The still ladies stood all along the corridors. In georgette saris, silver gowns, winged chiffon dresses, pin-tucked shifts…all pointing to one direction. Emporio in Vasant Kunj got a new occupant — Gaurav Gupta. The designer opened his exclusive store at the mall recently, his first.
The launch saw the presence of designers Ritu Kumar, Hemant Sagar of Lacoanet Hemant, and Rohit Bal, and also actor Chitrangdha Singh (in a flaming red Gaurav Gupta creation).
Four years after a successful debut and many well-acclaimed shows later, many considered it high time that Gupta set up his flagship. The store, designed by architectural firm Matra, has been made to look like a piazza — read fountain in the centre, pebbled flooring at the entrance and grey concrete walls.
A sense of incompletion and controlled coarseness has been deliberately left all over the place — as in the rough concrete walls that look the way walls do before they're smoothened and plastered, or in the grey trial room curtains that look almost makeshift — which works for the store. Mannequins don't stand on the floor but float suspended from the ceilings like well-plumed birds.
“A lot of attention has gone into each and every inch of the store,” says Gupta.
The store houses pieces from Gaurav Gupta's Spring/ Summer 2010 collection, prêt and couture, bridal and occasion wear for women, and men's wear.
There is also a footwear line (booties and wedges, primarily) besides Swarovski pieces from the designer's Spring/ Summer show at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.
Mumbai will follow Delhi. “We're already scouting for locations,” he says. “Also, we're trying to do a lot of pop projects now, like Kidology (the newly launched children's wear store, where Gaurav Gupta has contributed his designs),” he adds.
