THE ORIGINAL. CONCEIVED AND CRAFTED IN ITALY
CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2018
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EDITOR’S LETTER CONTRIBUTOR S
DIS C OVE R IE S
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CER A MIC NATION The first edition of the
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BEIRUT-BOMBAY FUSION Rue du Liban, the
BJÖRN WALLANDER
ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST
Indian Ceramics Triennale turns the focus on pottery, reinventing the wheel for this artisanal craft and ushering it into the elite pantheon of art forms.
newest addition to the Kala Ghoda heritage district in south Mumbai, is a restaurant that fuses more than just its gastronomic influences.
` 200 SEPTEMBER 2018 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES IN THE WORLD
INDIA
Sabya
AT HOME IN
Calcutta
ON THE COVER
THE
September ISSUE
Designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee with his nephews and dogs at his Kolkata home. (‘The Real Sabya’, pg 178) Photographer: Björn Wallander
pg 196
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contents 52
54
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A CASE OF THE BLUES At
the centre of political and social conflict in pre-independent India, the contentious indigo dye finds itself as the highlight of this year’s London Design Festival.
THE DOMINIONITES
The genre-defining furniture by the late architect and designer Luigi Caccia Dominioni finds the spotlight once again, with a new commemorative collection from B&B Italia.
BJÖRN WALANDER
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THE SEPTEMBER ISSUE
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RENAISSANCE MAN Designer
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LAR A CR AFT Jewellery designer Lara Bohinc’s orbit of inspiration—the circle—was also the starting point for her debut furniture line.
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VER SACE ON THE FLOOR
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FASHION TOAST Italian
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TOUR DE DIOR Dior Homme
THE THOMAS CHIPPENDALE AFFAIR
The cabinetmaker’s tercentenary brought together the Chippendale Society, the Leeds City Museum and private estates to host events celebrating Chippendale’s work.
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dominated the conversation at art gallerist Shireen Gandhy’s brunch for young collectors.
HOT DESK With its new collection of concrete desk decor, inspired by brutalist architecture, Nappa Dori cements its ability to craft luxury accessories. TRENDSPOTTING From
lights to furniture and accessories—a collection of trendy products that fit perfectly in the AD dream home.
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THE GOOD LIFE From the
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YOUNG COLLECTOR S Art, acquisition and all things artistic
latest in fashion and design, AD curates a range of stylish luxury products.
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Virgil Abloh finds success in both fashion and furniture with his first collections for Louis Vuitton menswear and IKEA.
With its latest home collection, Versace validates its contributions to the realm of home decor, one it has excelled in for the past 25 years. kitchen brand Smeg and couturiers Dolce&Gabbana design new appliances for their colourful collection.
partnered with French BMX maker Bogarde to create a pair of fashion-forward bicycles— including one in gold.
GOLDENEYE Jewellery designer Suhani Parekh, of Misho fame, brings her structural approach to create sunglasses that display a unique Bauhaus-meetsJapan aesthetic.
pg 178
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PAUL BAKER/HAREWOOD HOUSE TRUST
contents
pg 56 108
NATUR AL THREADS Designer Amit Babbar
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AD x SHEETAL MALLAR The former
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GR A NDMA’S CHAIR Bees, Gs and everything in between—Gucci decorates your home in its familiar motifs with a new decor collection.
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AD x DIET SABYA Though known for calling out
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CARRIED AWAY Perona is New Delhi’s latest
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AD x JASJYOT SINGH HA NS The US-based
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THE REAL SABYA Of immaculate craftsmanship
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UPSTATE CHIC Fashion designer Bibhu
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THE BOY WITH THE PEARL EARRING
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HURRICA NE PRER NA Mumbai society maven
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blends Indian and Japanese elements in his first menswear collection for Raw Mango.
destination for sharp fashion and leather accessories.
TOM O’CLOCK Designer Tom Ford adds yet
another feather to his hat with the launch of his collection of watches.
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THE SIMPLE LIFE Armed with new inspirations, fashion designer Nimish Shah extends his home furnishing line with a fresh collection.
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WHAT PINAKIN DID NEXT After stepping
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away from interior design, Pinakin Patel turned to fashion, which is on display at his Mumbai store.
TAILOR MADE Couturier Govinda Mehta found
a new home for designing, making and displaying his bespoke menswear.
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DÉJEUNER CHEZ D’ASCOLI Peter and Cecile
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PA NIC ROOM High concept meets high fashion
D’Ascoli—founders of lifestyle brand D’Ascoli— host a private brunch for New Delhi’s social elite.
meets high design in a photographic recreation of the movie Panic Room—on location in luxury stores.
supermodel and current photographer creates contemporary portraits of her friends. plagiarists, the critics—familiar only through their social media handle—look to find truly original names in fashion and design.
fashion illustrator’s sketches seek out the synchronicity between structural furniture and fluid fashion.
and exquisite clothing, fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s distinct aesthetic was at work on a diferent kind of canvas—his two-storey home in a prestigious neighbourhood in Kolkata.
Mohapatra’s American dream is his Hudson Valley home—layered with art, packed with nostalgia and absolutely stylish.
For jewellery designer Hanut Singh—whose designs are worn by the fashionable likes of Rihanna and Madonna—home is a Mussoorie cottage deeply steeped in heritage. Prerna Goel embarked on a whirlwind process to accoutre her stylish home in a high-rise in the city.
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L EG E N DA R Y PE R F O R M A N C E FA B R I C S I N D I A . SU N B R E L L A .CO M
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contents 228
THE BR ADY BUNCH He heads Raymond’s
apparel division; she’s a home-styling consultant with an eye for the eclectic. And this is their home—an apartment in Mumbai’s iconic Brady Flats.
T H E KITCHE N RE P ORT
237 240 242
BJÖRN WALANDER
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THE LAST SUPPER A frequent guest at Azzedine
Alaïa’s table, Maximiliano Modesti explains how food and fashion went hand in hand for the late designer.
VINCENT VAN KITCHEN The Belgian architect,
now the creative director for Italian brands Dada and Molteni&C, released two new kitchens for the former.
NOW YOU SEE IT Valcucine’s newest design, the
‘Logica Celata’ is a concealed, modular space for cooking, designed to blend in with your kitchen.
FENDI CUCINE At this year’s Salone del Mobile,
Italian fashion maison Fendi tied up with compatriot kitchen brand Scic to launch Fendi Cucine.
246
FOOD FOR THOUGHT An excerpt from artist Rajyashri Goody’s profound booklet of poems.
248
WHAT’S COOKING? AD’s coverage of kitchen
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NEWSREEL The low-down on the hottest products to hit the market this season.
266 270
STOCKISTS An A-Z of the stores in our pages.
272
THE MOOD The diverse inspirations that moulded
designs and appliances that are trending right now.
AD10 Deepikka Jindal, founder of Arttd’inox, on a
few of her favourite things.
fashion designer Rashmi Varma’s penchant for precision, originality and artistry.
pg 196
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– Hyderabad-based groom, Pranay Lagadapati married in Kolkata in April 2018
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Ă›iĂ€ ĂƒÂˆÂ˜Vi ÂœĂ•Ă€ w Ă€ĂƒĂŒ ÂˆÂ˜ĂŒiĂ€>VĂŒÂˆÂœÂ˜ ĂœÂˆĂŒÂ… our Wedding Advisors on Skype, ĂŒÂ…iĂž Ă•Â˜`iĂ€ĂƒĂŒÂœÂœ` “Þ ˜ii`Ăƒ LivÂœĂ€i ÂŤÂ?>˜˜i` “Þ ĂŒĂ€ÂˆÂŤ ĂŒÂœ ՓL>ˆ° "˜ >Ă€Ă€ÂˆĂ›>Â?] iĂ›iĂ€ĂžĂŒÂ…ÂˆÂ˜} iĂ›iĂ€ `Ă€i>“i` Âœv >˜` iÂ˜Ă›ÂˆĂƒÂˆÂœÂ˜i` vÂœĂ€ “Þ Ăœi``ˆ˜} Ăœ>Ăƒ Ăƒi>“Â?iĂƒĂƒÂ?Ăž vĂ•Â?w Â?Â?i`° – New York-based bride, Sabina Bathija married in New York and Long Island, USA in June 2018
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What is it For over 10 years, Vogue India has been the country’s last word in fashion and luxury lifestyle. Launched in 2017, the Vogue Wedding Company comes as a spin-off to the successful five-year run of the Vogue Wedding Show, India’s leading luxury wedding exhibition. The Vogue Wedding Company is a neverseen-before wedding advisory service that fuses Vogue’s expertise and insider knowledge with state-of-the-art technology. It caters to couples and families like yours, helping you discover, select and meet the right brands and specialists.
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interactive technology platform that carries a comprehensive bank of information and visual references on these names. Our advisors will help you prioritise and choose the brands and experts you would like to meet.
Step 1: The Briefing Meetings Our Wedding Advisors will meet the bride/ groom and the family at their preferred venue to understand their thoughts and how they foresee the pre-wedding and wedding functions. They will then visualise your wedding for you and take care of every detail.
Step 3: Access to Brands and Experts We will then introduce you to your preferred dream-makers at a mutually convenient time, while also accompanying you through the meetings and recces.
Step 2: The Recommendation Meetings To proceed, we present you with a personalised bouquet of products and services from category leaders as well as hidden gems. We do this by using the Vogue Wedding Company’s
Categories Brides/Grooms: Bridal Designer, Jewellery, Designer Menswear, Hair & Make-up, Fashion Stylists, Saris, Shawls, Footwear, Chinaware, Women’s Luxury wear, Men’s Luxury wear, Skin, Fitness, Intimates, Home, Kids wear, Handbags, Luggage, Trousseau Events Related: Wedding Planners, Destination & Venues, Décor & Design, Food & Bar, Photography & Videography, Hotels, Non-Hotel Venues, Florists, Caterers, DJ, Choreographers, Bar Services, Entertainment, Alcoholic Beverages Invitations & Gifting: Invitations, Gifting, Confectionery, Suitings, Watches, Silver, Packaging
Whatever you desire—a big traditional wedding comprising several functions or an intimate destination wedding with a line-up of contemporary events—we will guide you through it all and turn your vision to reality. vogueweddingcompany.com
EDITOR GREG FOSTER
CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER ARJUN MEHRA
MANAGING EDITOR Sanhita Sinha Chowdhury
PUBLISHER Armaity Amaria ASSOCIATE ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Kapil Tolani SENIOR ADVERTISING MANAGER Nidhi Gaur (New Delhi) ADVERTISING MANAGER Aditi Sharma (New Delhi) ACCOUNT MANAGER - ADVERTISING SALES Varun A Sama ITALY SALES REPRESENTATIVE Angelo Carredu US ADVERTISING MANAGER Alessandro Cremona MANAGER - DIGITAL SALES Diksha Chhabra ASSISTANT MANAGER - DIGITAL SALES Disha Shetty (Bengaluru) MARKETING DIRECTOR Madhura Phadnis MARKETING MANAGER Medha Kapur AGM - ADMIN & SUBSCRIPTION OPS Boniface Dsouza PR MANAGER Amrita Hom Ray PR EXECUTIVE Sasha Nambiar HEAD - EVENTS Fritz Fernandes MANAGER - EVENTS Trishala Jailwala, Khushnaz Daruwala CREATIVE DIRECTOR - PROMOTIONS & CREATIVE SOLUTIONS Dipti Soonderji Mongia ASSOCIATE PROMOTIONS EDITOR Sherrie A Marker SENIOR PROMOTIONS WRITER Kinjal Vora SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER Karishma Gupta GRAPHIC DESIGNER Varun Patil SENIOR COPY EDITOR & WRITER - PRINT Akanksha Maker MANAGER - ALLIANCES Kosha Gala MANAGER - CIRCULATION OPERATIONS Jeeson Kollannur CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Amrit Bardhan FINANCIAL CONTROLLER Rakesh Shetty ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - VIDEO COMMERCIAL Kastubh Belur SENIOR ACCOUNTANT Dattaprasanna Bhagwat ACCOUNTANTS Nitin Chavan, Anthony Paulose SENIOR PLANNING MANAGER Alisha Goriawala HEAD - HUMAN RESOURCES Lopamudra Ghose SENIOR MANAGER - HUMAN RESOURCES Mohsin Ismail ASSISTANT MANAGER - HUMAN RESOURCES Ria Ganguly CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER Gaurav Mishra DIRECTOR - DIGITAL SALES AND BRANDED CONTENT Shreyas Rao ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - INFLUENCER MANAGEMENT Tarika Singh DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR Kiran Suryanarayana TECHNOLOGY PROJECT MANAGERS Amrita Sudheendran, Dipak Raghuwansi HEAD - AD OPERATIONS Saurabh Sharma UX DESIGNER Anurag Jain DATA TECH MANAGER Dilip Patil AD OPERATIONS MANAGER Sujit Jha SENIOR EXECUTIVE - AD OPERATIONS Vartika Sohal AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Saurabh Garg SENIOR MANAGER - DIGITAL MARKETING Vishal Modh MARKETING MANAGER - SUBSCRIPTIONS V Satyavagheewasan MANAGER - DIGITAL MARKETING Sushmita Balasubramanian ASSISTANT MANAGER - AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Isha Gupta ASSISTANT MANAGER - SEO Akash Kumar MANAGER - EMAIL MARKETING Avantika Pandey Bathiya DIGITAL BRAND SOLUTIONS DIRECTOR Salil Inamdar ASSOCIATE BRAND SOLUTIONS DIRECTOR Abhishek Mehrotra MANAGING EDITOR - DIGITAL BRANDED CONTENT Nisha Samson SENIOR MANAGERS - DIGITAL BRAND SOLUTIONS Abigail Rodrigues, Nisha Chaudhary (New Delhi) CREATIVE PRODUCER - VIDEO Shreya Jain HEAD - ENTERPRISE IT Prem Kumar Tewari DIRECTOR - VIDEO Anita Horam SUPERVISING PRODUCER Ishita Bahadur ASSOCIATE CREATIVE PRODUCER Preshita Saha EA TO MANAGING DIRECTOR Karen Contractor Avari
ART DIRECTOR Ashish Sahi ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR Almas Jani COPY CHIEF Tyrel Rodricks ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR Pallavi Pundir SENIOR FEATURES WRITER Maanya Sachdeva SENIOR STYLIST Samir Wadekar PHOTO ASSISTANT Talib Chitalwala WATCH EDITOR Rishna Shah MANAGER SYNDICATION Michelle Pereira SYNDICATION COORDINATORS Giselle D’Mello, Dalreen Furtado DIGITAL EDITOR Nilofar Shamim Haja DIGITAL WRITERS Barry Nathaniel Rodgers, Vilani Senthamil
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Amit Navarange ASSOCIATE PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Sunil Nayak COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION MANAGER Sudeep Pawar PRODUCTION CONTROLLERS Abhishek Mithbaokar, Mangesh Pawar
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Sunil Sethi Nonie Niesewand Divia Patel Neha Prasada Namita A Shrivastav Divya Mishra Gauri Kelkar Gayatri Rangachari Shah Arati Menon
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Ricardo Labougle Neville Sukhia Tom Parker
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Scan the QR code below to get the digital edition OCTOBER 2017
INDIA `200
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES IN THE WORLD
THE ST Y
Condé Nast International Chairman and Chief Executive: Jonathan Newhouse President: Wolfgang Blau
E ISSU LE
The Condé Nast International Group of Brands includes:
IJ T OH A B RO MIN EN A R SH VI
UK Vogue, House & Garden, Brides, Tatler, The World of Interiors, GQ, Vanity Fair, Condé Nast Traveller, Glamour, Condé Nast Johansens, GQ Style, Love, Wired, Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design, Ars Technica
A A IKI L S H YA HA AG R N AT KHA N
France Vogue, Vogue Hommes, AD, Glamour, Vogue Collections, GQ, AD Collector, Vanity Fair NOVEMBER DECEMBER 2017
JANUARY FEBRUARY 2018
INDIA
INDIA
`200
`200
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES IN THE WORLD
ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES IN THE WORLD
Italy Vogue, Glamour, AD, Condé Nast Traveller, GQ, Vanity Fair, Wired, La Cucina Italiana, Lisa
P I E D - À -T E R R E
THE SMALL SPACES ISSUE VIVEK SAHNI NIMISH SHAH MANSI PODDAR
TASTEMAKERS AT HOME
Germany Vogue, GQ, AD, Glamour, GQ Style, Wired
FROM THE PERFECT GOA CABIN TO A MUMBAI LOFT SMART FLOOR PLANS FILLED WITH STYLE
NAMASTE 2018 THE TRENDS , PEOPLE AND IDEAS THAT WILL DEFINE DESIGN
BATHROOMS THAT MAKE A
H
Spain Vogue, GQ, Vogue Novias, Vogue Niños, Condé Nast Traveler, Vogue Colecciones, Vogue Belleza, Glamour, AD, Vanity Fair Japan Vogue, GQ, Vogue Girl, Wired, Vogue Wedding
DAYANITA SINGH ATUL DODIYA PRINCESS PEA
Taiwan Vogue, GQ, Interculture ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST
` 200 MAY JUNE 2018 THE MOST BEAUTIFUL HOMES IN THE WORLD
INDIA
Hills Alive ’
Mexico and Latin America Vogue Mexico and Latin America, Glamour Mexico, AD Mexico, GQ Mexico and Latin America India Vogue, GQ, Condé Nast Traveller, AD
UE SS
AVEL I TR THE
THE ART ISSUE
Manali, not St. Moritz!
