Fashion insiders need look no further for their dose of style and haute couture. This new retail space which opened this month is the first of its kind to offer a niche curation of young and established designers who have found a foothold in the global industry. With names like Urvashi Kaur, Khanijo, Koytoy and Almost Gods among many others gathering heat and gaining traction with a new generation of Gen Z spenders and enthusiasts, this experiential space will no doubt be the new favorite terrain of the local fashion scene. . While founder Dhruv Sharma has a deep understanding of space management coming from a family business of restaurant and hotel management, creative director Nitya Arora has been part of the fashion circuit for over a decade now, which makes this new project all the more exciting. and promising. The selection process is also a carefully edited curation that hopes to maintain a brand ethos, a sweet spot, giving space to rising fashion industry superstars.
“As a brand, we are notoriously slow and decidedly selective when it comes to incubating brands on our campus. With fashion that spans centuries and a diverse internal cultural diaspora of sub-regional narratives, India offers an unparalleled landscape of established fashion brands that have been adorned on catwalks and A-list celebrities across the world. While we remain humbled by their talent and drive, the galleries have found their place as a showcase for brands that have the same level of authentic storytelling, community, and global richness, but are still in their pre-development phase. -discovery,” says Sharma. Galleries propel an anti-mall culture where designers have independent entrances and their own translation of their brand into the space for their clients. The business model for this project has taken the form of high-end stores like Dover Street Market, famous for their niche sensibilities and a tight selection of designers who cater to a certain digestible aesthetic for a more discerning audience that has never been previously performed in the country. “The number of new-age Indian entrepreneurs who have recently found their footing in fashion weeks in Milan, Paris and New York, but have not found a home in the form of retail experience in India was a huge gap – and also a big business proposition,” says Arora.