New Delhi: "Bombay is a special city, the city where I was born and raised. This is where every sight and sound evokes nostalgia: memories from my childhood, layered upon the stories lived and re-lived by the millions who have called this city home over millennia. It is only in Bombay that Victorian, modernist, and survival architecture thrive in each other's company, where trees grow on cricket fields and flowers bloom beside industrial hubs. Bombay is my birthplace and muse," says luxury designer Amit Aggarwal.
This is the city Aggarwal called home for the best part of his childhood, the city he said goodbye to 22 years ago to make someone of himself. But Mumbai is a generous mother. She filled his shoes with sand and his mind with memories.
It's been a dream of Aggarwal to open a store in the fashion capital of India, and so he announced the opening of his flagship store in Mumbai at BEST Marg, Colaba. This experiential store is steeped in culture and history, set to a soundtrack of the ocean's shifting moods.
The store is inspired by Bombay's sea, sand and breeze. The open layout of the space and the iridescent textiles used for decor reflect the city's lights over its vast ocean as they change colour between dusk and dawn. The dark grey matte floors, metallic grey walls and sandy concrete furniture accent the inspiration of sand, giving the space a modern language. It has no sharp edges, the walls have smooth curves and custom-built amorphous furniture brings in the lightness of a cool breeze.
"This store is the story of my return to Mumbai, and the objectification of this moment is the central installation that showcases a school of amorphous creatures, all unique yet in perfect sync, floating with each other to form a whole. In designing this space, I have used signature textiles, including metallic polymers and remnant metallic piping, a homage to the old and evolved city I return to after 22 years.