Published under Joint Venture: Brazil: Vogue, Casa Vogue, GQ, Glamour Russia: Vogue, GQ, AD, Glamour, GQ Style, Tatler, Glamour Style Book
Published under License or Copyright Cooperation: Australia: Vogue, Vogue Living, GQ Bulgaria: Glamour China: Vogue, AD, Condé Nast Traveler, GQ, GQ Style, Condé Nast Center of Fashion & Design, Vogue Me, Vogue Film Czech Republic and Slovakia: Vogue, La Cucina Italiana Germany: GQ Bar Berlin Hungary: Glamour Iceland: Glamour Korea: Vogue, GQ, Allure, W Middle East: Vogue, Condé Nast Traveller, AD, GQ, Vogue Café Riyadh Poland: Vogue, Glamour Portugal: Vogue, GQ, Vogue Café Porto Romania: Glamour Russia: Vogue Café Moscow, Tatler Club Moscow South Africa: House & Garden, GQ, Glamour, House & Garden Gourmet, GQ Style, Glamour Hair The Netherlands: Vogue, Glamour, Vogue The Book, Vogue Man, Vogue Living Thailand: Vogue, GQ Turkey: Vogue, GQ Ukraine: Vogue, Vogue Café Kiev
Condé Nast USA President and Chief Executive Oficer: Robert A. Sauerberg, Jr. Artistic Director: Anna Wintour Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour, Brides, Self, GQ, GQ Style, The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, Allure, AD, Bon Appétit, Epicurious, Wired, W, Golf Digest, Teen Vogue, Ars Technica, Pitchfork, Backchannel, Them
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PORTRAIT: R BURMAN
eptember means style. It’s the month in magazines where we all, AD included, publish our annual fashion issues, showcasing the new season’s looks from the world’s greatest fashion talents. And it’s the month of fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris. In France, they call the beginning of September la rentrée, which refers to a mood as much as it does to the time when everyone comes back from holiday. There’s a sense of change—this is when people quit their jobs and end relationships, having spent August in Patmos/Pantelleria/Tangier contemplating the state of their lives. It’s the time for a fresh start. The energy is palpable. And indeed, it does feel like a particularly exciting time in fashion. Even I—a devout disciple of navy John Smedley T-shirts that might be a bit too tight and navy Uniqlo jeans that are definitely too tight—was seduced by the new silhouettes at the men’s collections in Paris this summer. Kim Jones was stellar at Vuitton, but at Dior he’s found his home. His take on the Bar jacket for men? I want it in every colour! And the Saddle bag for men? I’m not so sure, but man-about-town Anurag Tyagi is making a compelling case for it in Mumbai and Delhi. Most exciting is where fashion fuses with architecture, design and interiors. No one personifies this idea more than the man-of-the-moment, Virgil Abloh. A trained architect (à la Tom Ford), he famously cried at the end of his debut show for Vuitton, where his neon holsters were the instant must-haves of next summer. But it’s his upcoming collection for Ikea that had me in tears; I’ve emailed everyone I know in Sweden to make sure I’m first to get the carpet that looks like an Ikea receipt. Just brilliant! In India, the zeitgeist equivalent would, of course, be Sabya. A man so influential that he only needs half a first name, let alone a surname. A name that is such a cultural reference that it has been appropriated by the Indian version of Diet Prada, the wicked and witty Instagram handle that exposes #gandi copies in fashion. We’ve worked with both the real Sabya and Diet Sabya in this issue, both of whom proved delicious, and that their prowess in interiors is as strong as that of fashion. September is also an exciting month for design. I’ll be at Maison et Objet just as this issue hits the newsstands. It’s also La Biennale Paris, which in the last few years has become as important as TEFAF for its rich mix of blue chip treasures. Taking place under the glass dome of the Grand Palais, it is the ne plus ultra of sophistication, with the likes of Yves Gastou exhibiting next to Steinitz. Swoon! And then it’s onto the London Design Festival, which once again has an Indian pavilion, this year dedicated to indigo. But it’s October that I’m really looking forward to. Forget Frieze and PAD, it’s the AD Design Show in Mumbai that you need to need to mark in your calendars. Under the giant dome of the NSCI, from 26 to 28 October, we are planning India’s most sophisticated showcase of art, design, antiques and craftsmanship. It’s more than just a fair: the brilliant Vincent Van Duysen will be part of the power-packed speaker programme; we’ll have live craftsmanship by India’s master karigars; and, in our most ambitious project to date, we’ll be recreating the Mumbai apartment of the cult-status tastemaker Laura Hamilton. It’s going to be g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s! So, dear reader, make the most of this stylish September and see you in October!
HƠȃƿƹȥƠǘȰǃƿ ©ƠǷǷƹȉɉǃȥǥȃǙȩ www.nilaya.asianpaints.com
contributors BJÖRN WA L L A N D E R photographer New York-based photographer Björn Wallander contributes to some of the most widely read magazines in the world, including many Condé Nast titles. Wallander photographed Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s home in ‘The Real Sabya’ (pg 178). “I’ve always felt so inspired and happy every time I’ve worked in India, and I was so excited when Greg Foster asked me to come and do this cover story with Sabyasachi. I knew the house would be a treat to photograph. Sabyasachi and his friends made our stay in Kolkata so special.”
NIKHIL KHANNA writer Nikhil Khanna is the executive chairman of Avian WE, an avid traveller and a consumer of political biographies. For ‘The Boy With The Pearl Earring’ (pg 208), the New Delhi-based professional wrote about jewellery designer Hanut Singh’s ancestral home in Mussoorie. “I’ve always enjoyed going to St Helen’s for the peace, the calm and the joie de vivre. It was just like old times, which also proves the more things change, the more they remain the same— in the best possible way.”
RO SA R I O BELMONTE make-up artist Rosario Belmonte has studied under celebrated make-up artist Stefano Anselmo, and has contributed to Vogue and GQ. He worked on homeowner Prerna Goel’s make-up in ‘Hurricane Prerna’ (pg 220). “Working with Prerna is always a pleasure. She knows how to interpret my make-up for each shoot.”
A R AT I M E N O N writer New York-based Arati Menon wrote about the farmhouse of Bibhu Mohapatra and Robert Beard in ‘Upstate Chic’ (pg 196). “You can tell that Bobby fell in love with life in the Hudson Valley early on and Bibhu took a little longer. But once they both decided to reimagine their lives in it, they went all in, putting their own spin on the rustic farmhouse style.”
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contributors D I E T SA BYA social media vigilante Diet Sabya is a guerrilla collective, self-confessed Judge Judy(s), if you will, and all about calling out the copycats. They criticize all ofenders equally, with no friends or allies currying favours. “‘AD x Diet Sabya’ (pg 157) was a one-of-akind collaboration to capture the zeitgeist. It is a perfect way to usher a magazine into the digital age. Kudos for coming up with this concept. Guts!”
J A S J YOT SINGH HANS illustrator Jasjyot Singh Hans is an illustrator who is inspired by the confluence of music, fashion and pop culture. He has constant regard for all things past and a voracity for all that is current. His personal work is centred on themes of body image, beauty and sexuality. He illustrated fashion and furniture from some of the hottest brands in ‘AD x Jasjyot Singh Hans’ (pg 167). “I had a ball! I love looking at fashion and reimagining it in a new context, like drawing parallels with iconic furniture.”
S H E RY L BENNET model A first-year student of fashion communication at NIFT, Sheryl Bennet started by curating her work on Instagram, and has now taken up modelling professionally. For ‘Panic Room’ (pg 132), Bennet worked her magic before the camera—“I had a wonderful time with Ashish Shah and Kshitij Kankaria; it was very inspiring and a great learning experience.”
A K S H AY T YAG I stylist Akshay Tyagi can coax the glamour inherent in the people he works with, which include clients like Hrithik Roshan and Irrfan Khan. In ‘Hurricane Prerna’ (pg 220), he styled Mumbai socialite Prerna Goel. “She is a magnanimous personality with efortless beauty.”
S H E E TA L MALLAR photographer The supermodel-turnedphotographer believes in capturing relationships people have with their spaces and the objects around them. In ‘AD x Sheetal Mallar’ (pg 143), she photographed seven of her friends at their natural habitats. “Documenting my friends for AD was very fulfilling. It’s rare to find collaborations that ofer the creative freedom to see an idea through.”
contributors MAXIMILIANO MODESTI writer Maximiliano Modesti is a textile and embroidery entrepreneur who divides his time between Paris and Mumbai. In ‘The Last Supper’ (pg 237), the designer recalls what it was like to find a place on the table of the late, great Azzedine Alaïa.
T A N I A FA D T E stylist After a decade as a stylist in Mumbai, Tania Fadte moved back home to Goa, had a daughter and set up her own clothing line, while continuing her work as a stylist. In ‘AD x Sheetal Mallar’ (pg 143), Fadte worked with Mallar to style the beautiful homes of some of their friends. “The four days spent shooting this feature did not feel like work at all. We had lunches and cofees, and hung out in these beautiful homes.”
R A J YA S H R I G O O DY writer This Pune-based artist highlights uncomfortable but relevant subjects through various mediums. ‘Food for Thought’ (pg 246) features a poem from her latest exhibition that explores Dalit food politics and culture. “My work is an attempt to humanize the Dalit experience by showing positive images of joy and celebration.”
DIERDRE LEWIS photographer Deirdre Lewis was born in Greece, grew up in Ireland, and currently stays in Brooklyn. She has been working with photographer Björn Wallander for many years, travelling across the globe—most recently to India for the ‘The Real Sabya’ (pg 178) feature. “Adventures with Björn are always epic. This cover with Sabyasachi sums it up! India is magical and it is always an inspiration to meet and work with such talented people like Sabyasachi and his team.”
AKGUN hairstylist & make-up artist An international make-up artist who splits his time between Mumbai and London, Akgun collaborated with AD to bring to life a highly stylized ‘Panic Room’ (pg 132). “I was there every second of the shoot to ensure the make-up fit in with the world we were trying to create—according to the photographer’s requirements.”
AGENT FOR INDIA VITA MODERNA
MUMBAI SHOWROOM 1001/2, Sapphire Plaza, Dadabhai Cross Lane No.2, Opp. CNM School, Vile Parle (W) Mumbai - 400 056 Mob. 9920780590 Tel. +91-22-61270011 info@vitamoderna.in
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GROUNDPIECE SECTIONAL SOFA
PRESENTS
AN IMMERSIVE WEEKEND OF ART AND DESIGN
AR LIG AN FU AC
26–28 OCTOBER 2018 AT DOME@NSCI, SVP STADIUM, WORLI,
MUMBAI A first of its kind luxury event in India, the AD Design Show will showcase design, furniture, art, antiques and lighting in a niche, highly curated fair. It will be defined by its sophisticated mix of Indian and international exhibitors and its boutique feel, as well as its invite only audience.
WWW.ADDESIGNSHOWINDIA.IN | ADDESIGNSHOW@CONDENAST.IN
PRESENTS
AN IMMERSIVE WEEKEND OF ART AND DESIGN
AR LIG AN FU AC
THE EXPERIENCE An immersive weekend of design, including a three-day programme of events, talks, curated spaces and more.
THE EXHIBITION
A showcase of the best Indian and international design, art, antiques, lighting and furniture.
CRAFTSMANSHIP NOW
A celebration of craftsmanship as a fundamental of design and luxury in India. In this salute to craft and innovation, we bring together the most-talented craftsmen from across the country.
POWER TALKS
Legends from the fields of architecture, interiors, art and design take centre stage to talk about the latest trends.
LAURA HAMILTON’S APARTMENT
Recreating the apartment of the cult status tastemaker, Laura Hamilton. Reimagining her style for contemporary living.
26-28 OCTOBER 2018 AT DOME@NSCI, SVP STADIUM, WORLI,
MUMBAI
WWW.ADDESIGNSHOWINDIA.IN | ADDESIGNSHOW@CONDENAST.IN Disclaimer: Programme subject to change
OUR ROUND-UP FROM THE FRONT LINE OF DESIGN: TRENDS, OBJECTS, STYLE, EVENTS
verIES
TEXT: PALLAVI PUNDIR
i
/ 0 20 Capitalizing on the resurgence of craft is the first edition of the Indian Ceramics Triennale, developed by the Contemporary Clay Foundation and Jawahar Kala Kendra; the latter, an arts centre in Jaipur, will also play host to the event. Conceived and driven by a six-member team of ceramic artists, the triennale is helmed by three custodians of Indian contemporary art: Peter Nagy, Ray Meeker and Pooja Sood. From 31 August to 18 November, the work of 35 Indian and 12 international artists—including Instrument of Perception (pictured above), a sculpture by New Delhi-based Dipalee Daroz—will form not just a comprehensive survey into the art form, but also broaden the boundaries of its expressions. Indian Ceramics Triennale; Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur; 31 August to 18 November 2018.
Ë[qhr¥Ta_T Xhe[a` Lebanese motifs, French brasseries and Beirut art deco converge in the design of new Kala Ghoda restaurant Rue du Liban WRITER PALLAVI PUNDIR . PHOTOGRAPHER TALIB CHITALWALA
T
he cultural heritage that marks the Levantine region, when not overshadowed by its restive political undercurrents, will often take you through a smorgasbord of delectable flavours—from the fresh punch of the herbs, to the velvety drizzle of olive oil and the succulence of chargrilled meat. “Then there’s the spirit of eating as a community, a concept that is so familiar to Indians,” says Arja Shridhar, one of the partners of Indianapoli Hospitality that is behind Mumbai’s popular haunt, Gustoso. Over a year ago, when Shridhar, along with partners Sam Malde and Jay Mehta, decided to bring an authentic Levantine dining experience to Mumbai, they did so by transporting not just the flavours (a blend of Middle Eastern essence and European sensibilities, concocted by Beirut-based chef Athanasios Kargatzidis), but also the region’s visual story. In July, their labour of love manifested in the form of Rue du Liban in Kala Ghoda. The restaurant evokes the warm intimacy of cultural references from Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and southern Turkey. Beirut, in particular, has inspired most of the details in this 3,200-square-foot space. London-based Dale Atkinson, from Rosendale Design, was brought on board for the interiors and was soon left to scour the region for inspirations. “Our aim was to transport the diners to the heyday of the region, but at the same time, not create a pastiche,” says
Atkinson about his first project in India. While the Knesset Eliyahoo synagogue just adjacent plays accomplice to the setting, the interiors are a throwback to Beirut, in particular for the subtle art deco elements. “The style was born in France and there are so many [art deco] influences in Beirut,” says Atkinson, “We felt this was the ideal era to harness as [diners] would easily relate to it due to its prominent status in Mumbai.” While the green walls—inspired by Beirut’s tree-lined streets— complement the burgundy banquettes, the interior is ofset by details like the brass framework and decorative fretwork, reminiscent of the city’s old terrace balustrades. The lights, panels and furniture have been custom-made in London and the crockery handmade by Pune-based Curators of Clay and Udaipur-based Baariqui. “We developed a new method for employing UV etching on the plates, which had never been done before,” says Atkinson. Antique brass serving trays and old postcards from Beirut further root the design in its context. As far as Levantine cuisine is concerned, Rue du Liban serves up its manakish with just the right dose of understated elegance, enough to lend the space the warm embrace of familiarity of its muse: Beirut. Rue du Liban opens on 7 September at 43, Sassoon Building, VB Gandhi Marg, Kala Ghoda, Mumbai–400023
A Case of the Blues The India Pavilion at the second edition of the London Design Biennale offers visitors a multisensory, multilayered experience centred on indigo dye WRITER DIVYA MISHRA
I
was keen to present Indian design to an international audience in a way that veered away from cliches that are often present in its representation,” says Priya Khanchandani, curator of the India Pavilion at the 2018 edition of the London Design Biennale. On from 4–23 September at Somerset House, the theme of this year’s Biennale is ‘Emotional States’, which the pavilion will explore through indigo—“a colour created from [species of the Indigofera genus], which...became synonymous with India’s identity as a nation”, according to Khanchandani. The India installation at the 2016 edition of the biennale was spearheaded by the India Design Forum; this year’s pavilion is supported by the Gujral Foundation, headed by Mohit and Feroze Gujral. Their daughter Alaiia is an assistant curator with the foundation, and the idea of centring the exhibition on indigo was based on her research. Khanchandani says, “As a team, we became particularly curious about indigo’s role in India’s history because it is inseparable from luxury and desire on the one hand and exploitation on the other.” Known at one point in history as ‘blue gold’, indigo was
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highly prized as a dye for its deep, rich colour and fastness. As demand for it rose, colonial eforts to increase production led to the development of indigo plantations in India, a key characteristic of which was the violent oppression of those forced to farm it. It took two years to develop the idea from beginning to end, through multiple iterations, and there were many challenges. Khanchandani, who was appointed the curator of the India Pavilion soon after the first edition of London Design Biennale, recalls the difficulty of having to design an entire installation using just one colour, while still conveying the colour’s many social, cultural and historical meanings in context. The lack of documentary evidence of India’s indigo farms did not help. An archival film (pictured)—repurposed by a Chicago-based team—will form the core of the exhibition. Part of a multisensory experience, it will combine digital design with sound, scent and objects. Khanchandani hopes that “witnessing the farmers’ rhythmic, mechanical movements, immersed in a cacophony of indigo, will make visitors complicit in their plight”. londondesignbiennale.com.
