Neeha Salma, a designer and civil engineer from Kozhikode, is over the moon. Masks from her label, Fitish Essentials, have travelled all the way to Bollywood. Among the clientele are actors Sara Ali Khan, Taapsee Pannu and Shraddha Kapoor.

“When the pandemic hit, masks became a necessity. That was when I launched Fitish Essentials [a branch of her online label Fitish], a line of cloth masks, with designs inspired from nature such as butterflies, rainbows, and sunflowers.

“The three-layered and soft pure cotton masks come with hand-embroidery and lace work. My accent is on keeping them cheerful with pleasing colours. Now that the mask has become a part of our attire, I felt that it should complement the person,” says Neeha.

Once she started posting her collection on her Instagram page (@fitishessentials), several e-commerce sites got in touch with her. Among them was 6degree, which took her masks to the celebrities.

“Sara was photographed twice in my masks, Taapsee posted a photograph wearing it while travelling to Maldives! Shraddha has promoted it on her handle,” says the 27-year-old.

Neeha launched Fitish in 2018 once she started getting requests to make clothes for friends and family. Fitish does linen and cotton casual wear, in addition to custom-made wedding and party dresses.

Among the masks in her collection are masks for mother-son and mother-daughter duo. The masks are priced from ₹199 onwards. Check out the designs on www.fitishessentials.com