After a month's wait, a joint store by fashion designer Masaba Gupta and jewellery designer Nitya Arora saw an official launch, yesterday. A day before the launch, they talked shop with Ruchika Kher, and why Kala Ghoda appealed to them
It was not just their friendship that got fashion designer Masaba Gupta and jewellery designer Nitya Arora into opening a store together, “With skyrocketing rents in South Bombay, doing this together was economical,” explains Gupta, who already has a store in Juhu.
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Fashion designer Masaba Gupta and jewellery designer Nitya Arora at their store in Kala Ghoda. Pic/Bipin Kokate
While Gupta had wanted to open a store in town, Arora was actively looking for a space in Kala Ghoda to stock her label, Valliyan. Also, she feels that her Juhu store is far for people in SoBo. “I love the vibe of this place. Colaba is great but it’s overcrowded. Kala Ghoda offers a low-key, more artistic space,” says Arora.
Finally, after a long search, Arora stumbled upon her dream place. “It was big, and I remembered that Masaba had once suggested sharing a store. I asked her to see the place and we had sealed it in less than a week,” spells out the jewellery designer.
The store has careful divisions for stocking collections of both designers; logical, owing to the professional approach that the friends-turned-partners took. “We divided our work well. Nitya likes interiors, so she took care of that. Since I was travelling a lot, I could barely do anything on that front. However, both of us did things with each other’s approval. When we work, we talk like two professionals,” reasons Gupta.
The young designer also puts things in perspective as far as her collection at the store is concerned. She consciously stocked a slightly different line in town as compared to the one at her Juhu store. “Many foreigners and lovers of the arts are here, so it’s an eclectic crowd in Kala Ghoda. On the other hand, my Juhu store gets a lot more walk-ins; people from all walks of life including families. In SoBo, I feel, more edgy collections will work,” explaining why more shorts, dresses, jackets and print-oriented designs will be spotted at this store. “My festive line will be concentrated more in my Juhu store because I feel at Kala Ghoda, the crowd will look more for quick buys,” she adds.
As far as Arora’s line is concerned, one can spot pieces from her collection, My Enchanted Forest, on display. “I’m inspired by surrealism; this collection is inspired by that mixed with nature. Hence, it has a lot of animal motifs, underwater creatures, etc. Also Art Deco is a permanent fixture of my collections,” she tells us.
At Shop no 62, Machinery House, Burjorji Bharucha Marg, Kala Ghoda, near Rhythm House.
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