Take a look at Non-commercial pilot Akshay Sharma's aviation inspired collection

Woodfeather propellers

For some time before Woodfeather came into existence, Mumbai-based Akshay Sharma would go MIA on weekends. In 2014, he contacted an American company for a decorative propeller for his new house. "Despite paying a bomb, the propeller got lost in transit and that was very frustrating.

It pushed me to a point where I said, 'To hell with it, I'll make one myself,'" says Sharma, adding that he had no background in woodwork or carpentry but began experimenting with a piece of log every day before work, out of sheer passion. "I made a whole mishmash out of it and it looked something like a propeller," he quips. Even so, when Sharma finally put it up on the wall, people seemed to love it and that's when the disappearing began.

Display at Cafe Zoe

"When I saw what I had made wasn't all that bad, I tried to make a few over the weekends. Nobody knew what I was up to. Then, last year, I did a small pop-up for my close ones at a furniture store, to tell them 'this is what I've been up to' and then, everything sold out! Interestingly, most of the customers weren't associated with aviation but regular people who wanted something cool and funky for their house," he shares.

Akshay Sharma

Sharma, 39, who is a hobby pilot and could not pursue it as a profession because of his eyesight, quit his full-time corporate job last year for his venture, Woodfeather, which makes handcrafted aircraft propellers. "People are bored of glass elephants and marble horses and are looking for unique and bold interior decor. So, I drove Woodfeather towards a bespoke aviation decor space," he tells us.

Sharma's first collection will be on display and sale at Cafe Zoe, and will feature three lines - vintage, propellers made out of solid teak with brass fittings and reminiscent of airplanes from yesteryear; classic, which are basic propellers in blacks and whites; and signature, which are customised, funkier, artsy ones inspired by everything from superheroes to what Sharma called 'an absurd request from his nephew to make a Pokemon one'. Who would've thought of airplanes as an inspiration for decor, but art, as they say, is endless.

Till: April 29
Time: 7.30 am to 1 am
At: Todi Mills, Lower Parel.
Call: 24902065

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