Sea Salt

Making a fashionable boom

Dui gives a barefooted greeting at the door, her shoulder-length hair loosely pinned up at the back. She’s adorned in an assortment of silver and beaded jewellery and is sporting one of her latest Boom Shankar designs – a summery, free-flowing dress crafted from Indian cotton.

It’s easy to feel relaxed and at ease in Dui’s presence, with her infectious grin and crystal blue eyes, as she reaches across the table to slap my arm while apologising for the mosquito problem.

It was more than 11 years ago that the Kempsey-born 20 year old booked her round the world trip and headed towards the Asian side of the globe in search of culture and new experiences.  And adventures she had.

Not returning to her home country for six years, Dui explored Thailand for two years where she ran a bar with two Thai partners. She then headed to Japan, Nepal and on to Goa where her long love affair with India began.  “India’s been the heart of it. I think India’s one of those places that you’ll either love or hate, its got so much richness, colour and culture, yet it’s surrounded by a lot of people that have a lot of poverty put on to them as well,” says Dui as she tucks her legs up on the wooden bench. “But they still manage to smile. It makes you think.”

It was in the heart of Goa’s flea market where Boom Shankar was born. With willing manufacturers on board, Dui quickly created a range of clothing designs combining traditional Indian fabrics such as antique silks and saris with modern western fabrics such as corduroy and denim. “I was selling to Europeans right through to Indians, especially a lot of young Indian girls from Bombay,” says Dui.

Selling at the Goa flea markets is not for the faint-hearted with Dui describing it as an insane experience with a blend of cultures coming together every Wednesday to plug their goods and chattels. “You have Tibetans selling there, Kashmiris, Italians selling jewellery, you’ve got the English with their designs, Israelis selling sunglasses and swimmers – it’s a huge market,” says Dui.

When asked whether she misses the days of taking her designs to market, Dui nods her head without hesitation.  “I could definitely do it again – totally different lifestyle to what we live here: it’s that traveling, making money from week to week and living for your needs and it’s so much fun!” enthuses Dui.  “Goa’s a real party town too, it’s psychedelic, it’s pretty wild, and it’s that whole mixed culture thing I love.”

After sharing Boom Shankar’s sassy designs with travellers from all over the world for six years at the flea markets, Dui decided to come home to be closer to her parents.

Dui now lives between two extremely different traditions, Queensland and India. She spends four months of the year in India, one month in Indonesia and the remaining time on the Sunshine Coast. “I cannot sit still. I cannot stay in the one spot, but I like a base. I love to have a home to come home to,” says Dui.

Boom Shankar’s pink fluorescent labels can be spotted throughout Australia from Melbourne right through to Port Douglas. The labels read “The beauty of Boom Shankar is that it is always bright and fun to wear. I hope it brings you much joy. Big Love! Big Life!”

I ask Dui what the term Big Love! Big Life! means. She hesitates for a moment before giving a heart-felt explanation of the four-word phrase.  “I think people have nearly forgotten how to love, and so reminding people of two important things: no matter what is going on in your life, love comes in all different forms, and so does life,” says Dui.