You can spot the Amit Aggarwal store in DLF Promenade from quite the distance. It’s quite the aberration in a mall with bright, shiny lights. This is a dark space, minimalism reigns supreme and black is the preferred colour for the walls and the tall ceilings. It’s shrouded in mystique, seemingly obscure but is it really if you can’t resist a peek inside?
The store flaunts a chic, minimalist design- a signature of the brand’s ethos. You could see the place being used for more- perhaps a spoken word, an exhibition? The mind boggles at the possibilities. You can tell that this is intentional, Amit is known for seeing his stores as more than places where you buy an outfit. The lights are dimmed and despite Delhi’s most glamorous set being around, each of the pieces catch the eye. There are pods here and each one houses an Amit Aggarwal creation. Much like the store, the ensembles straddle the realms of fashion and art with effortless ease.
The walls are a deep shade of charcoal, and feature jagged edges, a sharp departure for a couture house, you’d think. But Amit has always cleverly played with textures (his creations are proof). So this rawness is juxtaposed against a gleaming floor and covered by a ceiling that has twinkling lights reminiscent of the night sky. The designer wanted to impart a sense of timelessness to the store, and he achieves this with this space. With this outpost, Amit also explores the themes of growth and regeneration, of warmth, of wombs. There’s a theatrical (but not gimmicky) expression of concepts and ideas and these translate to installations at the store that draw the the visitor’s eye. The textures, the lights- each feature is used imaginatively to create an effect that has the viewer mesmerised. You will be thinking about the store, long after you’ve walked out of its hallowed halls.
You know you’re witnessing the extraordinary, like you’re privy to an untouched realm. The coveted couturier’s creations would just as easily find a place in a museum as in a showroom. Amit Aggarwal has never done things in half measures and he’s not starting now. With his third store, he manages to create a space that transcends the worlds of fashion and art and brings them together in a euphoric climax.
Check out his creations here.
