Open T Bioscope

Stepping into the shop, you will be engulfed by its warmly illuminated interior. The bold, warm colours on the wall and the dusky lighting rivet a jubilant spirit of fashion.

Open T Bioscope has been creatively designed to embodythe essence of traditions. Rather than Barbie doll mannequins, the shop has customised figurines, keeping local clay dolls in mind, so that every Bangali girl can familiarise oneself with it.

Open T Bioscope is the brainchild of two vibrant architects- Muslima Nazneen Khandakar and Suriya Zabin. The shop came into being with a view to setting up a common platform where ideas can be toyed with playfully and nurtured into reality. It serves as a stage for rising designers to showcase their creative experiments.

The shop is artistically set apart into two distinct wardrobes - Sultana and Bibiana - carrying clothing lines, and Shaheb Babu Boithokkhana- a room with crafty, wooden interiors showcasing decorative household accessories.

The product line caters to two different styles; one focusing on the everyday, casual and to some extent formalwear, and the other focuses on a glamorous clothing line designed exclusively for special occasions. “Sultana” is designed keeping the preferences and tastes of young vibrant females in mind, and “Bibiana” is geared towards the penchants of females in the mature age bracket.

For fatuas and shalwar kameez that can be used as formal or everyday wear, the fabric used is mainly cotton, keeping in mind the comfort factor. The wardrobe changes fabrics with changing seasons.

The summer line mainly consists of cool colours like lemon green, pistachio, bright almond, lilac and ocean green matched with contrasting dupattas and shalwars. The shalwar kameez are available unstitched and also prêt-e-porter. You can also buy creatively designed fatuas or make a three-piece from its own matching centre. The prices of fatuas are from TK 400 onwards.

The “Bibiana” collection consists mainly of saris, casual and formal. The fabric is mainly cotton, endi-cotton, endi-silk adorned with colourful hand-paint, spray paint and glittery danglers at the borders. Vegetable dyed saris are one of the exclusive picks of the shop. The saris are displayed in their entirety, opening up the whole work done on the fabric.

The most interesting section of the shop is “Shaheb Babu Boithokkhana”, a wooden panel consisting of three stair steps. At the very bottom, customers can sit and try on ornaments. The middle stair consists of household materials such as hand-painted kathas, pillows in creative shapes like dice, envelope, drum, vegetable dyed bed sheets, silk bed sheets, etc. The very last stair leads to the trial room.

This part of the store is created to give the customers a vibe of comfort as if in their own boithokkhana (living room), where they can have a friendly chat, select the dress materials, try the ornaments on, etc.

Adds Muslima Nazneen, “Open T Bioscope is not aimed at making profit, it is rather aimed at bringing out the creative roots and nurturing them. There are lots of talents who don't get to steal the show due to lack of a proper platform. Open T Bioscope is that platform for them; a platform for any and every kind of artist/ designer to host their creative products. I want them to play with their ideas and that's exactly why I named the shop Open T Bioscope, to play away with their creativity just like the childhood song: Open T Bioscope; Nine ten teiscope; Sultana, bibiana; ,shaheb babu boithok khana…"

Address: Open T Bioscope, Shop #422, Metro Shopping Mall.

By Zannatul Lamea
(Collected from The Daily Star).