How this home decor brand run by mother-daughter duo is revolutionising interior design space

The pulse of Junekeri is a reflection of Ayessha's own upbringing, translating experiences and memories into colourful textiles and beautiful home decor accents. She draws passion for her brand from the calm mountain life in Gangtok - where she grew up, and inserted life and soul into it from the vibrant desert hues of Rajasthan where she attended boarding school at Mayo College.

Floated in 2020 by mother-daughter duo Ayessha and Sudha Gurung, Junekeri Homes, is a home-grown home decor brand, which creates and curates pieces from artisans across India and specializes in quality handcrafted goods for the modern home. Every piece from the collection carries a cultural history of the community from where it originates and is crafted using locally sourced materials and time honoured skills. The brand expresses itself in the form of contemporary designs built to stand the test of time by blending traditional craftsmanship with modern designs. Speaking to Bizz Buzz exclusively, Ayessha Gurung, Co-founder, Junekeri Homes, explains how Junekeri creates an exclusive piece of comfort that resonates in perfect harmony with a customer's lifestyle and also how they are planning to tap the close to $40 billion home decor market and establish their global footprint

What was the trigger behind getting into this area?

Junekeri began as an exploration of handcrafted and soon evolved into a range of homeware and textiles. Our designs and colours are informed and inspired by traditional craft, vintage fabrics, nature, and the Bauhaus movement. Our team spent considerable time locating crafting families and workshops in the remotest villages in the northeast, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and West Bengal before launching Junekeri. It's an ongoing process, and we are constantly adding to our network of artisans!

Any idea how big could this handcrafted home products segment be and how is it growing?

India's Home Decor Market is estimated to be $32.14 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach $39.44 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 4.18 per cent. Home decor and interior objects with a story and a soul are now becoming an indispensable part of the overall lifestyle. The shift in behaviour is also evident in Tier 3 & 4 cities, which is a positive sign.

Running the business by mother-daughter duo - has it been a conscious thing or it has just happened? Who looks after which side of the business?

My mother, Sudha, is my business partner and co-founder at Junekeri. She joined Junekeri after more than 35 years in education, resulting in driving partnerships with our artisans and other industry councils. Embracing the multifaceted exposure to different cultures and handicrafts during her childhood Sudha lends her intrinsic love for styling, which blends into our homegrown business while I drive the marketing and operations for Junekeri.

Where did you get this name from?

Our brand Junekeri's name is inspired by the word Junekeri, which refers to the Jugnu - firefly. Junekeri Dara - It is also an unspoiled viewpoint located in East Sikkim.

Drawing creativity from the fascinating Jugnu and from the overwhelming panorama that one observes from this point, Junekeri hopes to channel the colours, textures, architecture and off-beat way of life into our products. We are grateful for the unending inspiration - an inspiration we call home.

What has been your experience so far?

Having launched during the pandemic and being completely bootstrapped comes with its own set of limitations. However, what we were able to do was establish long-term relationships with our weavers. That also means that the orders were consistent throughout the year, unlike a one-time bulk order. To be able to achieve that due to growing customer demand is something that we have been able to do since we started Junekeri Homes.

We look forward to expanding our categories and deepening partnerships with like-minded craftsmen/collectives. We will also be working towards raising capital in the next two quarters while innovating on customer experience through technology.

How many weavers/artisans, are you currently working with? And on average, how long do they take to complete a particular job/work?

This quarter, we've started working with artisans from Chennai, Kerala and Varanasi to add to our growing network their traditional artistry and embroidery techniques to resonate with modern and contemporary styles

If they take too long, then the scalability factor might get affected. What is your take on that? Does that mean, you will not look at scales, at least for the time being?

The time taken for sourcing, crafting, drying, and finishing with precision cannot be rushed. Each piece is made with the finest materials from start to finish and with the utmost care. For the dyeing process, our artisans use locally available dyes derived from the leaf of the wild indigo plant, the bark of the azeu tree, and red from the root of the morinda plant. Sometimes to obtain the yellow colour, they also use the roots of the turmeric plant.

The fabric dyeing process can take anywhere between 3-5 days or weeks depending on its size.

Our textiles are crafted in locally grown cotton organic Kala cotton and desi Oon featuring traditional patterns and techniques but their size and colour combinations are tweaked to appeal to the relevant customer. Like any company we plan our colour palettes and designs months in advance before we launch giving us enough time to prepare and scale our categories through our strengthened network of partners.

Are you looking at stories from different parts of the country so that your products are accepted across the country and beyond?

We already work with artisans across the country. From the north east to the South of India we have products from all these regions.

How do you sell your products?

Today we primarily sell on our own website - www.junekerihomes.com and also stock our products with our channel partners at Tata Cliq Luxury, Amazon and Amala Earth.

Are your products available online only or are they available at various retail outlets as well? Any plans for physical retailing- at least one or two signature/flagship outlets, going forward?

We are catering to the online audience for now but moving forward into the next year we will be partnering with signature retail outlets in India.

Would you look at other segments like apparels/dress materials etc., going forward?

Most definitely!

Would you look at some overseas markets as well? If so, do you think that the outside markets would lap up the same stories or would you have to look for stories from that?

We have already started working with a London-based marketplace to further our reach of products and stories that make us who we are today.