EZË a_[`[a`[G e B&B Italia pays tribute to the designs of master architect Luigi Caccia Dominioni with a collection of reproductions WRITER PALLAVI PUNDIR
M
ilanese design and architecture, among other feats, has come to represent an aesthetic and scale that has set benchmarks for theory, technique and craftsmanship. Among the most notable contributors is the late Luigi Caccia Dominioni, who greatly impacted said aesthetic throughout his career. After his death in 2016, at the age of 102, Italian furniture giant B&B Italia looked at the works of the master architect and immediately felt the need to “preserve and disseminate” what they call his “design adventure”. Giorgio Busnelli, CEO, B&B Italia, adds, “[This includes a] precious collection of works that have marked the evolution of Italian design for over half a century, starting in the 1940s. He belonged to a small group of architects who were the forerunners and founders of Italian design, which evolved and left a profound mark through a series of works with a rare combination of expressive rigour, mastery of the formal language and technological knowledge.” This interest took shape with the first agreement signed between B&B Italia and Dominioni’s estate earlier this year. “Most of [Dominioni’s] projects have taken on the characteristics of modern classics and B&B Italia is now purposed to protect the transmission,” says Busnelli. For over 50 years, Dominioni produced chairs, sofas, tables and lamps that have revolutionized interior design, urging his contemporary Gio Ponti to once describe him as someone who
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doesn’t just furnish houses, but “interprets and expresses the character”, conferring “a value [of environment and space] to the sequence of the rooms”. When Busnelli takes us through the collection—which comprises 20 works and will be available next autumn—it’s evident that Dominioni’s elegant, industrial-style solutions were catalytic in post-war Milan. From the famous ‘Catilina’ chair, with its curved iron structure, and the ‘Band’ table in glass and metal that deconstructs the shape of a spiral, to the ‘ABCD’ armchair that evokes a neo-romantic vibe and the essential ‘Cilindro’ poufe (pictured), exquisite in its solid geometry, his trademark discreet aesthetic is easily recognizable. In what is clearly more than just an exercise in nostalgia, B&B Italia’s partnership also extends to an exhibition, titled ‘Everyday Wonders/Meraviglie Quotidiane’, which is part of the 16th International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale till 25 November. “B&B Italia and Caccia Dominioni have diferent stories and styles, but they share a deep vocation for innovation and experimentation. The [Dominioni] style is strongly based on the ‘design’ aspect, since the pieces were designed for an architectural context. These elements have produced furniture that have made interior design history,” he concludes.
H H 2/–B 55v�# – – ; On the 300th birth anniversary of Chippendale, examines why the British furniture maker became a cultural reference for sophisticated design in English rococo, neoclassical and chinoiserie styles WRITER PALLAVI PUNDIR
This card table from Dumfries House is an example of furniture maker Thomas Chippendale’s hallmark Queen Anne-style cabriole leg.
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PHOTO COURTESY CHRISTIE’S
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n the preface of his seminal 1754 publication, The Gentleman and Cabinet-maker’s Director, Thomas Chippendale states: “Without an acquaintance with this science, and some knowledge of the rules of perspective, the cabinet-maker cannot make the designs of his work intelligible, nor show‌the whole conduct and efect of the piece.â€? Chippendale’s words mark the ďŹ rst attempt at self-promotion, which was unheard of from a humble cabinetmaker, one that made him a revered name in furniture design and ushered in a whole new world of interiors—with an elaboration of his use of rococo, chinoiserie and neoclassical styles—in 18th-century England. Celebrating the tercentenary of his birth, an ongoing series of exhibitions, through 2018, shines a spotlight on his life, work and legacy. Chippendale’s expansive oeuvre—comprising a range of commissions for furniture and the ďŹ tting-out of entire suites in houses across England and Scotland—can be found in historic residences, museums, charities and craftsmen’s organizations in his birthplace Otley, near Leeds, and around Britain. So, when the Chippendale Society, a registered charity that preserves and promotes the designer’s heritage, wanted to mark this signiďŹ cant milestone, they decided upon a diferent approach. Partnering with institutions and properties that possess collections of his work, the society lined up a series of exhibitions for the year, collectively titled ‘Chippendale 300’. Celebrations began earlier this year at the Leeds City Museum; the society’s collection is on a long-term loan to the museum. “[It also meant] that we could celebrate Chippendale in the county of his birth,â€? says Ruth Martin, curator of exhibitions at the museum. Titled ‘Thomas Chippendale: A Celebration of British Craftsmanship and Design 1718-2018’, this exhibition, which ran from February to June, explored the legacy of his style since his death in 1779. “Chippendale’s work is relevant today not only because it reects some of the cultural zeitgeist of a period when Britain was becoming a major >
Above left: The tapestry room inside Newby Hall displays the most complete Chippendale interior, and comprises dining chairs, hall chairs, and card and Pembroke tables designed by him. Above right: This Chippendale chest on chest (dated 1774) from Paxton House is one of over 100 items and was executed in a uniquely restrained manner, using Jamaican mahogany. Also called the ‘Paxton style’, this collection illustrates the cabinetmaker’s late oeuvre, an under-explored period. Left: The drawing room of Paxton House is one of the rooms where Chippendale created the furniture from 1774 to 1791.
PHOTO: JOHN HAMMOND
< world power and because it is found in some of Britain’s most
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important historic buildings, but also because it continues to give enormous satisfaction for its qualities of design and craftsmanship,” says Martin, who has also curated the compendium of events. Chippendale’s strong network of aristocratic patrons— influenced both by his book and the setting up of his workshop on St Martin’s Lane, London in the 1750s—led to several individual collections of his work. Notable exhibitions, part of Chippendale 300, included one at Harewood House (March to September) near Leeds, and another at Paxton House in Berwickshire, Scotland (June to August), said to be one of the world’s largest collections of Chippendale furniture. The celebrations mark an efort to bring forth some of the most sought-after pieces—from the ‘Lady’s Secretaire’ (1773), originally made for Harewood House, to the ‘Panshanger’ cabinets (1773) created for the famous Melbourne House in London. These landmark designs also reveal a kind of richness that persists even today. “Students of design and craftsmanship are fascinated and inspired by the range of inventive ideas found in Chippendale’s drawings and his executed work. It gives great encouragement for the development of artistcraftsman skills for the future,” concludes Martin. Major current exhibitions include ‘Chippendale: the Man and the Brand’ at the Nostell Priory (on till 28 October), and ‘Chippendale’s Director: The Designs and Legacy of a Furniture Maker’ at The Metropolitan Museum of Art (on till 27 January 2019); a full list of events can be found at chippendale300.co.uk.
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2M E2 B6E Â&#x2013; 55vÂ?# From ball-and-claw feet to sculpted brass handles, reveals the full monty of the design signatures behind the iconic furniture
CABRIOLE LEGS This armchair from Dumfries House, in London, is an outstanding example of Chippendaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s signature cabriole legs. Out of the six known styles, he based the lionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s paw, the club (a round foot) and the balland-claw (which looks like an eagle talon holding a ball) on the cabriole shape.
MARQUETRY MAGIC This early-1770s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Panshangerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cabinet, created for Melbourne House, is part of a group of marquetry furniture that is considered the cabinetmakerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ nest in terms of quality, skill and value. Featuring the motif of a palmette and foliate scroll issuing from a bellďŹ&#x201A;ower, the design also relates to the antique Etruscan style promoted by Robert Adam, the Rome-trained architect with whom Chippendale often worked.
COLOUR SCHEME This restored dressing-room table from Harewood House unearthed details about Chippendaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dyes that were used to make beautiful colours. The piece was covered in black paint, and once restored, revealed a remarkable piece in white, blue and pink.
CHINESE CHIPPENDALE The cabinetmaker embraced Chinesestyle interiors by providing china cabinets or china shelves, which had glazing bars in fretwork designs and pagoda-style pediments. The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Ladyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Secretaireâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at Harewood House pictured here exempliďŹ es this inďŹ&#x201A;uence, depicting chinoiserie decorations that were â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;japannedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, or coated with lacquer.
ROCOCO TASTES This late-George-II giltwood pier glass, from Dumfries House, captures Chippendaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rococo inďŹ&#x201A;uence from the late 1750s to early 1760s. The pagoda cresting and moustachioed Chinese man was inspired by the rococo taste for the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Exotic of the Orientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.
NEOCLASSICAL INFLUENCE Supplied in 1771 for the Harewood House, this ormolu-mounted rosewood oval cellaret is one of Chippendaleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most sumptuous pieces, and a remarkable example of the neoclassical craftsmanship typical of his designs around this time. HANDLES Chippendale pulls, as the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Panshangerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; cabinet illustrates, featured a solid brass construction and a conďŹ&#x201A;uence of rococo and neoclassical elementsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; carvings, latticework and ďŹ&#x201A;oral details.
PHOTOS: HAREWOOD HOUSE TRUST (â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;DIANA AND MINERVAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; COMMODE, ROSEWOOD CELLARET); LEEDS MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES (â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;LADYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SECRETAIREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;); THE CHIPPENDALE SOCIETY (DRESSING ROOM TABLE); CHRISTIEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S (DUMFRIES HOUSE ARMCHAIR)
MAHOGANY This â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Diana and Minervaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; commode, one of the classic examples in exquisitely carved mahogany, came out in the 1750s and 1760s. Although Chippendale used walnut, cherry and maple for less expensive pieces, mahogany was his preferred medium, said to be imported from the West Indies.
HOT DESK Nappa Dori’s designs are made for everyday life—just like its latest collection of concrete desk accessories WRITER MAANYA SACHDEVA PHOTOGRAPHER TALIB CHITALWALA
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t’s been eight years since Gautam Sinha started luxury leather brand Nappa Dori in a small basement in New Delhi’s vibrant Hauz Khas Village, slowly expanding his catalogue, clientele and appeal. On a quest to explore India’s rich heritage of craftsmanship, one signature piece at a time, Sinha has built a brand with a distinct identity and lots of heart. From the brand’s large trunks to its pencils, a dori (Urdu for ‘thread’) of quiet elegance runs through everything Sinha designs. Like his newest collection of objects—desk accessories in concrete. “These are part of the bigger scheme of things— Nappa Dori Objects—and fit into our DNA as a lifestyle brand. It essentially fills the gap; we have stationery, fashion, travel accessories and now this,” says Sinha. While exploring diferent materials (including brass and wood), he settled on concrete as a primary material because it ties in with the brand’s celebration of all things vintage. “We are inspired by brutalist architecture—like the works of Le Corbusier—so, concrete felt like a natural choice,” says the designer who is currently working on a new collection of lights. Available in a grey-and-white ‘two tone’ variant as well as the textured ‘terrazo’ (pictured), the collection of simple shapes reimagined as pen holders, desk organizers and candle stands perfectly complements the brand’s stationery—and, not surprisingly, feels right at home on your desk.
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THE DOYEN OF DESIGN Meet Ravish Vohra, the creative grand master behind Ravish Vohra Home—an opulent destination for one-of-a-kind, bespoke furniture. In conversation with us, he takes us through his 26-year-old tryst with India’s luxury lifestyle industry When did you realise that interior design was your calling? I have always been drawn to exquisite works of art. Despite a background in commerce, I found myself gravitating towards my father’s interior design firm. During my time under his aegis, I nurtured my creative prowess, and before I knew it, I started my own company. Give us a glimpse into your design philosophy? Evolution is the only constant in design. But I can say this with conviction that you need to strike the perfect balance between ever-changing trends and one’s signature style. And herein lies my design philosophy. Ravish Vohra Home, not only brings you what’s trending but every creation from our atelier is an echo of our aesthetic musings. Tell us about the processes you follow when a new client comes to you Comprehending a client’s aesthetic leanings is of primary importance. Once we’ve identified that, we begin designing the objects of his desire by infusing our own artistic edge. The result: keepsake furniture masterpieces that are totally heirloom-worthy. What is the inspiration behind Ravish Vohra Home? Watching a house develop a distinct and inimitable identity with our bespoke luxury furniture is what drives us. Our inspiration is reflected in the work of our craftsmen who pay meticulous attention to the tiniest detail, so that each product meets international echelons of quality. What are your go-to materials for creating bespoke furniture? We use a wide and varied array of high-quality materials, sourced locally and internationally. Some of them include rare woods with natural veins, hand-burnished metals, gleaming gemstones, leather as well as smooth and supple fabrics. If you weren’t into designing, what would you be doing? To be honest, I can’t see myself doing anything else. To be able to use my imagination and create something innovative, something that becomes an intrinsic part of someone’s existence is what keeps me going. Share a few words of wisdom for aspiring designers Be yourself and believe in yourself. A little passion and hard work can get you exactly where you want to be and beyond. Mark Twain said, “if you love what you do, you’ll never work another day in your life.”
“TO BE ABLE TO USE MY IMAGINATION AND CREATE SOMETHING INNOVATIVE, SOMETHING THAT BECOMES AN INTRINSIC PART OF SOMEONE’S EXISTENCE IS WHAT KEEPS ME GOING.” . – RAVISH VOHRA
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BRANCO, YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL One foot in, and it will have your heart. With its colonial architecture, contemporary interiors and personalised hospitality, Isprava redefines the concept of holiday home loving with Villa Branco in Goa Isprava, backed by the renowned Godrej Industries and the Piramal family, opens the doors to sophisticated luxury holiday homes in Goa and the Nilgiris. Specialising in the design and construction of one-of-a-kind homes, Isprava also ofers a rental management service for interested customers. Designed by leading international designers and fully furnished with antique furniture—every home is a true masterpiece.
Arched doorways, lavish courtyards, louvered doors, carved white screens, bespoke flooring—these are just a few of the things that describe Isprava’s signature aesthetic. Villa Branco, bathed in shades of white, exemplifies all this and more, with every corner of the home making a lasting impression.
Even the bathrooms are masterpieces—we love the one that features an ancient marble bath which transforms into an exquisite sink. From its cupola foyer which opens into a small garden piazza, surrounded by wide walkways to the rectangular courtyard skirting a beautiful azure pool—the villa’s rich sense of style immediately captures attention. A sprawling living and dining area finds itself at the intersection of the courtyards, and is adorned with woven cane chairs that sit around an antique wooden dining table. This is the perfect spot for a lavish brunch spread, with the sunlight bouncing of a palace door embedded with mirrors. A staircase featuring vintage flower flooring will take you up to a bedroom that overlooks the lush greenery outside. Even the bathrooms are a masterpiece—we love the one that features an ancient marble bath which transforms into an exquisite sink. From vintage trunks to an intricate inlay chest of drawers, from a breathtaking wall-to-wall crockery cupboard to antique beds with exotic needlework covers—Isprava discerningly sources every item from India and around the world. Tucked away in the fashionable area of Anjuna in North Goa, the idyllic location just adds to the
charm of this holiday hideaway. It is a 5 minute drive to Vagator Beach, just 7 minutes away from the famous restaurant, Thalassa and 10 minutes away from the Saturday Night Market. A one hour scenic drive from the Goa International Airport will get you to Villa Branco. The 5 bedroom villa can accommodate about 10-12 guests, making it a perfect destination for long weekend escapes, intimate celebrations or even a romantic getaway for two.
For more information, visit www.isprava.com; email rent@isprava.com or call +91 9869163781 or +91 9833953686
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Quartz Sinks. In the late 80s, Ashwin Parekh collaborated with an esteemed German company to launch CARYSIL Quartz Sinks. Raising the standards while setting new ones, CARYSIL has efortlessly become the preferred choice for premium sinks. CARYSIL’s brilliance stems from the fact that quartz constitutes around 80 percent of the raw material used in these sinks. Following its sweeping success, CARYSIL diversified into the manufacturing of stainless steel sinks, along with a myriad
of kitchen appliances such as chimneys, cook-tops and wine cellars. The company has even forayed into UK with its subsidiary Home Style Products. Continuing their expansion and growth, CARYSIL Quartz Sinks has also crossed over to international borders and are sold in 40 countries worldwide. Instantly recognisable, thanks to its advanced German technology and innovative design language, CARYSIL sinks evoke a sense of pride and gusto in their owners. Trust us when we say that investing in a CARYSIL sink would be one of the wisest decisions of your home decor process. When you buy a sink from CARYSIL, not only are you benefitting from 30 years of manufacturing excellence but also a keen understanding of your needs. For more information, visit www.carysil.com
ASHIESH SHAH, REENA SAINI KALLAT, VIJAY CHORARIA, ANUSHKA RAJAN, SHIREEN GANDHY, JITISH KALLAT
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UDIT BHAMBRI, SALONI DOSHI
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NYNIKA JHAVERI, AARAN PATEL
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A VIEW OF THE EXHIBITION.
MOUNA AND ARJUN REDDY
In July, a special brunch at Mumbai’s Chemould Prescott Road kickstarted Modus Operandi, a two-week show conceptualized by gallery founder Shireen Gandhy for the next generation of art patrons—exhibiting Indian contemporary art priced at `3 lakh or less ATYAAN JUNGALWALA, ANANYA THAKKAR
The brunch coincided with a very special occasion—artist Jitish Kallat’s 44th birthday
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POONAM JHAVERI, MONICA THAKKAR
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SPLAY OF GINEERING.
