March 16, 2012: Indian designer Gaurav Gupta has launched his flagship store at the DLF Emporio mall in New Delhi. The concept of the store is born out of the duality of Mr Gupta’s collections for his Pret and Couture lines. The space is sculpted in monochrome with concrete walls seeming to surreally float within the relatively tight volume, and slice the space into two zones without dividing it.
The store has been entirely crafted by hand, right from the cast concrete panels and walls, to the hand forged ceiling suspended racks on one side, and the art-nouveau inspired lacquered iron racks on the other. The drama is heightened by the sculpted pieces of furniture and artifacts crafted in mild steel and quilted leather.
Floating mirrors cast in metal, amorphous and curved feline furniture, suspended and sculpted metal racks, gurgling fountains, walls and floor cast in concrete and a special couture salon area are a few features of this unprecedented essay in creating a space.
The store has a sense of stark honesty in its conception and execution through its raw materiality. The focus is on structure and form echoing the designer’s cutting edge design philosophy with his clothes.
