Best of Weekender: Conversations with Chef Aditi Handa, fashion designers of Là Fuori, and more

In the third week of March, YS Weekender had a mixed bag of stories on entrepreneurship, health and fitness, and entertainment.

Here are some of the stories that you shouldn't miss from the week that was:

By local artisans for the world: Why NYC brand Là Fuori is betting on slow fashion

In 2019, Indian designer Vidur Adlakha and Italian designer Riccardo Benedini launched Là Fuori, a New York-based lifestyle brand to create a community of nomadic and creative individuals, committed to the enhancement, inclusion, and safeguarding of artisan cultures. 

In a conversation with YS Weekender, Vidur explains, "Là Fuori uses the magic of its garments to tell the extraordinary stories of the artisan communities around the world.”

Headquartered in Manhattan, New York, Là Fuori has two collections -- consisting of up to 40 styles so far. According to the founders, about 30 percent of each of the brand’s collections are made in artisan villages around the world, while the remaining 70 percent of production is made in a workshop that the brand owns in New Delhi. Additionally, the brand shares 10 percent of its profits directly with the weavers, embroiderers and all the people it collaborated with. 

Baking for the win: Chef Aditi Handa on building a Rs 6.5 Cr bread business

Mumbai-based chef and entrepreneur, Aditi Handa knew that her life's purpose was baking bread the moment she got some ingredients to shape one of her first sourdoughs. "Bread is a very simple product made from very basic ingredients like flour, water, yeast, and salt. But what is amazing is how there are so many different ways these ingredients can come together to make a comforting loaf of bread...In cakes, a baker can cover up some errors through icing and fondant. There is no escape in bread. Once your dough is in the oven, a baker cannot do anything to it. It is your hand skills that decide how the bread will turn out eventually," the chef tells YS Weekender during a recent conversation.

Aditi, along with her husband, Sneh Jain founded The Baker's Dozen in Mumbai in 2012, with the aim of drawing the attention of Indians obsessed with white bread back to sourdough bread.

Today, The Baker's Dozen has moved its headquarters to Ahmedabad, working out of a 25,000 sqft baking factory, catering to up to 75,000 monthly transacting customers.

6 Indian celebrities who turned restaurateurs with ‘delicious’ business ventures

Priyanka Chopra Jonas was recently in the news for starting New York restaurant Sona earlier this year. YS Weekender took the opportunity to curate a list of six Indian celebrities who stepped out of their comfort zone and ventured into the hospitality industry.

The list has actors Arjun Rampal, Suniel Shetty, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Dino Morea; and cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, among others.

From reflection to resilience – how Tao Art Gallery blends physical exhibitions with online content

Tao Art Gallery in Mumbai celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, with an exhibition titled The Tapestry of Time. It featured the works of 70 artists with a wide range of forms, styles, media, and themes. Sanjana Shah, Creative Director at Tao Art Gallery, and Urvi Kothari, Gallery Manager say that vigilance and agility are the need of the hour in the pandemic era.

Sanjana and Urvi join YS Weekender in a three-way chat on the creative mindset, pandemic challenges to the artistic community, and resilience approaches.