THE september ISSUE TASTEMAKERS, FASHION, STYLE AND INTERIORS
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LOUIS VUITTON/LUDWIG BONNET
A red doorstop that can be slotted under the leg of a chair from Virgil Abloh’s Markerad range for IKEA. Right: A look from Virgil Abloh’s debut collection for Louis Vuitton’s Spring-Summer 2019 menswear show. Below: Virgil Abloh.
Ê 0 BB 0 / 0 Everybody’s talking about Virgil Abloh, the artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear who, after a stellar debut collection for the fashion mega-house, is launching a capsule collection for IKEA WRITER BARRY RODGERS
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Abloh’s signature aesthetic found resonance in the opening look—a tailored suit with a doublebreasted blazer and two-pleat trousers. With the tide turning towards hip tailoring, Abloh seamlessly merged the formal with the casual by incorporating bags and wallets into hybrid versions of holsters, zippered vests and harnesses. Pieces that paid homage to The Wizard of Oz—with scenes from the film making an appearance on sweaters—were reminders that he isn’t afraid of whimsy. Abloh is unfurling more collaborations with exhausting regularity, as evidenced by his newest deal with IKEA for a furniture collection titled Markerad (Swedish for ‘clear-cut’ or ‘crisp’), set to launch in 2019. He announced the collaboration by live-streaming the currentlyin-progress furniture pieces, including a display case with a neon-orange handle. He has also redesigned IKEA’s iconic blue ‘Frakta’ bag, now called ‘Sculpture’. Abloh is also one of eight designers to have designed a rug (or two) for IKEA’s new collection of rugs. Watch this space for more from the man of the moment. FABIEN MONTIQUE
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hanaian-American designer Virgil Abloh is turning the fashion universe on its head. In just under a decade, the 37-year-old has risen through the ranks of the fashion hierarchy— from being rapper Kanye West’s creative advisor to establishing his own streetwear label, Of-White. But it was in March this year that Abloh’s career hit a pinnacle, when fashion mega-house Louis Vuitton appointed him as its first African-American artistic director, one of only a handful of black designers in a position of influence at a French heritage house. High-fashion fanatics didn’t necessarily think that the ‘Pied Piper of Streetwear’ had the credibility to convey the brand’s luxury credentials. But his debut show in June for Louis Vuitton at Paris’s Palais Royal put all doubts to rest, heralding a new aesthetic for the brand—urban luxe cool. With Kanye and Kim Kardashian West in attendance, a rainbow runway set the stage for a changing of the guard. Titled We are the World, the 55-look collection ofered a clever twist on classic silhouettes.
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Apart from ventilation and security, the windows and doors of your home are portals that let you embrace the wonders that lie beyond walls. And the manner in which they are arranged is called Fenestration—an art form that can transform a house into a welcoming home. Doors and windows by Fenesta subdue street and aircraft noise, eradicate dust and pollution, obstruct lashing torrential rain, withstand high-velocity winds, brighten dark spaces by allowing natural light in and even reduce air-conditioning costs. What’s more, they expel summer heat and winter chills, enhance ventilation, keep away termites and other menaces to create your ideal living space. The airtight and watertight insulation of Fenesta’s large frames transform your abodes into a quieter, brighter, cleaner and even bigger oasis— letting you reimagine your perfect housing environment.
LIVE SECURELY Choose the Fenesta Villa Window with an integrated grill into the window with clamps for increased security. Fenesta’s windows ofer multiple-point locking that is much safer than the conventional single point lock, allowing you to dwell in a carefree haven. And if you have been worried about theft, let go! As keeping away burglars is even easier with Fenesta’s special glass options. REDUCE MAINTENANCE Created to outlast buildings, Fenesta’s door and window profiles come with a ten-year warranty that significantly lower maintenance costs. These solid fenestration solutions never require any varnish, polish or paint. The windows and doors made from UPVC—a termite-
resistant material—are impervious to weather and bugs. DESIGN FREEDOM With more than 700 design options, Fenesta’s palette allows the aficionado of art and interiors complete discretion of expression. Since the doors and windows are modular in nature, they allow you to play with countless styles and shapes just like a Lego set! Visit a Signature Studio by Fenesta across Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata to begin exploring the magic you can create on your windowsill. For more information, log on to fenesta.com or call on 1800 102 9880
‘Orbit’ chair, from the Since the World is Round collection (left); ‘Sun & Moon’ choker, from the Solaris collection.
Lara Craft London-based jeweller Lara Bohinc extends into furniture with a new collection that recalls her signature sculptural lines WRITER PALLAVI PUNDIR
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ara Bohinc has always had her eyes on the stars—literally. A former design consultant for Cartier, Montblanc and Gucci, she confesses to being utterly fascinated with planets and the “graceful way in which they move”. The London-based founder of the two-year-old Bohinc Studio says, “To me, these spherical forms are simultaneously ancient and futuristic.” Her keen study of the shapes of the planets and their orbital movements previously inspired her to design jewellery pieces that looked like celestial objects, with collection names such as Planetaria, Solaris, Eclipse and so on. Her new furniture collection carries forward that aesthetic and focuses on circles, semi-circles and straight lines. It is poetically titled Since the World is Round. “To me, the circle is the beginning of everything and the most perfect form,” she says, “I have always loved playing with the geometry that the circle yields. The design language that follows has no hard edges and retains a pure and simple form—one that is both geometric and feminine.” Cut both by hand and laser; welded at Bohinc’s small workshop in Italy; hand-polished; and then coated with nanogalvanic black, dark bronze and brass paint, the resulting furniture pieces—chairs, vases, boxes, vanity consoles and candlesticks—have the efect of “floating discs reminiscent of pufy marshmallows, caught within a
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strong but delicate frame construction”, according to Bohinc. Galvanized steel is used to make strong, thin and elegant rods and the seats are upholstered in Kvadrat fabric for the bombato (‘convex’ or ‘padded’) efect. The idea, says Bohinc, was for the frames of the chairs to appear delicate and lightweight, “as if they might float away, were it not for the pufy upholstered seats and backrests”. Bohinc’s contemporary aesthetic draws from her background in industrial design from Slovenia’s University of Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts and Design, and her study of metalwork and jewellery at London’s Royal College of Art. However, it is her obsession with the deconstruction and reconfiguration of pure geometric forms that drives her industrial techniques. This is also true of her jewellery designs. Worn by everyone from Michelle Obama to Kate Moss, Bohinc’s pieces are accessories to the human form. Her Solaris collection, for example, features angled rods with large orbs in brass; a similar aesthetic is seen in her decor pieces too. “Creating a large or small object is no diferent—the materials are more or less the same. It is just a question of scale,” says Bohinc, who is now working on tables for the new collection’s chairs, Japanese urushi boxes, jewellery and a one-of lamp for Gallery Fumi in London. As far as Bohinc’s success is concerned, the sky is the limit.
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L ;B 20 H + ; The legacy of Gianni Versace lives on not only in fashion, but also in the label’s new home collection, which takes its cues from the extravagant houses of the late designer WRITER GAURI KELKAR
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wenty-five years ago, Italian fashion powerhouse Versace decided to look beyond what you wore to how you lived. It ventured into your home through objects that would give your personal space its intangible, iconic design aesthetic. It was, as with everything Versace, a pioneering move, given that it was the first interior collection from a fashion brand. It began with a line of textiles for the home—sheets, duvets, pillows and cushions—and followed it up with a range of dinner sets that resulted from a long-term collaboration with German chinaware maker Rosenthal, whose association has created some memorable dinnerware— including the recent limited-edition collection of 25 plates and teacups. By 1994, Versace had entrenched itself as deeply in the home space as it had in the fashion world, with a complete furniture line imbued with always-interesting motifs (cue the matchless Medusa head icon). A regular presence at the redoubtable furniture fest, Salone del Mobile, the brand’s collection of furniture and furnishings launched at the exhibition this year was true to form and hard to miss— standing out in all its design extravagance and iconography. The
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My Versace Home 2018 collection was all about the family and tied in with Gianni Versace’s idea of what family means, coupled with his wish to have everyone live in a ‘Versace world’. The source of inspiration turned out to be in the brand’s backyard, so to speak— the Versace home on Via Gesù, Milan. The collection aims to combine the ambience and decor of the house with a contemporary take on ancient Greek accents. That has stayed constant over the past quarter century—an innovative spirit tempered by the flavour of Greek antiquity and neoclassicism. The animal-print silk cushions from the collection (pictured) attest to the tradition of the predilection for for soft shapes and bold shades, combined with statement-making motifs. For a brand that has made its presence felt far and wide, pinning down locations across the map, dropping anchor in India is not so far away. It has already forayed into interior design, with Gianni Versace SpA and Indian real estate company Unity Group bringing Versace-designed interiors into the capital’s homes. It seems just (hopefully) a matter of time before the furniture, furnishings and homeware make their way here. Fashionistas can hardly wait.
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FASHION TOAST Dolce&Gabbana collaborates with Smeg for a red-hot collection of fashionable kitchen accessories WRITER GAURI KELKAR
T
here is that deep, deep history, those rolling green fields, solemn-looking Greek temples and a blinding colour palette—with Mount Etna, Europe’s tallest volcano, lording over it all. There’s possibly a lot about Sicily that could have artists of all varieties wax eloquent about its charms. It’s no surprise, then, that Italian fashion house Dolce&Gabbana finds an unending source of inspiration in this Mediterranean isle, but the fact that it thought to bring it into your kitchens would certainly raise an eyebrow. A domain for sleek, important-looking smart equipment to facilitate meticulously crafted cuisine, the kitchen, as any chef will tell you, is hardly the space for splotches of colour. That is, until you add Smeg to the conversation. And talk about a singularly interesting collaboration, where high fashion meets cutting-edge technology and some serious functionality. The collaboration first took shape in 2016 in the form of the ‘FAB28’ refrigerators—just a limited edition of 100 pieces that added Sicilian flavour to kitchens. Hand-painted by artists, they brought some colour to the stoicism of refrigerators; it gave enough of an impetus to both Dolce&Gabbana and Smeg to take their partnership to the next level, and openly declare their love for all things Sicilian—with the Sicily Is My Love collection. First showcased at Salone del Mobile in 2017, it zeroed in on the smaller
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household products on which to apply its (hand-painted) coat of motifs and patterns endemic to the island—taken from its culture, food and landscape. And with things going well, there really was no reason to mess with a good thing. So this year, the brands brought their heads together once again. The repertoire unveiled at Salone included a free-standing cooking range, extractor hood and ‘FAB28’ refrigerator in a throwback to two years ago. They come in two diferent styles. For one, Sicily’s custom of puppet theatre and the traditional handcart played muse, and fiery reds and oranges dominated. The second variant was more subtle, with majolica (‘painted pottery’) prints in calming blues and whites, drawing inspiration from the Sicilian countryside. The collection also added to the smaller appliances range from last year with a four-slice toaster (pictured), a hand blender and an American cofee machine. The intricate designs and illustrations focus wholly on Sicily—on its fruits (luscious-looking cherries, lemons, pears), the floral motifs called crocchi, and the landscape (even Mount Etna makes an appearance). If you believe Dolce&Gabbana and Smeg, and you most certainly should, then your kitchens absolutely need a dose of Sicilian colour—lots of it.
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E4 ; 2; A collaboration with Bogarde gets the rugged BMX bike a debonair facelift in signature Dior Homme fashion
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he sartorial year that was will be remembered (at least in part) for the unlikely collaborations it witnessed, across product categories. In some cases, these were fresh alliances while others picked up where they left of; Dior Homme’s association with French BMX makers, Bogarde, is an example of the latter. With an ever-expanding portfolio that is both strategically and thoughtfully designed to appeal to a new generation of luxe-lovers, the menswear brand has surprised its loyalists with unexpected releases—think signature sneakers and skateboards—in the past. However, in December last year, the haute couture house stepped into unfamiliar territory with a red-and-black Dior Homme BMX that was unveiled under former artistic director Kris Van Assche’s leadership. Not surprisingly, it was a runaway success. The framework for this collaboration was Bogarde’s contemporary reimagining of a traditional rugged BMX from the 1990s, the design of which was perfected by the French bikemaker over three years. The shiny chrome finish on the
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handlebars and soft calfskin seat, as well as the label’s signature bee motif with a red-hot splash of Dior flair, elevated it to a limitededition collector’s item for hardcore BMX enthusiasts, who had to move fast to get their hands on one. Production was limited to just 70 bikes, and they sold out quickly despite the hefty $3,200 price tag. The changing of the guard at Dior Homme ofset the release of the second BMX bike. Released weeks into the formidable Kim Jones’ appointment at the luxury label (he came over from the same division at Louis Vuitton), the second bike takes inspiration from Van Assche's Gold capsule collection (fall 2018). Despite the bling, the bike is evocative of the brand’s minimalist design sensibilities. More lavish than its predecessor, it retailed for a cool $5,425; much like the red-and-black version, every single piece was snapped up. Luckily, the year’s not over yet; rumour has it that the third and final bike is on its way. If the wild popularity of its stylish predecessors is any indicator, the newest BMX looks poised to become the stuf of bicycling legend.
PHOTO: ALESSIA BOLZONI
WRITER MAANYA SACHDEVA
goldeneye The sculptural sunglasses created by designer Suhani Parekh are an extension of her architecture-inspired jewellery WRITER GAURI KELKAR . PHOTOGRAPHER TALIB CHITALWALA
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t’s a fickle thing, creativity—inspiring you to strike out in unlikely directions. All you can do is surrender to its capricious nature and see where it leads. Not so for Suhani Parekh, the founder and creative director of Misho. For her, branching into sunglasses wasn’t really going of track from designing jewellery. It seemed to be the next obvious step for her brand to take. Given that these particular sunglasses are made of the same precious metal, the progression from jewellery to shades certainly looked like it was inevitable. “I see the glasses as an extension of the jewellery, more as sculptural pieces; this just seemed like the perfect fit,” says Parekh of her not-so-tangential foray into eyewear. One look at the array of designs on ofer and you are convinced about their credentials as jewellery adjacents—glittering eye accessories, if you will, rather than mere sunglasses. And that’s not least because of the gleaming material that was chosen for them to be cast in; sterling silver, plated with 22-carat gold no less, certainly ups the ante for this eye accessory. “I loved the idea of wearing fine glasses, so silver was really the perfect material,” says Parekh.
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Handcrafted in their chosen metal, the sunglasses, Parekh says, have been created using some very traditional techniques. And in keeping with the hallmarks of Parekh’s creations, these additions to her repertoire display a similar penchant for minimalism. “The aesthetic of the glasses is like our jewellery— clean, architectural, almost like a bauhaus-meets-Japan style,” she explains. Parekh also delved into pop culture to add a whimsical edge to her designs, with some pieces (pictured) inspired by the glasses donned by cult Manga characters. In keeping with the idea of the sunglasses being an extension of the jewellery, they haven’t been designed as a separate collection. “The glasses will become a fixed part of our collections, with two to three pairs of glasses added to each new collection and mirroring the aesthetic of the jewellery,” says the designer. The glasses are available online as well as through some of Misho’s current stockists. Parekh is also open to designing specific pieces for clients. Given that she’s already made a diamond-encrusted version of one of the pairs, take a moment to ponder what wonders catering to individual, distinctive tastes could lead to.
0SrhqS^ EZÉSVe New Delhi-based designer Amit Babbar’s debut collection for menswear label Itoh, for Raw Mango, is a seamless confluence of Indian and Japanese aesthetics WRITER PALLAVI PUNDIR . PHOTOGRAPHER ASHISH SHAH
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he nuance of a thread is rarely ever lost on Amit Babbar. Between establishing a relationship with the Japanese garment industry—working with labels such as Maison de Soil, Tsumori Chisato and Mando for almost 15 years—and launching his own enquiry into the world of textiles, the 38-yearold has formulated a design philosophy that not only plays with the convention of classic silhouettes, but also infuses them with a refinement that can only come with the precision of a scientific approach. The evolution of his vision, drawing from Indian and Japanese aesthetics and techniques, has led to Itoh (derived from ito, the Japanese word for ‘thread’ or ‘yarn’), Babbar’s first menswear brand under the aegis of fashion designer Sanjay Garg’s Raw Mango. Babbar’s investigation is deeply rooted in men’s vintage clothing. “I love reading about it, especially the predominance of workwear in the 1950s, where we could see the use of loose pants and loosely structured shirts for ease of movement,” says the fashion graduate from Wigan and Leigh College, UK. “The inception of Itoh is out of passion for garment construction and the desire to bring a new approach to design. I wanted to introduce a change in how menswear is perceived in India—which is more trend-driven.”
