Threads of Grace: Bengal Muslin From Phulia to the World

Some stories don’t begin in runways

It Begins in Kalna

By Radhika Joshi, Creative Director, Ornaete

Some stories don’t begin on runways.
They begin in places like Kalna — a town cradled by rivers, fields, and centuries of quiet beauty.

For Ornaete’s SS25, I wanted to return to my roots — to the feeling of simplicity, strength, and soul that first taught me what beauty truly means.

Whenever I think of Kalna and its neighbouring weaving town Phulia, I think of the muslin fabrics woven patiently by hand. The colours that glowed softly in the sun. The women who wore those textiles as naturally as breathing.

Among those women, one figure gently shines — Sushmita Mishra.

She is not my only inspiration — life, fabric, places, and many stories have shaped me —
but Sushmita Didi holds a quiet, special place in my heart.
She lives the kind of grace and clarity I deeply admire.

Raised in Kalna, she carries the stillness and strength of that land.
She began her journey as an engineer, then moved into website creation, always evolving with curiosity and courage.
But after 40, she took a beautifully unexpected turn — travelling to Italy to study interior design, embracing her love for space, balance, and refined European minimalism.
Today, her interiors speak in whispers — modern, soulful, timeless.
And to me, deeply inspiring.

But her journey didn’t stop there.

A successful hotelier, an entrepreneur, a creative mind, and now — a yoga practitioner with a mission to nurture and guide young children for a better future.
In all of this, she offers something the world needs more of — gentle, intentional care with a hippie heart with full of passion for travelling at the same time.

What touches me most is something many might find unconventional:
Though she isn’t a mother by definition, she has chosen to take on the role of a protector and guide for children — not through tradition, but through purpose.
She shows us that nurturing is not tied to biology — it’s a choice, a calling, and an act of quiet rebellion in a world that often expects women to follow a script.

Sushmita doesn’t chase success.
She follows what feels honest, aligned, and necessary.

And in all of this, I see the spirit of the Ornaete woman.

She is international in thought, Indian in soul.
Rooted. Radiant. Real. Modern.

A Note for Indian National Handloom Day

Today, on Indian National Handloom Day, I am reminded of the hands behind every thread —
of the weavers in Phulia, of the mothers in Kalna, of the muslin that feels like mist, and of the women who wore it with effortless pride.

Bengal muslin is not just a fabric.
It is heritage.
It is resilience.
It is poetry in cotton.

Sushmita was raised in that poetry — and SS25 carries it forward.

This collection is not a tribute to one person.
It’s a celebration of many women like her —
women who live with intention,
who remember where they come from,
even as they rise into who they are becoming.

In the softness of Phulia Bengal muslin,
in the silence of Kalna mornings, with echoes of our ancestors’ memories,
in the art of movement, design, healing, and in the quiet path of continuation —

SS25 begins here.
With threads of truth, memory, and light.

It Begins in Kalna.