Project Description
Across the road from the historic Qutub Complex stands the Flagship Store for globally acclaimed couturier Gaurav Gupta, a deconstructed maze-like dreamscape emblematic of the designer’s work. This new flagship store at Mehrauli – following premium outlets in Mumbai and Delhi – is the product of the enriching collaboration between the Gaurav Gupta brand and Studio Lotus. Gupta’s work balances the familiar and the fantastical to craft a timeless, yet futuristic brand identity; the design of the new store manifests this narrative through an immersive retail experience.
The store premises consist of a single-story building located in one of India’s finest fashion districts. Delicate metal screens create the site enclosure, lined by a private garden. A nondescript rectangular floorplate becomes the shell within which a layered geometry of spaces has been crafted. An oblong central hall, the Couture Room, acts as the core of the outlet, opening up at multiple points into peripheral rooms. The rooms, varying in size and scale, house the different collections by the label; this distinction in function is enhanced by the specific visual expression of each space, which marks a subtle transition between the zones as one moves through them. These zones consist of bridal salon areas with changing rooms, the men’s collection room, and a discussion area set up with a dinner table – to name a few.
The spatial layout of the store subtly subverts the notion of direct sightlines. Strategically aligned doorways provide uninterrupted views across multiple zones, while narrow slivers in the walls offer glimpses from one space to another. The wide windows looking out at the garden and strategically placed full-length mirrors create engaging backdrops for each fitting. The wall openings have been chamfered and their edges lined with mirrors, altering the user’s perception of the space and reinforcing the conceptual intent of the creation of a surreal experience.
The tactile expression of the architecture combines a deconstructed aesthetic with a subdued colour palette, creating a space filled with monochromatic tones of grey to make for a suitable retail backdrop. Handcrafted mouldings and sculptures embellish the richly-textured plaster walls; details of sculpted cast metal animal forms in the display racks, furniture and accessories extend a narrative that ties all zones together and makes this fantastical world come alive. Mirrors, framed artworks, suspended mannequins and dress forms have been curated to create visual focal points throughout the store.
The brand’s idea of luxury is predicated upon bespoke hand-crafting and attention to detail, which is reflected in the laying patterns of the polished Indian marble floors, the bent metal racks with swan forms embedded in the hooks, the exquisitely detailed sculptures in brass, cast iron, timber and fibre glass, and the chandeliers and furniture that have been specially commissioned.
All furniture and accessory display units have been detailed with fabric lining; large swathes of fine grey carpeting along the changing rooms add warmth and softness to space. Each of the changing rooms open up and extend into larger salon areas. Large custom-made three-way mirrors, dressing podiums and flexible seating ensure comfortable interactions between the customer and Gaurav’s design team. All the changing rooms have been lit with a uniform glow from a stretched membrane lighting fixture that is suspended from the ceiling.
The beautiful Siras tree that stood on the site before construction commenced has been retained and woven into the built fabric, now standing in the entrance courtyard; a prismatic glass sheath in a mild steel frame wraps around the trunk and culminates at the ceiling in the form of a skylight that floods the Couture Room with natural light. The façade of the building, in line with the neighbouring development, bears distinct neo-classical influences, articulated with arched doors and windows. The building has been shielded from the road with extensive plantation around the periphery of the building, while creepers have been planted to drape over the building with time and add to the intrigue. All openings have been glazed with clear glass, which frame the view of the suspended mannequins within and act as prime street display spaces for the store. Aligned with these openings are the mild steel metal grille gates customized to form the highly recognizable swan motif as seen in the previous stores of the brand, to facilitate brand recall.
Embodying the unique artistic vision that Gupta possesses, the design for the flagship store draws from multiple and disparate sources of inspiration – be it the Dickensian townscape of Great Expectations, or fantastical motifs from European folklore. A richly layered and deeply engaging spatial experience created to offer the visitors a peek into the designer’s psyche, the Flagship Store for Gaurav Gupta brings alive the larger-than-life, surrealist narrative of Gupta’s work that has captured the Indian fashion industry’s imagination for more than a decade.