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With this collection, Babbar brings forth an elegant confluence of two cultures. By tapping into the potential of the Indian textile industry, Babbar was driven to make use of traditional printing techniques and handwoven fabrics such as cotton voile, silk and khadi. The collection, hence, sees a handpicked selection of fabrics from across India, such as paper poplin from Kovilpatti and Dindigul in Tamil Nadu, and handwoven fabrics from the Nadia and Bardhaman districts in West Bengal, since “compact fabrics are most important in menswear” to achieve the desired proportion and fall. A few styles required trimmings (such as buttons and interfacing) too, which were sourced from Japan. “[Additionally,] each style is given a diferent wash to achieve a desired look. For instance, our summer suits have been tumble-washed for a crushed or distressed look,” he says. For now, Babbar wants to keep his focus on quality and detailing through this capsule debut collection, so that his customers “experience a well-constructed garment and not just another piece of fashion”. With wool, silk and their various blends in mind for his next collection, Babbar’s work makes for a striking statement: the heyday of textiles is right here and now.
grandma’s chair The rich tapestries of Alessandro Michele’s catwalk collections are now available in the latest logo-emblazoned additions to the Gucci Décor collection WRITER PALLAVI PUNDIR
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he lure of Gucci is nothing short of cult-like. From the ubiquitous double Gs, to the distinct floral and faunal motifs that have blossomed out of creative director Alessandro Michele’s design mind—the brand has ensured that its style and forms are not just devoured, but revered with unwavering adoration. This year, the brand takes another step into our lives—specifically, into our homes—with Gucci Décor. Launching this month, the collection of furniture, tableware, accessories, home scents, soft furnishings and wallpaper draws from the patterns, colours, designs and decorative tropes familiar to any fan of the label’s recent work. Given Gucci Décor’s stated intent to create a “surprising, joyous combination of hue, pattern
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and design, where there are no rules”, the idea of a home becomes not just a concept, but a living, evolving entity. Of particular note in the collection is the emphasis on craft. The brand has tied up with 283-year-old Florentine company Richard Ginori to realize Michele’s designs in porcelain. The vanity seats, on the other hand, showcase intricate fabric work, like a bright jacquard paired with signature motifs—bees, double Gs and stars (pictured). Perhaps the most significant detail, however, is that Gucci has unequivocally stated that the collection will not have a dedicated space; instead, these products will be juxtaposed with the brand’s apparel and accessories. After all, the furnishings and accessories, Michele believes, is “simply another way to dress in Gucci”.
Sq<ËV j Perona, India’s newest fashion brand with a flagship store in the capital, offers a collection of leather accessories characterized by sharp silhouettes and clean lines WRITER GAURI KELKAR
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t’s not like you need another reason to visit New Delhi’s luxurious shoppers’ paradise, The Chanakya, but with Perona, you have one nonetheless. Created by Puneet and Shruti Mangla, founders of Orion, one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of leather products, this homegrown brand opened its 2,850-square-foot flagship store in April. With its black-and-white ambience, it offers a perfect backdrop for the fashion carte blanche on ofer—clothes, bags and accessories for men and women. If your taste leans to refined minimalism, then Perona’s subtly stylish collection certainly holds appeal. The contemporary, clean-lined designs have a decidely global sensibility—courtesy of the team of international designers who work closely with Shruti to create the products that are manufactured in India.
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Then there is the unerring choice of materials in which the collection has been conceived—Japanese, Italian and Korean fabrics for the clothes and premium Italian leathers for the bags. The structured, contemporary shapes are as much a nod to elevating personal, everyday style statements as they are to fuss-free functionality, with diverse creations for any occasion. You have your pick of clothes and accessories (belts, wallets, iPhone cases) and an impressive variety of bags—briefcases (pictured), backpacks, strap-handle totes, fold-over laptop totes, small messenger bags for men, and clutches, handbags, totes and backpacks for women. And it’s all cast in a neutral palette—dark olives, pearl greys and dusky blues. If you are looking to update your wardrobe, Perona may even tempt you into overhauling it—at the very least.
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tom o’clock Everything Tom Ford touches turns to gold. Expect his new timepieces to be on the most fashionable wrists WRITER DIVYA MISHRA
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esigner Tom Ford has fired up runways with everything from sequins to faux fur; has his own line of beauty products; has directed award-winning films; rescued a fashion house from near bankruptcy; and, of course, developed an eponymous, billion-dollar global luxury brand. What he hadn’t done—until March this year, at least—was launch his own line of designer watches. Following the fashion and accessories under the Tom Ford lifestyle brand, this unisex collection of Swiss-made timepieces is a nod to the classic style Ford personally sports, as opposed to his runway shows that clearly channel the sexy, audacious Studio 54 aesthetic he leans towards in his designs. The Tom Ford 001, as the collection is known, features eight rectangular cases in two sizes each. Each case will be available in four materials and finishes: 18-carat yellow gold,
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brushed and polished stainless steel, and a matt-black, diamond-like carbon. Aside from the elegant cases, the most eye-catching detail is the wide selection of interchangeable straps—over 50 variants of colours, textures and materials— including handwoven braided leather, stitched leather, pebbled grain leather and alligator. Ford has previously designed watches for Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Boucheron—and the experience shows. Unlike other watches that provide for changing straps, Ford’s come in a single piece; a strap can be slid into one looped lug and out the other. It’s as easy as changing a belt, without any of the clumsy fiddling around with spring bars and lug pins. These watches are understated, yet stylish, and ofer an element of playfulness with a range of straps. Are they created in Ford’s own image? It may very well be the case.
rZË e[_b$ ^[XË A new collection by Nimish Shah’s Shift Home, to be launched later this year, melds the richness of Indian craftsmanship with his signature minimalism WRITER PALLAVI PUNDIR
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crocheted using dried banana leaves by female artisans in rural Karnataka in the shape of lunar patterns. And in ‘Novelty’, the pillow cover (pictured), the cross-stitch technique—synonymous with the Bohra community—is evident on the hand-spun and handwoven rain-fed cotton. In a remarkable synthesis, the imperfections of handcrafting, hand-assembling and handweaving come together with the modern proportions of brutalism and the works of Le Corbusier. “The simplicity of forms is already there; we turn them into simpler products,” he says. This narrative of slow fashion stitches together a message of endurance of the traditional and classical. “It’s like how we relate to Kota stone or temple architecture,” says Shah, “The design is not breakthrough. It’s the quality and make that is more important. All long-term utilitarian products, they’re not here to spice things up, but to build foundations.”
PHOTO: AREEZ KATKI
xtraordinary is often just refined ordinariness, with that extra—albeit intangible—spark. And in Mumbaibased designer Nimish Shah’s work, one often finds those moments of brilliance in simple, sustainable methods. When we heard that Shah—the go-to aesthete for homes associated with novel details and artisanal qualities—is to come out with a new home collection, we were excited to discover the story of craftsmanship this time around. “We take [decor] as a by-product, so everything we do is slow, which evolves over a period of time,” says Shah. And that is how we are introduced to ‘Indu’, ‘Panchanga’, ‘Sarabhai’, ‘Novelty’, ‘Kartik’, ‘Ashwin’, ‘Shama’ and ‘Kharif’—the eight pieces of the collection that bring “Indian elements together with a Scandinavian look”, the backbone of Shah’s creations. This collection compels us to interrogate every warp and weft of his designs. ‘Indu’, the circular rug, was hand-
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M E 5 0 0 0 PE The legend who pioneered the India Modern movement in interior design has turned his hand to fashion, and his first flagship store WRITER MAANYA SACHDEVA PHOTOGRAPHER TALIB CHITALWALA
A ‘Wave’ skirt in organza and a sculptural top in white neoprene— the detailing around the neck is done by hand and held together by pearls. Above: Pinakin Patel at his Pedder Road store; the antique Japanese screen is from his private collection.
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The gold racks were custom-designed by Pinakin for the store. The ochre chairs, also designed by him, are striking against the monochromatic palette of the store, which is dominated by frosted mirrors. Below left: An all-white ensemble fashioned from neoprene; the pockets were hand embroidered. Below right: A painting by Pinakin has been digitally printed on this Japanese cotton men’s shirt.
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chemistry graduate with no formal training in interiors or architecture, Pinakin Patel remarkably went on to introduce Indian design to minimalism more than 30 years ago. Since then, he has continued to explore and conquer uncharted territory— writing diferent chapters of a design story that is best described, by Pinakin himself, as ‘India Modern’. The latest one is about apparel— signature sculptural fashion—at his brand new Pedder Road boutique where I sit down to understand what continues to drive him. “Everything has happened more or less as a continuous search of beauty,” he tells me. Starting with Etcetera, the well-known multi-brand lifestyle and furniture store that Pinakin founded in 1985. A year later, Pinakin Patel Associates was born—now Pinakin Design. He led it for 28 years, establishing its reputation for creating stunning homes; the firm is now headed by Pallavi Choksi and Mohak Mehta. His design legacy is unparalleled because, as architect Ashiesh Shah
tells me, “Pinakin was instrumental in bringing an aesthetic to India that was ahead of its time, while encouraging young artists, designers and craftspeople when it was unheard of. He has paved the way for many.” It is also encouraging, he adds, when someone from the world of interiors dazzles the world of fashion the way Pinakin does. At its heart, the crossover stemmed from Pinakin’s desire to “work on something that is designed today, made tomorrow and sold day after”. And while the two disciplines difer in this way—homes take years to complete—the designer is more interested in the similarities. Form follows function for him, and good design accounts for room to grow. Minimalism characterizes Pinakin’s fashion, which he explains as “a clarity of lines, perfect proportion and an inherent geometry and symmetry that come to be just part of being Indian”. Pinakin is clear that he is designing for a niche clientele—those open to experimenting and comfortable with themselves. “Any sort of aesthetic expression comes out loudest and clearest when there is nobody listening or watching, and you’re basically living up to your own dreams,” he says. Dressed in all-white for this interview, Pinakin says his own sense of style is a perfect reflection of who he is—then laughs, adding, “I am not one person; I am made to appreciate diversity.” Trends re-emerge every 10-15 years, he says, and ascribing value to one or the other is redundant. Instead, he believes that personal taste should dictate preference. Therefore, each piece that hangs on the golden racks at his store is designed to transcend seasonality; his mood board is dominated by neutrals, “a few flattering nudes, almonds and beiges”, to ensure a longer lifespan. Pinakin wears his dedication to design lightly, but at the heart of his seemingly efortless success is a restlessness to do more. I know this because when I ask what’s next, he lights up. “The 55,000-square-foot Kolkata Centre of Creativity, which embraces all aspects of creativity from photography to art and performing arts to visual skill development.” That, and a wonderful unpredictability.
Mumbai meets Mayfair in the Savile Rowquality studio-cum-factory of Govinda Mehta WRITER GAURI KELKAR PHOTOGRAPHER TALIB CHITALWALA
Govinda Mehta, founder of bespoke menswear atelier Raisson D’Être, in his new oice in Mumbai. A ‘Skygarden’ pendant light by Marcel Wanders for Flos hangs over a custom-designed desk. Inset: Mehta’s factory sits across from his first-floor studio.
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This meeting room has furniture made locally by Husnain Sofawala; the wooden table was made by the contractor. The lights are from Firefly.
here is nothing at all about innocuous-looking gates that merits a second glance. Except when someone does bother taking a second look, and finds something unexpected. Like Govinda Mehta did while seeking out a space in central Mumbai to serve as a studio-cum-factory for his bespoke menswear brand, Raisson D’Être. This warehouse-style space was perfect for the designer, whose low profile belies a storied list of clients. “I wanted to consolidate my business, get everything under one roof; earlier, my office and factory were in separate places,” says Mehta, who believes his clients—from actors (Farhan Akhtar, Kunal Kapoor) to industrialists (Navin Agarwal, Vikas Oberoi) and architects (Sanjay Puri, Xerxes Talati)— played a major hand in his journey from a 300-square-foot office to a 4,000-square-foot studio-cum-factory. Starved for light and buried under layers of dust was a dream: a vast, column-less space with original Burma teak flooring and a 15-foot-high ceiling. Mehta collaborated with architect Khozema Chitalwala, founder of Mumbai-based Designers Group, to thrash out the design. “Govinda had a great idea of creating a factory in the same space as his studio; it allows clients to experience the production of sophistication,” says the architect, who chose to retain the original look of the space because he finds “that luxury makes a better impact in the envelope of an
The flooring is original Burma teak; the wooden benches for the team were custom-designed. In the background, Mehta’s oice (left) and a meeting room flank the oice he designed for his wife, which is fronted by custom-made glass doors.
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The clothes racks and the shoe cabinet—Mehta recently invested in a shoemaking business—were made by Rajiv Parekh of RED Architects.
industrial aesthetic”. When conflicting schedules led to an amicable parting of ways, Mehta completed the project with a contractor (also a client). Glass mapped into square grids form the office and factory’s front door, as well as the wall of Mehta’s cabin and a second meeting room. The grey palette and warm wooden flooring work well with the ambient lighting and arched windows. A third space is an office Mehta created for his wife, with black glass doors. Just like his clothes, the designer’s studio has been cast in his aesthetic, thoughtfully crafted to highlight its best assets and made unique with custom-designed furniture and an impeccable eye for detail. “No single element speaks louder than the other. Every client who comes here tells me that this space speaks ‘me’,” says Mehta. In keeping with his penchant for building long-lasting relationships with clients, it speaks a bit of ‘them’ too: the clothes racks were created by Rajiv Parekh (co-founder of RED Architects; the firm has an office on the ground floor), a painting in his office is a gift (from Ruchira and Navin Agarwal of the Sterlite Group), as are some souvenirs on his desk. This space, in all its understated elegance, is everything that Mehta embodies—happy to fly under the radar and stay hidden in plain sight, but with an uncanny ability to be discovered by anyone in search of quality. Raison d’être, indeed.
Mehta’s team of tailors at work in the factory.
DEJEUNER CHEZ D ’ASCOLI To celebrate the new line of D’Ascoli table linen available via the ultra-exclusive Modaoperandi.com, Peter and Cecile D’Ascoli hosted a brunch for and friends at their New Delhi home WRITER MAANYA SACHDEVA PHOTOGRAPHER TALIB CHITALWALA
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This March marked new beginnings for Peter and Cecile D’Ascoli. It saw the coming together of their separate oferings—soft furnishings, custom-made fabrics by the Peter D’Ascoli brand, and Cecile’s clothing line—under the lifestyle label D’Ascoli. And the launch of Tipoo, a table linen collection, on luxury site Modaoperandi.com, cofounded by style maven Lauren Santo Domingo, gave them another reason to celebrate, which they did with a lavish lunch. On a Sunday in June, ahead of the launch, their home was decorated in the brand’s woven velvets, printed silks and linen wall hangings, ofset by the flamboyant D’Ascoli fashion donned by their guests. The spotlight, however, was on their new Santo Domingo-approved table linen.
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Previous page: The D’Ascolis— Peter, Cecile and their daughter Flora, with their dogs Haru and Bagatelle. Above: The Tipoo collection. Left: Peter in a D’Ascoli kurta; custom fabrics from his brand are draped on the sofa and banquette. Below left: Axelle Descamps, managing director of Beaumanoir India, and Cecile wearing silk dresses from the label’s Bohemian Renaissance collection. Below centre: Designer Vritima Wadhwa is in a ‘Fresco’ top and a scarf. Below right: The Aga Khan Foundation’s Lukhimai Linnebank is in a silk dress from the same collection, with Cecile.
“The D’Ascoli brand is about designs we love, so seeing our friends use them brings them to life in a magical way. It is indeed a great source of inspiration.”
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Left: Film director Raghuvir Khare in a D’Ascoli printed and embroidered khadi shirt. Right & below: Served on ‘Napoleon Ivy’ china from Wedgwood, lunch included spaghetti aglio e olio, tandoori chicken, a creamy penne pasta, cheese, and an avocado and cherry tomato salad. Below left: A ‘Macau’ printed linen wall hanging inspired by antique Parsi embroidery from Peter D’Ascoli fabrics, with a marble head of Alexander the Great picked up in Istanbul. Bottom left: A 19th-century opaline glass lamp—with gilt work— and a Puiforcat silver cup, with roses, sit beside a glass of champagne from Pernod Ricard. Bottom centre: Investment banker Ishaan Gill wearing a D’Ascoli men’s ‘Hippie’ shirt with a chinoiserie print on handspun, handwoven cotton. Bottom right: Project 810’s Vanshika Wadhwa, in a ‘Modica’ silk dress, surrounded by Peter D’Ascoli fabrics.
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PANIC ROOM CHANNELLING JODIE FOSTER IN THE CULT STATUS MOVIE, SECURES ITSELF IN THE LATEST DRESSING ROOMS AND WALK-IN WARDROBES PHOTOGRAPHER ASHISH SHAH FASHION STYLIST KSHITIJ KANKARIA INTERIOR STYLIST SAMIR WADEKAR LOCATIONS PLÜSCH LIVING AND HÄFELE DESIGN CENTRE
A panic room is a fortress, a shelter and a safe room, all at once, which is used as a space for refuge from a series of calamities—from a break-in or a home invasion, to a tornado or a terror attack. These rooms are usually equipped with communication devices to contact the nearest law enforcement authorities. Above: Asymmetrical storage unit by Interlübke, Plüsch Living. Facing page: Customized walk-in wardrobe by Schmalenbach, Plüsch Living. High-neck sweater and blue blazer, Hermès. Beige pants, Gucci.
The 2002 film Panic Room—starring Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart—shone a spotlight on the safe room. In it, Meg Altman (played by Foster) acquires an Upper West Side brownstone equipped with a panic room. To portray this impenetrable fortress, production designer Arthur Max created an elaborate $6-million set. The film’s panic room was 6 by 14 feet, and required the production team to build three versions, so that director David Fincher could film from multiple angles. Customized walk-in wardrobe by Schmalenbach, Plüsch Living. Lace blouse and sunglasses, Gucci. Facing page: Rail profile from the Profin Aluminium Profile range, Häfele. White organza blouse, Archana Rao.
