition is seamless and richly nuanced—be it the date palm (an age-old Arabic symbol of prosperity) lined up as Jaipur block prints on fine cotton napkins; candle stands in Jaisalmer marble crafted in the shape of rub al hizb, the eight-pointed star (an Arabic symbol which marks the end of a chapter); or brass that is hammered, etched and cut by Indian artisans to shape the mabkhara (incense burners) traditionally used to burn fragrant wood chips in Arab households.
- Culture & LivingMumbai healed my heart, but Pune saved my soul
Ecru amalgamates Kaoukji’s passion for India and her pride towards the Middle East into a timeless love story. The origins of this sweet and complex union can be traced to her childhood, when her mother, who was the director of a private Islamic art collection in Kuwait, would often return from her travels to India with sandalwood figurines and colourful story books based on Indian mythology. “I fell in love with the exquisite designs and fine craftsmanship,” recalls Kaoukji. Life seems to have come full circle for her as she now delivers the shared essence of Indian and Arabic design traditions to different parts of the world with each Ecru order that is shipped.
- Culture & LivingMumbai healed my heart, but Pune saved my soul
The 37-year-old confesses that the time she has spent with weavers, jewellers, stone carvers, blacksmiths and marble sculptors spread across Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal has enriched her with more learnings than any scholarly design books could have. In 2020, she travelled to Patan, the erstwhile Gujarat capital famous for its handmade patola saris, to meet an old mashru weaving community. “I wanted to delve into the striking similarity it shared with the sayee, a bright, multicoloured striped fabric with a singular sheen that is so ubiquitous in Syrian households. The woman weaver casually told me that the fabrics travel far more than humans do, and from longer distances,” Kaoukji marvels.
As if on cue, Ecru’s latest collection is devoted to Ibn Batuta, the medieval traveller who covered more ground than any explorer in pre-modern history. Kaoukji admits that it bothers her that the world knows so little of him. “We need to know more about Eastern culture. We need to fully embrace it.”
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