A blue wall with graffiti of happy sunflowers and good-looking girls on Harrington Road has become an Instagrammable spot.
Beyond this lively facade is home to Klothberg which is a boutique, café and ice cream parlor all rolled into one. The ground floor houses clothing, shoes and accessories – both made in-house and sourced from European markets. There are shoes in bubblegum pink and sober white, stilettos in lime green, envelope clutches in silver, straw hats with bows and frayed edges, and dresses in different silhouettes, colors, and prints. At one end of the store is a large mural of a girl created using discarded denim. Rajeev Raj Jagasia, founder of House of Clothberg, says, “We are on the path to becoming 100% sustainable. Right now we have a lot of jute-based products, bamboo-based fabrics and upcycled fabrics. The autumn ’26 collection will have vegan leather made from pomegranate and mango-based leather.” Eighty percent of the collection is made in India in factories in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Chennai, Bengaluru, Noida and includes Tencel and Indian cotton as well as natural dyes.
Rajeev studied fashion and did his Masters from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, Netherlands. He lived there for seven years, researching upcycling and eventually starting Clothberg in Amsterdam. He then moved back to Chennai and launched House of Clothberg this year. Rajeev says, “While living in Amsterdam, I was a vegan activist. After coming back, I wanted to combine conscious clothing and conscious food habits.”
The interiors feature tables, murals and mats made using upcycled materials Photo Credit: Special Arrangements
At House of Clothberg’s Vegan Fashion Café, Chef Naga Arjun is on a mission to prove that vegan food can be fun and full of flavor. Experimenting with this menu gave them the opportunity to unleash their creativity. So, when the first dish is placed in front of me, I am a little confused. It appears like that AvakkaiIt tastes the same, but after two forkfuls I realize it’s pretending to be an avocado AvakkaiThis is the Avocado Tartare, one of the best sellers here, This dish gets its spiciness and flavor from the yuzu and alphonso puree, as well as the shiso dressing and tapioca crisps for texture,
“It took me four months to finalize this menu. We are bringing in flavors from Japan and Peru and will keep updating the menu,” says Arjun, who trained and worked in Lithuania. The café wants diners to know that vegan food is more than just tofu and almond milk. To prove it, the next dish served is wakame salad made with seaweed kelp, house marinated sauce, cucumber, daikon radish and jalapeno sauce. With so many shades of green, it resembles a terrarium in a bowl and is totally refreshing on this balmy afternoon. While the flavor is largely European and Asian, there are also some Indian touches in the form of sourdough pizza with tandoori sauce, which is topped with soy and jackfruit imitation meat chunks.
“We will also introduce fake meat versions of prawns and fish,” says Rajeev.
The vegetarian café also serves European and Japanese cuisine. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
After a hearty meal, I head to the mezzanine level to have some gelato. The place is filled with pastel colors and more graffiti. After the usual difficult decision of choosing between about 15 flavors – raspberry sorbet, pistachio, coconut, matcha, and espresso, among others, all of which are made with almond milk – I settled for my usual dark chocolate. As far as gelatos go, it’s hard and frozen, and the first piece awkwardly slips out of the cone and falls to the floor. Taking a second helping, I found a spot near the big window. Tables are few, but you can find seating outside under thatched umbrellas that give the feel of a beach holiday.
House of Clothberg is located at New No. 17, Old No. 9, Harrington Road, Chetpet.