It is the real estate agent (played by Ann Magnuson) who introduces Jodie Foster’s character to the panic room: “A safe room—they’re in vogue in high-end construction. One can’t be too careful about home invasion. The alarm goes of in the middle of the night. What will you do? Call the police and wait till Tuesday? I think not. Concrete walls. Buried phone line, not connected to the house’s main line. Call the police, nobody can cut you of. You have your own ventilation system. A bank of surveillance monitors that covers nearly every corner of the house.” White organza blouse, Archana Rao. Facing page: Fire door hardware from the Panic Exit Device range, Häfele.
In 1999, billionaire banker Edmond J Safra died of asphyxiation in his panic room at his Monaco penthouse. Early accounts stated two hooded intruders entered Safra’s apartment and stabbed his male nurse, and Safra fled to his steel-reinforced bathroom, before a fire broke out. Later, the Monaco court convicted the nurse, Ted Maher, who claimed he started the fire in an ill-conceived attempt to alert the authorities to the break-in. After he was released from prison, Maher recanted his confession, citing coercion. Conspiracy theorists ventured on to suggest involvement of the Russian mafia or a Colombian drug cartel. In 2010, the 17,500-square-foot duplex was refurbished by real estate firm Candy & Candy and sold for over $300 million. Customized walk-in wardrobe by Schmalenbach, Plüsch Living. Blazer and skirt, Dior. Boots, Hermès.
A panic room is best built in a space with no windows and just one door—preferably a reinforced door that opens outwards. The most common materials include steel, Kevlar and bulletproof fibreglass. Across the world, affluent homeowners have used specialized firms—like UK-headquartered The Panic Room Company, and Covert Interiors, which has oices in New York and the Hamptons— to create their own panic rooms. Customized walkin wardrobe by Interlübke, Plüsch Living. High-neck animal-print dress, top and pants, Dhruv Kapoor. Model: Sheryl Bennet. Hairstylist & Make-up Artist: Akgun Manisali (Inega). Assistant Photographer: Rajarshi Verma. Assistant Stylist: Ruhani Singh.
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Portfolio No.1
SHEETAL MALLAR
Goa Crew After being photographed walking the ramp for the likes of Armani and Fendi, Sheetal Mallar shifted her focus behind the camera. The former supermodel has been photographing subcultures and the people that occupy them for close to a decade. For her ¿ UVW FROODERUDWLRQ ZLWK AD, Mallar headed to Goa to shoot her fashionable friends there, in their homes. “I believe home is where your friends are and I’m lucky to have some dear friends who live in Goa. I enjoy photographing them — especially at home. The intimacy and trust develops easily whilst shooting someone you’re close to; and it’s always intriguing how much you can say about someone just by seeing the space they live in. Each a different kind of home, each beautiful in its own way.”
LAKSHMI “Lakshmi is earthy and soulful—one of the few friends I’m still in touch with from my modelling days. Like me, she’s always loved Goa and has lived there, on and of, for many years. Her work moves at a fast pace; Goa doesn’t. So, it’s the perfect counterbalance. She moved to this cottage and studio last year. She’s an outdoorsy person, and enjoys the fact that she can easily indulge in some open-air yoga, surf or even tend to her farm; she grows her own organic vegetables in her garden.” Facing page: Lakshmi Menon in the living area, dressed in a Savio Jon slip dress. Top: A set of Hans J Wegner chairs surround the dining table, above which is a lamp she found in Chor Bazaar, Mumbai; the wall hanging is by textile designer and artist Christoph Hefti. Above: In her studio space, wearing a dress from Tome, and kept company by Chotu, her dog. Left: The windowsill in her bathroom shows of objects she found in Chor Bazaar.
JIVI “I’ve known Jivi for many years now. His house in Assagao—one of the prettiest villages in north Goa—is incredibly eclectic and reflects his colourful personality. Jivi has been visiting Goa since he was 16 or 17, making many friends there over the years. He had this property for a few years before he embarked on a process of renovation and construction—eventually moving there in December 2006. Built on a hillside, the heritage house is submerged within lush greenery.” Facing page: Jivi Sethi’s suit is his own design; Brigitte Singh curtains flank the stained-glass windows, which are antiques from old mansions in Mumbai. The ‘Eye’ cushion is by Kavita Datta, inspired by the work of sculptor Ravinder Reddy. The brass candle stands are antiques from Kerala. Above: The ‘Bocca Rossa’ stool is from Fornasetti. Below: The upholstery in this primarily black-and-white room is all from Goa; some of the cushions and throws are in a Kinkhab brocade fabric from Varanasi. The antique wooden arch (or prabhavali) behind the armchair is from Tamil Nadu.
NIKHIL “I met Nikhil and Madhavi (his wife) in 2014 at an art event they were hosting in Goa. We got along instantly and have remained friends since. His home has a surreal quality about it that makes me feel like I’ve stepped into another era.” Facing page: Nikhil Chopra, in a shirt from Shift, surrounded by his hats. Mallar says of the photograph: “It’s quite metaphorical of what he is—constantly becoming all these diferent people as a performance artist.” Chopra says of the home, “We moved into this house in Portavado, Siolim in July 2012; it was the 200th anniversary of the house. It had been lying empty for 20 years, and here we were, bringing life to its massive halls and monumentally high ceiling.” Top left: Chopra says, “The most memorable event in this house is Madhavi giving birth to our daughter on our bed. It was a gorgeous August morning in 2013; the sun was sparkling on the lush monsoon greenery. It was perfect!” Below: The traditional balcão (veranda) is one of Chopra’s favourite parts of the house. “Endless chais, chats and chillouts have happened here.” Below left: Chopra has travelled with these paintings wherever he’s lived. Made by his grandfather in situ, they show the Lidder Valley in Kashmir, where he had a home.
RIFQ “I’ve known Rifq for over 10 years. She’s lived in diferent countries through her life. I remember sitting at a beach shack in Goa with her, about five years ago, and talking about moving there. Six months later, she did. Last year, she and her partner moved into a 125-year-old Portuguese house that they’d restored, guided by architect Ian Alvares.” Facing page: Rifq Sarao, wearing a shirt from Shift—to the left is one of the many painted trunks that dot the living room as side tables. They were originally her great-grandmother’s and still have some of her belongings; Sarao adds, “Hopefully, she won’t mind the upgrade.” Top: This trunk held all of Sarao’s “earthly belongings”—at 10—when she left for boarding school. Now a bedside table, it holds eight years of sentimental knickknacks. Above left: The cutlery was her great-grandfather’s war bounty from Thailand during the Second World War. Right: This armchair is one of her rare online purchases.
SAFFRON AND YANNICK “Safron and Yannick are both artists who live, and work, together. She’s the only one among these friends who was born in Goa and has lived here the longest. Her mom (artist Shireen Mody) designed the house, which was built in 1988. Yannick also lived in Goa as a child, for about eight years, before moving to Switzerland. He moved back here three years ago.” Facing page: Safron Wiehl and Yannick Fernandes in the living room. Left: The laterite bricks were paired with old wooden doors for a rustic feel. Below right: Some of the couple’s collaborations— he draws black-and-white sketches and she paints the watercolour flowers, butterflies and so on over it. Bottom right: Fernandes—in a shirt from Shift—and Motley hanging out in the garden. Below left: Wiehl in a kimono wrap from Studio Tia, Anjuna.
CAROL “Carol and I have been friends for many years now. She and Sam (Ziza, her husband) moved to Goa three years ago, when she decided to become a mother. Their home was already built, but they decorated it themselves, furnishing it with a mix of antiques from around the state and pieces they built themselves. They actually went to mills to pick the wood for the tables themselves. Carol loves the garden, where she can usually be found playing with her son Gabriel— when it’s sunny outside. She and Sam also run Botanique, a restaurant and bed and breakfast in Assagao.” Facing page: Carol Gracias and Gabriel by the pool—one of her favourite places on the property; her dress is from Rangeela Goa. Top: This room, which overlooks the garden, is another of her favourite places. Above: For the walls, the couple mixed paintings and photographs, from Kulture Shop in Mumbai and by artists from Vadodara. Right: Even the garden features a combination of century-old trees and new saplings and plants they’ve grown. Gracias adds, “We try to respect our surroundings and the nature that we’ve been blessed with.”
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Portfolio No.2
Diet Sabya + AD = Diet Bijoy When an Instagram account started an out-and-out war against plagiarism in the Indian fashion industry, anonymity was crucial to its integrity (and security lol). But, today, Diet Sabya’s identity is about more than just a name. Fearless, fashionobsessed, fair and fun – the Diet Prada copy (we love the irony!) has racked up more than 90,000 followers for calling out the copycats with #guts. Sure, that means they get blocked now and then, but it also paved the way for this extremely special collaboration. No, we’re not exposing architecture’s #GandiCopies; we’re celebrating originality across design. For the style issue, Diet Sabya curates the most original names in Indian design, along with AD, to create a copy of a copy. This is Diet Bijoy.
The designers that Diet Bijoy says are brilliant and original lol... dietbijoy
A copy of a copy of a copy
Liked by jhallibilli and 3,305 others dietbijoy @atelier.ds — not to be confused with Atelier Diet Sabya — makes really luxe products that’ll make you appear super-rich and influential, without having to buy any fake followers. Don’t @ us! #dietbijoy #dietAD #original
dietbijoy
Liked by xoxo23156, notadesignerok and 2,176 others dietbijoy You’ve to go on a keto diet to understand the work that @material.immaterial does. Think bare, minimal concrete designed with incredible precision to create tiny, tiny products. You’ll have to see it to believe it. #dietbijoy #dietAD #original
dietbijoy
We thought about Diet Zaha but p^ k^ Bg]bZg ehe
dietbijoy
Liked by abstract.200, bandratowny and 3,901 others dietbijoy Calcutta-born designer and Pablo Escobarstyle-stache connoisseur — @BoboCalcutta is like if Elton John had a baby with Rakhi Sawant. (Don’t @ us!) Artfully cacophonous is how we would like to describe his overall aesthetic . His clothes are legit and are most definitely NOT for someone who’s on a #GandiDiet (pun intended). Caution ahead! #dietbijoy #dietAD #original
Bgm^kbhk ]^lb`g jn^^gl hk _Zlabhg jn^^gl''' \Zg m
Liked by raw_nimbu, dragonthoughts and 5,274 others dietbijoy @claymen_ is basically if Margiela had an Indian baby. Sometimes strange, definitely not ordinary and mostly low-key shocking — that’s how we’d like to sum up Aman Khanna’s aesthetic for you. #dietbijoy #dietAD #original
]^\b]^ pah l ma^ [b``^lm \hir\Zm ehe
Rhnk ahnl^ ehhdl Z [bm ebd^ fr ahnl^ ehe
Sorry SoBo, but getting your f urniture ma d e in Alibag does not mean you can say Bijoy Jain designed your house
dietbijoy
Liked by notagainrhea, hibiscusmonkey and 4,240 others
dietbijoy
dietbijoy Self-proclaimed ‘India’s Heaviest Designer’ and of all things Goth — @KallolDatta pretty much invented the dark arts genre in Indian fashion . His ability to see fashion through a cultural lens is also what sets him apart from regular designers. #dietbijoy #dietAD #original
Liked by dollaypop and 1,768 others dietbijoy Print on print on print? Fantastic silhouettes? Incredible visual language? @SaakshaKinni, a new label that’s barely seen the light of the day, is already on its way to becoming a force to be reckoned with #dietbijoy #dietAD #original View all 314 comments $ultan_sharma Yaar kya rapchik design hain.
I got married in Sabya and we lived happily ever after in a Bijoy house lol
If Diet Bijoy could say what we really think about copycats, p^ ] [^ [Zgg^] _khf Bandra. Again. lol dietbijoy
dietbijoy
Liked by sarojiniseshimla, hmm_okay_lol and 2,453 others
Liked by tanksinatra and 1,947 others dietbijoy Think East meets West is tacky? Think again. @tiipoi — an agency based in UK — takes influences and creates the most incredible products you’ll ever see. #dietbijoy #dietAD #original . . View all 96 comments
dietbijoy @antar_agni_ujjawaldubey might sound like a Shakti Kapoor movie from the early aughts, but in reality, is a neo-Indian fashion label that single-handedly made it okay for bearded (read: macho) men to flaunt the asymmetrical kurta. Also, one of the most copied menswear labels out there! #dietbijoy #dietAD #original . . View all 301 comments xoxo23156 Maar hi daaloge!! Itni acchi design
dragonthoughts jhalli_billi Means, eforts to bahut lagaye hain!
Since when did all lights look like they were designed by Michael Anastassiades lol
dietbijoy
dietbijoy
Liked by fatafat_girl, theblatanttruth69 and 5,229 others
Liked by avocado_killer and 2,049 others
dietbijoy Remember the cult classic, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon? That’s @_NaushadAli_’s aesthetic for you in a nutshell.
dietbijoy @RimzimDaduOfficial dropped a ‘village’ and became a great Indian fashion label with curve-hugging saris and a great range of never-before-seen silhouettes. Also, Ms Dadu is proof that some people in the industry can be nice without any hidden agenda.
#dietbijoy #dietAD #original
#dietbijoy #dietAD #original . . . View all 681 comments
dietbijoy
hibiscusmonkey Guts on toast chahiye for creating such a cool look yaar. dollaypop This is next level man
Liked by $ultan_sharma, kuttifromdelhi and 3,588 others dietbijoy @BodiceBodice is the Clean & Clear of the Indian fashion industry . An aesthetic so remarkably hers that every brand that’s tried to copy it has ended up looking like a second hand version. If we didn’t have @DietBijoy — we would’ve totally considered creating @DietBodice. #dietbijoy #dietAD #original
We Bijoy, the clever architect of exquisitely crafted ahf^l maZm p^ ] give up our Viren Bhagats to ebo^ bg' :g] a^ l lh handsome! Silver fox lol
Namaste! Diet Bijoy would like to clarify that the “Chandigarh chair” (hate that name!) was designed by Pierre Jeanneret and not Le Corbusier as everyone in south Delhi seems to think lol
dietbijoy
Liked by dollaypop and 1,768 others dietbijoy Setting a clear benchmark for how Indian labels should operate internationally — award-winning & bobflaunting sister duo @miuniku are individualistic, inspiring and complete badasses when it comes to creating sleek with a razor-sharp edge to it . #dietbijoy #dietAD #original
dietbijoy
So bored of a banana plant in an earthenware pot on a concrete floor next to a Theyyam head from the local Liked by notagainrhea, hibiscusmonkey and 4,240 others dietbijoy Brands who claim to be size-inclusive take note ! @IkaiByRaginiAhuja — whose aesthetic is to combine wearable art inspired by oriental cultures with all-inclusive si es — is possibly THE body-positive brand India needs. #dietbijoy #dietAD #original
antiques dealer. So last season...
TURNS 11 OCTOBER 2018
LET THE CELEBRATIONS BEGIN VOGUE’S 11TH ANNIVERSARY COLLECTOR’S EDITION IS HERE!
FOR ADVERTISING QUERIES, EMAIL SALES@CONDENAST.IN
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PORTFOLIO NO.3
JASJYOT SINGH HANS
In this collaboration with fashion illustrator Jasjyot Singh Hans, who was once the in-house artist for Sabyasachi, AD curates from the season’s fashion and furniture: Huemn with Fornasetti, Virgil Abloh with Flexform, Miuniku with Hervé Van der Straeten, Kim Jones with John Pawson, and Gaurav Gupta with Alexander Lamont — as well as Dhruv Kapoor with De Sede for the opening page of this section (pg 95). “This project really made me zoom into some spectacular furniture, and look at these pieces as characters themselves. It was refreshing to sketch the countless ways in which bodies do (and can) interact with furniture,” says Hans about this one-of-a-kind look book. His signature style VKRZFDVHV ERWK FRQÀXHQFH DQG VWRU\WHOOLQJ DV KH EUHDWKHV OLIH into these inanimate pieces — making them leap right off the page.
The entrance lobby of designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s home features a Burma teak staircase, with Afghan and Turkish runners on the stairs and pichhwai paintings on the walls. The flooring pattern has been created using white and Jaisalmer yellow marble; the skirting is in unpolished granite. Facing page: The designer— with his nephews—in a corner of the breakfast room. All are dressed in poplin kurta-pajamas with quilted silk bundis (jackets) from Sabyasachi. The corner is decorated with muslin-shaded lamps and plants. The water pipes have been hand-painted to look like the trunks of palm trees to complement the walls, which feature handpainted flora.
ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHER: DEIRDRE LEWIS
A grand old Calcutta mansion set in magnificent gardens is the new home for the king of Indian fashion, Sabyasachi Mukherjee. A place where he can be himself, by himself WRITER GREG FOSTER . PHOTOGRAPHER BJöRN WALLANDER
A Portuguese mirror, from The Raj Company (Mumbai), is the focal point for one wall in this space, which extends from the living room. The wooden pelmets are topped with a mixture of antiques and bric-a-brac the designer collected during his travels. The ceramic bust under the mirror is from a store on King’s Road, London; Chinese ginger jars, rice jars and Dutch pottery dot the space. The plantation sofa set is also from The Raj Company, upholstered in a range of fabrics—Bangladeshi nakshi kantha, Varanasi brocade and 18th-century textiles and linens from Guinevere Antiques, also on King’s Road. Mukherjee chose the vintage jade green colour for the living-room walls to match the lush garden outside. A mixture of paints were used to create this particular shade—rose pink, turquoise and moss-green, in that order, all from Asian Paints. Forty-three artists from the Sabyasachi Art Foundation then hand-painted the tropical plants on the walls, inspired by the work of French artist Henri Rousseau.
