In Mumbai’s historic Kala Ghoda precinct, the bottom ground of the City Ice Building has been remodeled into Rahul Mishra’s sprawling flagship atelier. It is the style designer’s largest retail endeavor in India, conceived as a museum-like maison by architect and designer Rooshad Shroff, whose work is synonymous with beautiful Indian craftsmanship for the trendy aesthete.
Behind the luxurious Mumbai outposts of Louis Vuitton, Kunal Rawal, and the design Mecca Nilaya Anthology, Shroff additionally collaborated with artist and designer Patrick Kinmonth to check and execute the 2023 India in Fashion exhibition at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre. It had featured Mishra’s couture. For Mishra, Shroff was the suitable individual to convey his Mumbai maison into actuality, particularly with what he had in thoughts. “I envisioned the store as a gallery, spread seamlessly across a single floor,” the designer shares.
Mishra’s design leitmotifs, drawn from the botanical, avian, and entomological worlds that he has created in couture, are anchored within the area itself.
| Photo Credit:
Pankaj Anand
After a protracted seek for an appropriate single-level area, Mishra got here throughout the City Ice Building, a historic construction with a nautical façade situated on a road nook. The edifice, round 80 years outdated, is claimed to have been a former ice manufacturing unit within the Nineteen Seventies. “There’s a renewed appreciation for the old and heritage,” says Shroff, about Horniman Circle and the Kala Ghoda areas turning into luxurious vogue retail hubs, reflecting the bigger motion of valuing and reimagining Mumbai’s historic structure.
The 7,500 sq.ft area with its hovering 15-foot-high ceilings was the right backdrop for Mishra’s oeuvre. “It’s always nice to give a space a second life and see how these heritage buildings can be re-adapted. Many of them also offer generous ceiling heights, such as this one, which create striking retail experiences, especially in the back rooms, where there’s a great volume to play with,” says Shroff.
Rahul Mishra, Divya Bhatt Mishra, and Rooshad Shroff at the occasion.
| Photo Credit:
Special association
The constructing provided an oblong naked shell for the duo to flesh out their concepts. Being in a state of disrepair, it took practically two months earlier than the area was prepared for its transformation. Inside, drawings, dried flowers, archival motifs, and embroidery swatches are offered as objects of artwork, providing an intimate window into the method behind couture.
“Although the original space was a clean rectangle, the idea was to transform it into an immersive storytelling environment, along with retail. Each chamber represents a different chapter of Rahul Mishra’s journey,” says Shroff. The cavernous ground was framed into cocoons, conducive to the duo’s imaginative and prescient of ‘meandering’ via, every part an invite to peel again layers of Mishra’s meticulous design course of and impeccable craftsmanship.
A view of the store.
| Photo Credit:
Pankaj Anand
What makes the atelier distinct from different luxurious retail is that Mishra’s craftsmanship is embellished deep into the brick and mortar, evident that it’s a Rahul Mishra Maison, even with out the presence of vogue grounding it. “The idea wasn’t to create a space that was merely a blank canvas, but where the architecture and interiors are as intrinsic to the brand as are the garments,” says Shroff, who needed the store to be a repository of Mishra’s huge physique of present and archival work, an introduction to those that have been unfamiliar together with his craft.
“I feel that in today’s world, where everything is accessible online, the role of a physical space needs to evolve into much more than just a retail experience. It should offer the end user something deeper, especially when it comes to the kind of clothes Rahul Mishra Maison is creating and selling. These are more occasional pieces, not impulse buys, but purchases tied to planned events and celebrations. In such cases, one needs to be immersed in the designer’s world, with an experience that goes beyond just the transactional,” says Shroff, concerning the significance of making an atmosphere that provides a glimpse into the thoughts and the workings of the designer.
A glimpse of the detailing.
| Photo Credit:
Pankaj Anand
Deeper into the store, you see how this artistry unfolds. Mishra’s design leitmotifs, drawn from the botanical, avian, and entomological worlds that he has created in couture, are anchored within the area itself. Birds are carved into the wood marquetry. Inlaid marble lamps and vases add a visible softness. A wall glitters with jewel bugs embellished with semi-precious stones. Each of those components has been an intrinsic a part of his visible narrative.
Roughly textured onyx podiums present a country materiality, assertion items doubling up as platforms for couture. Everything holds the story of Mishra’s visible narrative of their language. The dressmaker’s atelier, too, has created vignettes via the store. On wooden panels, artisans have crafted intricate floral buds with French knots. Flower blossoms have been embroidered onto the wall cladding.
The materials palette additionally echoes earthiness. Pink sandstone flooring is punctuated with custom-made carpets that includes motifs from earlier collections, and all the area is complemented by wall colors in numerous shades of nude.
A glimpse of the detailing.
| Photo Credit:
Pankaj Anand
The atelier options Mishra’s couture, prêt-à-porter label AFEW, a couple of choose artworks created at the atelier by the artisans, their coveted couture luggage, and intimate private procuring suites. “It has almost a maximalist zen feel,” Mishra concludes, summing up his paradoxical feelings for the maison.
The author is a sustainability advisor and founding father of Beejliving, a life-style platform devoted to sluggish dwelling.
