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1. sthapit

Style conscious Nepalis rejoice - high style has finally reached the valley. And I mean real style, not just by Nepali standards but something that would be stylish in Paris or Tokyo. Pipalbot just opened its doors to the public this week and anyone who enjoys good design in Kathmandu needs to make a trip to this place - this is hands down the best designed and stylish place in the country.

Pipalbot is a few things. They design and sell contemporary furniture and other interior design objects as well as sell clothing. It's also a tea and dessert place, and serves lunch (by appointment) and dinner (by appointment). It is located in Babar Mahal revisited above Chez Caroline.

It is run by a Australian - Nepali couple, Tim and Diki. Tim is trained as an architectural photographer and designed it - he also designs all the furniture pieces. The space was co-designed by an architect from Australia with help from another [ceramic] designer from New York. And the effort shows. The lighting is done perfectly - the all white floor and walls with skylights and recessed lighting ooze sophistication. Fine - so the first truly stylish place in Nepal was designed by bideshis. Still we have to start somewhere.

What's really interesting to me is that Pipalbot proves without any doubt that Nepali made items can compete with the best of them. We don't have to sell handicrafts at Mahaguthi whose designs are irrelevant or sell cheap T-shirts that say "Yak Yak Yak" or sell fake antique Buddha statues to poor college student backpakers. No, we can design high quality, high design furniture pieces and clothing that is highly desirable to the world's elite - Kathmandu can be a design center. Pipalbot reminds me of Arnico's skateboards in Thamel which is using Kathmandu's skilled woodworkers to create and sell high quality designer skateboards and bring our age old skills to a modern and young global audience.

Nepalis now have no excuses - if we can have world class interior design and skateboards designed and made in Kathmandu we can do a lot more. We don't need to continue being a poor and developing nation that is forever addicted to donations. IT is a sector that is often looked at as our savior (and it could very well be) to promote economic development. But I think high end design is an overlooked field from which Nepalis could do very well and help us move up the food chain. Enough of charity. I propose a call to arms to study and produce high fashion in Nepal. Style is a state of mind after all and fortunately, just like IT in India, it can be transported to far away places to bring back much needed revenues to our country. All without requiring Nepalis to travel to those far away places.

10 months ago