This corner of the living room is decorated with hand-printed curtains, floor cushions from Morocco and a couple of Dhruvi Acharya paintings above and to the right of the doorway. The Urdu-etched mirror is from Taherally’s (Mumbai); the rare wooden Dutch doll in front of it is from Julia Boston Antiques, King’s Road. Facing page, bottom: The living room features a set of chesterfields custom-made by Sonal Dhingra, the architect who was commissioned by Mukherjee, with leather sourced from the Sabyasachi accessory department. The cushion upholstery is a mixture of antique textiles from the south of France, old phulkaris and rare Swat valley textiles from Afghanistan. The antique rug is from ABC Carpet & Home, New York. Facing page, top left: This card table in the tea lounge is from The Raj Company. The curios are from Phillips Antiques (Mumbai), King’s Road and Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen (Paris). The candle stand and pots are from USbased furnishings chain Pottery Barn. Two mirrors from Taherally’s flank the window. Facing page, top right: The brocade-upholstered love seat is paired with cushions from Pottery Barn. The artworks, by artists from the Sabyasachi Art Foundation, are reproductions of 16th-century works,
The Syrian cabinet, which has a mother-of-pearl inlay, is from The Great Eastern Home (Mumbai); inside are crystalware and Devonshire and Dutch crockery. Above the chintz-wrapped table is an F&C Osler chandelier. The plantation dining chairs have been upholstered in a toile de Jouy fabric. Facing page: Another angle of the grand staircase at the entrance—the tree of life carpet is from ABC Carpet & Home, New York; the tropical palm rendering is from the Sabyasachi Art Foundation; and above it is the mirrored top of a console. The 16-foot-tall F&C Osler chandelier around which the staircase winds is one of Mukherjee’s most treasured finds, picked up at Taherally’s.
The master bath features a bathtub and gold fittings from Bathline (New Delhi); above it is a hand-painted F&C Osler chandelier. The walls and floors are largely in Jaisalmer marble. Facing page, top: A four-poster bed takes centre stage in the master bedroom. The rattan trunk at the foot of the bed is from The Great Eastern Home, and the antique rug is from ABC Carpet & Home. The room also features a giant rendering of a date palm, an antique pichhwai in 22-karat gold, and hand-printed muslins and linen from Pottery Barn. Facing page, bottom right: Dhingra designed the cabinetry for the guest powder room; the ‘Marrakesh’ sink is from Kohler. Facing page, bottom left: The balcony in a guest bedroom features handcrafted blinds and inlaid furniture with block-printed, quilted upholstery.
The breakfast room features a crockery cabinet, an heirloom, stocked with pieces that Mukherjee picked up on trips around the world. Atop it are a seagrass basket, a range of pottery and a disused samovar. The table is from Pottery Barn.
This & facing page: The garden is dotted with marble pots and garden furniture from Gaia Pottery (Mumbai) and Sharma Farms (New Delhi).
Mukherjee with his nephews in the garden. Facing page: Mirrors in wrought-iron frames and a variety of pots decorate this rustic nook in the garden. Following spread: ‘India moghol (patiala green)’ wallpaper from the designer’s Sabyasachi for Nilaya Chapter II collection.
T
here is a certain league of fashion designers who are defined as much by the way they live, as they are by their flair for designing clothes. I’m thinking of the late Gianni Versace and his villa on Lake Como, as well as his iconic Miami mansion, Casa Casuarina, where he would host decadent pool parties and where, also, sadly, he would one day be shot dead on the doorstep. I’m thinking of the minimalism of Giorgio Armani’s multiple landmark residences, and most notably his stealth green superyacht Maìn—its sculptural lines perhaps being the best expression of his brand of chic simplicity. Tom Ford, of course, had that Tadao Ando-designed ranch in Santa Fe (which recently sold for a reported $75 million), his main residence being a Richard Neutra masterpiece in Los Angeles. But perhaps the most famous of all for living large is Valentino. Who can forget the glimpse into his chocolate box Gstaad chalet, as well as his royally run—and extravagantly decorated—Château de Wideville, just outside of Paris, as seen in the 2008 documentary, Valentino: The Last Emperor.
SWING FROM THE CHANDELIERS Sabyasachi may just be The Last Maharaja. He’s the Valentino of India, not only because of his richly embroidered lehngas that make Paris couture week look like Topshop, but because of his palatial new Calcutta mansion. Walking into the entrance hall feels like walking into a room full of highlights from TEFAF, Masterpiece and PAD all put together. It’s not the grand sweeping staircase that you notice first but the artful collection of Dutch pottery that surrounds a giant— eight-foot-tall at least—Chinese vase from the Schiraaz M Tanksalwalla antique store in Calcutta. A mad candelabra is even taller, and sits on the head of a handsome chap in porcelain. All this treasure glowing underneath a spectacular hand-cut crystal F&C Osler chandelier that goes up and up and up, the staircase wrapping itself around it. Easily the tallest chandelier I have seen anywhere, and you know, I’ve seen a few fancy chandeliers in my time as editor of AD. This is a grand house for a humble man. “I’ve been living in a
shoebox of a studio apartment for the last few years,” he tells me on the day he moves into the 7,250-square-foot mansion that has been configured for just A Single Man, the guest bedrooms having been converted into a series of walk-in closets, a shoe room and a jaw-dropping bathroom with a chandelier as large as the tub beneath it. “This house is going to change the way I live and, more importantly, change the way I work.” Work, work, work. On the two weekends I’ve spent at Sabya’s house, all I’ve seen him do is work. And on both occasions, when I left, he was making his way to his atelier. For Sabya, fashion is a business, if not a passion. “Maybe I’ll become an interior designer,” he says to me more than once. “Or maybe I’ll extend into homeware, furniture, antiques, maybe even a hotel.” INSIDE STORY Indeed, he gets much more excited when talking about interiors than he does about fashion. “Though I am a minimalist at heart, my outward physical manifestation is that of a maximalist. One has seen proof enough in all my retail stores. The trick to doing beautiful cluttered homes lies in the art of clever layering—and also stocking up on art, antiques, bric-a-brac, textiles, furniture and kooky curios that can be gloriously assembled.” We’re sitting in the drawing room, a room so pretty and so accomplished in its lifetime worth of layering that I find it shocking to remember I had been here just six weeks earlier—when the only things here were a couple of chairs and a sofa. “Being an antique and textile enthusiast, I wanted a crammed living room. The process started with choosing the right colour for the walls. The living room opens out to a lush tropical garden and it was important for me to get the outdoors inside. So the colour of choice was a vintage jade green.” Sabya is a perfectionist, I quickly realize. “The walls were first washed in rose-pink, then layered with turquoise, washed out and layered once again with a moss green to give an old fresco feeling.” Phew! Having worked with Asian Paints for three years, Sabya knows
exactly how to achieve the right shade. I feel a bit stupid, having recently painted my own home in just one reference of grey from Farrow & Ball, the name of which I can’t even remember. Normally, it’s the kitchen that’s the heart of any home, and at first that seems to be the case here as well. A breakfast room-cumconservatory, attached to a kitchen full of staf, it teems with indoor plants, and is flanked by a wall, which, he says, “43 artists from the Sabyasachi Art Foundation hand-painted with tropical vegetation inspired by the paintings of Henri Rousseau”. Even the pipes are painted to look like the trunks of palm trees. It’s easily the most welcoming room in the house and this is where I’m introduced to Sabya’s friends, who are waiting for lunch. Meeta Ghose is clearly in charge, ordering more gravy for the roast chicken, making sure everyone has a portion of sea bass steamed in banana leaves and, in general, ensuring that everyone at the table is having a fabulous time. Naively, I assume that she must be one of those uber-efficient household managers—the type the likes of Sabya probably nab from Taj hotels to make sure their houses are run well, like Valentino’s chateau. It’s only later, after complimenting Ghose on the sari she is wearing for dinner, and she sits next to me with a gin-and-tonic, that I discover she is Sabya’s muse, best friend and manager of his Calcutta shop. “She’s much more than that,” disagrees Sabya. “She was the one who told me to start my own label. Without her, there would be no Sabyasachi.” It’s endearing to learn that the handful of people Sabya surrounds himself with—his inner circle—have all been there from the beginning. And they’re all a pleasure to get to know. Sitting at that breakfast table serving yourself, you feel a million miles away from the table-hopping, air-kissing fashion scene of New Delhi. GENIUS AT WORK There’s something else that reminds you we’re not in la-la land. In a corner of the garden where Sabya had flirted with the idea of building a pool, he instead constructed an outhouse. “This is what I
really wanted,” he says with a wry smile. To call it an office would be a gross understatement. Because this, I discover, is the nerve centre of brand Sabyasachi—and the real heart of the home. “It’s my Instagram studio!” he says as he introduces me to his head of social media plus two art directors, surrounding not just a giant iMac, but a table with a full printout of the @sabyasachiofficial Instagram grid that they are planning for the month ahead. Never have I seen anyone take Instagram so seriously. I doubt even the Kardashians operate like this. On the day we shoot the house, Sabya spends most of his time in the Insta-studio, dictating long, detailed captions and working on the image crops of the new campaign that he’s preparing to “drop” on Instagram in a few days. If in the drawing room I had met Sabya the aesthete, and in the breakfast room got to know Sabya the charming boy from Calcutta, in the small outhouse I got a glimpse of Sabya the fashion genius. “I don’t believe in catwalk shows anymore. Instagram is so powerful, 65 per cent of my business originates from there,” he explains. I also spy a new direction in the imagery, with dusky models and, difficult to miss, a lot more bosom. “In fashion, you have to reinvent yourself every three to five years. You need to be fresh. Right now, I’ve become tired of gaunt faces and stick-thin models. I’m obsessed by boobs!” When Sabya wants a break from work (I doubt it happens often), he takes a turn around his garden. And what a splendid garden it is! This is the real feat of the restoration of this Calcutta mansion. Some 4,000 plants were sourced to create this lush oasis that looks like it’s been here for hundreds of years. There are banana trees that are taller than the two-storey residence itself, thick-trunked palm and Kaffir lime trees, and a pristine lawn for Sabya’s two cocker spaniels (who share the house with him). It’s so dense that you can’t even see the deep Calcutta red of the house behind it. Sabya muses for a second. “For an introverted recluse like me, a tropical garden is the perfect getaway.” Introverted recluse? I’m not fooled by his self-deprecation. The real Sabya is charming, warm and from another time—just like his house. Welcome home, Mr Mukherjee.
The farmhouse dates back to 1820, and came with its original shutters intact. The 400-year-old maple tree remains Bibhu Mohapatra’s favourite feature of his home. English flower beds line the lawn. Facing page: Mohapatra in his trademark black T-shirt and jeans. Behind him is an ‘installation’ that artist Robert Beard, Mohapatra’s husband, made with bricks from the renovation. It now houses rabbits and nesting birds.
ASSISTANT PHOTOGRAPHER: DEIRDRE LEWIS
Living in busy, buzzing New York and designing for first ladies and film stars is no walk in the park. Luckily for Bibhu Mohapatra, his second home in quieter Upstate New York is an oasis, far from the madding crowd WRITER ARATI MENON . PHOTOGRAPHER BJöRN WALLANDER
The second ďŹ&#x201A;oor of the home was ripped out in a previous renovation, and the couple decided not to replace it. Instead, they built a mezzanine guest bedroom above the dining room. The dining table is vintage Danish from a Hudson store. The collection of ďŹ ne art is from Morocco and the printed art is from Ghana; the other objects include studio ceramics and antique silver candle stands.
The large high-fired clay ceramic sculpture was hand-built and finished by Beard in 1979. He never thought he’d see it again until it arrived as a surprise package from his mother in Atlanta when she did a house clean-out. Facing page: The master bedroom is pared down but punctuated by an antique red chair that used to belong to Beard’s grandmother. An editorial photograph of a dress by Mohapatra is one of the few visual references to his work in the house. The oil painting is by Beard’s great-grandmother from 1920.
The Danish chairs on the porch are from the 1940s and were bought at the Lincoln Road ďŹ&#x201A;ea market on Miami Beach. The vintage garden-watering tractor in the foreground was bought in Hudson. The blue-painted ceiling is reminiscent of a Southern-style porch. Facing page: The settee is vintage American. The caneand-steel chairs are by Marcel Breuer.
Beard’s artist studio, which they call ‘the chapel’, is an add-on—complete with Beard’s grandmother’s four-poster bed and a clawfoot tub. The private studio garden in the foreground is accessed via the studio’s garage doors. Facing page: A view from the inside of the studio—the pair of sculptures flanking the tub are by Beard, from a work called Thinking of You.
An antique milking stool found in New York has pride of place in the living room. A hand-built ceramic sculpture by Beard, made in Italy in 1982, stands in the left corner. On the wall in the opposite corner is a striking paper sculpture by Argentinian artist Ramon Lascano. Above it is a framed work by Ellsworth Kelly. An antique ďŹ re stove warms the room in Hudsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s harsh winters. Facing page: Beard and Mohapatra.
t used to be that Bibhu Mohapatra was a diehard New Yorker. Any attempts made to entice him with time away would be met with strong resistance. Winters in Florida were attempted, but quickly grew old, as did summers in the Hamptons. The suggestion that life was elsewhere was barely believable. Yet here we are, discussing the decidedly pastoral country home that the designer shares with husband and artist Robert Beard. It is a 200-year-old farmhouse with a majestic 400-year-old maple tree in Upstate New York. The town of Stuyvesant, while within reach of New York, is bucolic. At 26 square miles, the town is actually slightly larger than Manhattan, but where Manhattan houses 1.6 million people, Stuyvesant has just over 2,000. (BIG) APPLES & ORANGES New York is, of course, not just where Mohapatra has spent most of his adult life, but also the city that’s shaped his identity. Having moved from Rourkela in Odisha to America to study economics, New York was where he switched careers to his long-nurtured passion— textiles and fashion. In 2009, after stints at the studios of Halston and J Mendel, Mohapatra began showing his ready-to-wear collections at New York Fashion Week. His evening wear has since been worn by the likes of Michelle Obama and Lupita Nyong’o. But building a career and running it independently involves stressful days and nights. Hudson, he admits, ofers him a muchneeded change of pace and rhythm. “Some days I take the train up just for the night and return the next day. One evening there can recharge me.” He isn’t the only one. Increasingly, city-dwellers, realizing there’s more to life than the rat race, are relocating upstate. “About 15 years ago, several of our friends started buying weekend homes. A dear friend, Ashton Hawkins, who served as vice president at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and always had a good sense of where and when to buy a house, was the first to suggest it,” recalls Beard. Then, one weekend, the couple were invited to Hudson for a weekend party and spotted the house. Six months later, they bought it. The best decisions always start with a great party. LOVE NEST The timber-clad house was originally built by Swedish settlers and largely pristine from the outdoors. Indoors, it was essentially a shell—the result of an attempted gut renovation. It took them a year to get it up and running; they retained the original shutters and beams, but added an artist’s studio and a Southern-style porch.
The garden, in particular, deserves attention. Beard has designed it into little private oases that Mohapatra calls ‘rooms’. Old bricks from the home were turned into a tall kiln-like ‘installation’, seen as you drive in. “It’s a monument of love for me,” says Mohapatra, as Beard chuckles. “More a monument to baby rabbits and nesting birds.” Inside, an eclectic assortment of items come together with a complete lack of pretension. “When I first moved into what’s now our apartment on the Upper West Side (a home they still maintain), Bobby already had this amazing collection of objects from his travels.” Hand-knotted Turkish rugs sit alongside pillows from Odisha, Marcel Breuer dining chairs and an antique milking stool. “We don’t believe in themes. Our home is a collection of colours, of memories,” says Mohapatra. Artworks by artist-friends surround them, as do the friends themselves, on weekends. “Life there is busier than you’d imagine. We turn down party invitations all the time,” says Mohapatra. There’s a bounty of fresh farm produce in the region, so a lot of socializing is over food. Mohapatra cooks, and Beard makes the martinis. MOTHER FIGURES It all seems far, far away from where we sit, in the clammy crush of midtown Manhattan where Mohapatra’s design studio is located. Around us are reams of fabric, an extensive mood board, and a black-and-white photograph of his mother, Sashi. Mothers are muses to both men. Mohapatra’s, who passed away some years ago, was nurturing and progressive: “I mean, she taught her young son to sew. How many Indian mothers did that?” The first thing he made were curtains, followed by a dress for his sister, who promptly asked if it was okay if she didn’t wear it out. Beard’s mother Selma— now 98 and a multimedia artist—is very involved in the couple’s life. Which means that every now and then, there are surprise packages from her—like the four-poster bed in his studio. And the large fired-clay ceramic sculpture hand-built by Beard in the 1970s that arrived unannounced, and now sits on the porch. Talking about families, their own and each other’s, generates emotional responses from both men. “I’ve always believed that once you meet your partner’s parents, the picture of them is complete,” says Mohapatra. They’re talking of building a winter home in the paddy fields of coastal Odisha where Mohapatra’s family lives. There are also plans underway to build a non-profit artist residency right next door to them in Stuyvesant. This could all mean more time away from New York, then? “We’re trying to redesign Bibhu’s life for more flexibility,” says Beard. Mohapatra nods. Any day now.
Jewellery designer Hanut Singh on a tigerprint antique sofa in the drawing room of his Mussoorie cottage. On the wall behind him is a portrait of his great-grandmother Rani Kanari of Kapurthala, from when she went to meet Queen Mary at Windsor Castle. The smaller photographs next to it are of Hanutâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family and friends, and were taken by Cecil Beaton. Facing page: The veranda is the most used room in the house. It is lined with sofas, upholstered in chintz and plum velvet, and family portraits.
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Jewellery designer Hanut Singh’s sophisticated aesthetic manifests in his ancestral Mussoorie cottage as aristocratic eccentricity, firmly anchored in a sense of place WRITER NIKHIL KHANNA . PHOTOGRAPHER ASHISH SAHI STYLIST SURBHI SETHI
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On the wall behind the sofa in the living room are framed medals and orders conferred upon family members. On the antique art deco table (left) is a 1940s brass lamp. A Murano chandelier hangs from the ceiling. Facing page: In the library, flanking the large portrait of Rani Kanari, are the Légion d’honneur bestowed upon her son (Hanut’s grandfather) Maharajkumar Karamjit Singh and the Padma Bhushan awarded to his son, Hanut’s uncle, Martand Singh, for his work in documenting and reviving Indian textile traditions.
Another view of the library. Facing page: A corner of the bedroom used by Nina, Hanutâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother, with a French dressing table, a Philippe Starck chair and an Abraham & Thakore bedcover.
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The walls in Hanut’s bedroom feature portraits of his grandmother, Princess Sita Devi of Kapurthala, by Hal Bevan-Petman, and of Martand Singh, afectionately known as ‘Mapu’. Silver-framed family pictures sit on the bedside table, near a Syrie Maugham armchair upholstered in metallic blue velvet. Facing page, top left: A niche at the other end of Hanut’s bedroom features black magnolias painted on the wall. On the antique Regency desk are silver jugs from the 1920s. Facing page, top right: The living room walls feature Italian mirrors and medals, and a cloissonè vase with fresh flowers from the garden. Facing page, bottom right: The hallway leading to the living room and library. Facing page, bottom left: In one corner of the veranda, a Syrie Maugham table holds silver-framed pictures of the family. On the wall is a portrait of Sita Devi by William Henderson.
Below left: The entrance to St Helenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cottage, as Hanutâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s residence is known. Below right: The tree-lined driveway leading to the cottage. This picture: The front door of the cottage.
uilt in 1840, St Helen’s Cottage in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand sits elegantly on a hillside bluf, overlooking the Himalayan peaks of Bandar Poonch (which means ‘monkey’s tail’), Chaukhamba and Srikantha in the north. The cottage is part of the storied Kapurthala Estate in a hill station that was always considered racier than stodgy Simla, which was the official summer capital of the British Indian government— stationed viceroys have that efect on a population. St Helen’s, 178 years later, still possesses the charm, grace and magic of a dwelling that once held—and continues to hold—one family and all its friends, in complete thrall. The first members of the Kapurthala royal family to occupy St Helen’s were Maharajkumar Karamjit Singh and his wife Princess Sita Devi, the grandparents of jewellery designer, Hanut Singh. Hanut, who inherited the property from his late uncle (the celebrated cultural guru and internationally recognized authority on textiles, Martand ‘Mapu’ Singh) preserved the essential character of the house; it is a home for conversations, music, food and the celebration of life. The red-tile-roofed cottage sits at the end of a sloping driveway lined with oak, deodar and chestnut trees. It leads from a wrought-iron gate to the front veranda of the house, which is often used for cocktail hours when the weather is agreeable. Estate crystal, ancient decanters with crests, and bowls filled with wedges of Kumaon lemon are laid out on Andrée Putman-style folding tables. Guests seat themselves outside while waiting for the evening to unfurl; inside the cottage, other wonders await. HOUSE OF STORIES Hanut’s room is just of a gallery that’s been hand-painted with impressions of delicate, long-necked cranes. Lightsufused, the centre of the room is held by a marvellous bed in pale mint, with the Kapurthala family crest ablaze in the headboard. Known for his creative blending of old-world glamour with present-day cosmopolitanism, his designs are worn by the likes of Rihanna, Queen Rania of Jordan, Madonna and Anish Kapoor to name a few—Hanut’s room is a reflection of this mix. John Derian découpage plates, an antique Regency desk and silver jugs from the 1920s share a roof with chairs by Syrie Maugham, a friend of the family.
Further down lies the library with its early editions of Billy Bunter, William Shakespeare, Rabindranath Tagore and, naturally, tomes of Burke’s Peerage. The centrepiece of the room is a dramatic portrait of Rani Kanari of Kapurthala, Hanut’s great-grandmother. Family photographs—several by Cecil Beaton—along with the Légion d’honneur for Karamjit Singh and the Padma Bhushan for Mapu Singh adorn the walls. Tucked in a shelf lies a photograph signed for Hanut; it is of Jacqueline Kennedy astride a horse at her estate, Glen Ora in Virginia. Movies are watched every afternoon in the library with Netflix being a popular choice despite the skittish Wi-Fi; Mussoorie is, after all, over 6,000 feet above sea level. At this height, even that frequently spotted Himalayan bird, the Nepal wrenbabbler (Pnoepyga immaculata), finds it difficult to breathe. A house with this sort of provenance comes with its own histories. MK Gandhi once made his way down to the cottage on a rickshaw, and stayed for a cup of tea. Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister, and his sister, the diplomat Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, often broke journey at the house, the latter often staying for a few weeks. The drawing room, with framed photographs of Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton and Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, and its art deco mirror, has been witness to many scintillating conversations over the years. Meanwhile, it’s fair to say that the Singh family encourages argument and dissent. HIGH TEA AT ST HELEN’S A singular feature of a house perched on a hill is often a glass-enclosed veranda; the 30-foot-long veranda at St Helen’s is of a diferent sort of perfection altogether. It leads to the cabin-in-the-sky bedroom belonging to Nina, Hanut’s mother—a room draped in vert, parakeet and shamrock greens. Meanwhile, it overlooks conifers, magnolia trees and trails of datura or devil’s trumpet. This room, with its glorious light, sofas in plum-velvet upholstery, reams of family portraits and bunches of hydrangeas in cut-glass vases, is like a plush tree house and is, in fact, the centre of this lovely home. This is where the legendary St Helen’s high tea is held every few weeks when the family is in town. Guests begin to pour in at about 4pm and tea is served in the dining room at 6pm sharp. The staf wheel out thin-cut cucumber sandwiches, fragrant compote, chicken patties, sausages in honey and soy, platters of cheese, mincemeat samosas and towering layered cakes. A huge drinks table is set up in the library. Artists, writers, doctors, designers, academics and royals crowd into and spill out of the rooms. Finally, when guests leave, they amble past arbours of fragrant lily of the valley, bramble, honeysuckle, and the family’s most cherished spot at St Helen’s—the patch of land on which Mapu Singh’s collection of Shivlings is placed, overlooking the Himalayas. If there’s any sound at all in the otherwise silent hills at this time, it’s probably the sound of music emanating from the veranda.
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‘GOLD AND DIAMOND RIBBONS’
so BI
‘DECO WINDOWFRAMES’ IN GREEN BERYLS, ONYX, DIAMONDS AND PEARLS
U ‘INDOCHINE’ EARRINGS IN ENAMEL, CHALCEDONY, RUBIES AND DIAMONDS
Hanut Singh fuses old-world glamour with new-age aesthetics in these pieces fit for modern-day royals like Madonna and—all hail!—Queen Bey
‘CIRCLE OF LIFE’ BLACK ONYX, PEARL AND DIAMONDS WITH RUBY TIPS
‘DECO HALF MOONS’ IN RUBY, MOTHER-OF-PEARL, EMERALDS AND DIAMONDS
‘SHAKE YOUR POM POMS’, OPALS, RUBIES AND DIAMONDS
‘PYRAMIDS’ GREEN ONYX, RUBY AND DIAMOND WITH BLACK DIAMOND BEADS
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The blue armchairs are from Minotti; the large carpet is from The Merge Projekt, Mumbai. On the cofee table are a red Nandi by artist Sachindra Nath Jha, wooden objects from Lotus Arts de Vivre and ashtrays from Ravissant.
A ruby Buddha sits next to a silver keepsake from Heeramaneck and Son, Mumbai on this custommade console. Facing page: Prerna in her dressing room; sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wearing a Fendi dress and shoes from Aquazzura. The bag on the ďŹ&#x201A;oor is from Louis Vuitton.
The sofa and centre table are from Natuzzi. The side table is from Roche Bobois; the white sculpture—titled ‘Conscience of a Subconscious Mind’—is from Claymen. The trunk is from Jaipur, and the silver horse is from Heeramaneck and Son. Right: The ‘Cinnamon Bowl’ is from Lotus Arts de Vivre; on the wall, to the left, is a Rana Begum artwork. The silver neckpiece at the landing is from Bungalow 8.
The dining table is from Minotti; Ashiesh Shah picked up the carpet at Manglam Arts in Jaipur. The lights are from Klove, and the statement metallic turtle on the wall is from Ligne Roset. The grasshopper is from Heeramaneck and Son; the small painting on the left is by Sameer Kulavoor. Right: The bathtub is from FCML. The bookshelf was custom designed.
HAIR AND MAKE-UP ARTIST: ROSARIO BELMONTE. ASSISTANT FASHION STYLISTS: RAJASI DATAR, MAYURI NIVEKAR.
n apartment is like a person—someone you have to be comfortable with because you are living with them day in and day out,” says Prerna Goel, the well-known Mumbai society maven. Looking around at her stylish, contemporary home, there is no doubt that it lives up to this astute observation. A studied yet casual elegance infuses the home, and stepping into this duplex on the 42nd floor, with its sweeping vistas of Mumbai’s famous skyline, is like walking into the city’s future—where old mixes with new, and the possibilities are endless. Located in one of south Mumbai’s toniest buildings, the space immediately puts me at ease. It is a vibe that mirrors the personality of its owner, an old friend known for both her calm, Zen-like demeanour and efortless sartorial flair. This light-filled apartment, with windows everywhere, is immediately welcoming and down to earth, despite its recognizable art and collectible objects. A DIFFERENT VIEW Five years ago, when Prerna saw the bare shell of the apartment, it was love at first sight. “I saw the view and the space, and I was sold,” she says. The fashion influencer—she recently launched an Instagram handle (@prernastylefile) that catalogues her style—set about designing a home for herself; her daughter Akanksha, currently away at college in the UK; and three dogs (two shih-tzus and a French bulldog). From the outset, the brief was simple: to amplify the space, have minimal clutter, and make comfort paramount. “I did not want a home that was precious—I wanted a sanctuary where you could put your feet up and chill with friends and family,” she explains. “That was my starting point for everything. I didn’t want too much happening anywhere.” She designed the 4,800-square-foot space herself. Originally a four-bedroom and now converted to three, it took almost a year and a half to finish, but the result is a home where entertaining dozens is easy, as is finding a solitary corner of quiet. Prerna was so enthused by the project that she subsequently obtained a diploma in interior design from London’s Inchbald School of Design, and worked briefly with architect to the stars, Ashiesh Shah. “Prerna has a breezy way of styling, both herself and her interiors,” says Ashiesh, “It’s efortless but very well curated, and I like the fact that she keeps the architecture of the space extremely minimalist and clean, which allows her to add things and change the environment as and when she pleases.” TRAVEL INSPIRATION Prerna moved to Lagos, Nigeria from Shimla, at age 10, and then lived all over Africa before moving to London to study. The frequent travel and long stints overseas honed her eye, and the home is decorated with items collected from these journeys over the years. She names architects and designers like Axel Vervoordt, Joseph Dirand, Zaha Hadid, Kelly Wearstler, Nozer Wadia and Ashiesh Shah as influences, and considers their aesthetic timeless. Keeping that sensibility in mind, she set about building a home that was both inspiring and functional. A cohesive, neutral colour-and-material palette of cream, white and brown lend each room a subdued, unfussy charm. Downstairs is the main living and dining area, along with an inviting terrace. The original layout had a
bedroom adjacent to the main living area, which Prerna turned into a den. To enhance the feeling of space, she used a laser-cut sliding screen door, which can be pulled out to create a private space, or pushed back in for a larger entertaining area. The wall in the den was done in white brick, inspired by the warehouses in New York. Pucci cushions plumped up on a Natuzzi sofa beckon invitingly, just as a bearer wheels in a bar-trolley laden with cakes and tea. I could sit here all day. COMFORT FIRST In the living room, two poufes reupholstered in material she found at Bharat Furnishings lie about on the floor invitingly. Then, for a bit of fun, there’s the dramatic guest bathroom. A peek inside reveals an aged mirror in place of a wall and a large gold basin. “My inner Arab came out,” Prerna explains with a laugh. A floor-toceiling mirror dominates the dining room and the terrace is filled with traditional Indian furniture pieces (“It reminds me of my childhood,” Prerna says). Upstairs, the master bathroom sports a clawfoot bathtub and a walk-in dressing room. Akanksha’s bedroom and a guest room finish up this private floor, in which all the rooms are connected via an open passage, which also houses the very important puja area. Interesting art and objects abound—from an SH Raza work to a Rana Begum, old Balinese tribal necklaces and an antique silver Hanuman sculpture. “I don’t like heavy or big [objects]; things should be floating so that you can move them around,” Prerna says. “I also don’t like perfection. I prefer things that have their own story to tell, like a woman’s face with wrinkles.” The sofa in the living room is from Minotti; the multicoloured cushion on it is from Missoni. The red-and-black artwork behind Prerna is an SH Raza. She’s wearing a blouse, trackpants and jacket—all from Gucci.
Priti and Gaurav Mahajan’s vibrant apartment in one of Colaba’s iconic Brady buildings is an oasis of creativity WRITER MAANYA SACHDEVA . PHOTOGRAPHER ASHISH SAHI STYLIST SAMIR WADEKAR
The custom leather bar is a Madheke by LOCO Design creation for homeowners Priti and Gaurav Mahajan. The pichhwai is by one of the oldest master craftsmen from Nathdwara, Rajasthan. The striped couch was a gift from Priti’s grandfather to her mother; the printed runner was sourced locally. Facing page: The Majahan family—Gaurav, Priti and Jiya—in their living room. Priti is wearing a jumpsuit from Bungalow 8; Gaurav and Jiya are dressed in bespoke outfits made in fabrics from the Raymond Khadi collection.
The yellow runner on the sofa is from Thimpu, Bhutan. The bronze sculpture by MG Kidwai, on the side table, is from Gallery 7; Gaurav picked up the painting on the right from a flea market in East London. The centre table is a Chor Bazaar find. Facing page: The couch is upholstered in Priti’s favourite cream linen from Ranjit Ahuja; the vintage suzani on it was a gift to Jiya on her first birthday. The painting above it is one of the couple’s first purchases together—brought from Paradise Gallery, Colombo.
Part contemporary and part art deco, the chandelier above the teak dining table was designed by Sonja Weder and Thomas Schnider—the Swiss co-founders of Sotodecor, Goa—in collaboration with Gaurav. The dining chairs are from Freedom Tree. On the stool lies a Batik mask from an artist in Tanzania. The two artworks by the window are an artist’s reinterpretation of Don Quixote bought from Seville (top) and folk art from Barro. On the bar, a cluster of old glass bottles have been repurposed as flower vases. The wallpaper behind the mirror is Nilaya by Asian Paints. The tropical table setting is inspired by Priti’s trip to Zanzibar.
“We’re travellers before anything else and I think that everything in our lives revolves around that.” ~ Priti Mahajan
Above left: The bed has a large, burnt leather headboard and is the focal point of the master bedroom. Above: An unusual multimedia artwork by Pradeep Narwekar— layers of paper and colour on a cotton mat base. A Maasai head, picked up in Kenya, is encircled by a fiery necklace from Botswana. The table is another vintage find. Right: The curtains, bedcover, cushions and rug in Jiya’s room are predominantly from two of Priti’s favourite stores, Nicobar and Chunnilal. Left: Gaurav’s love for percussion is evident from the tablas on the white vintage desk. The daybed is upholstered in textile by Turkish designer Rifat Özbek.
A 1903 Powell’s table trolley displays an old Chinese urn from Shanghai. Placed next to it is a bright red Theyyam head. Handcrafted African music instruments lie on the shelves below, as does a much thumped book on Gustav Klimt and SH Raza. On the wall, behind the trolley, hangs an Anjoli Ela Menon; a Thota Vaikuntam is on the wall behind the chair which along with the standing fan are Priti’s finds from antique godowns. The platters on the table are a gift.
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ature spills over into Priti and Gaurav Mahajan’s sunlit Brady flat; the lush greenery that fills the large balcony is reflected through the home, courtesy strategically placed mirrors. The call of the cuckoo is something of a constant, but little else disturbs the quiet at this south Mumbai apartment. “For us, there’s nothing more important than being close to nature,” Priti says. “On some weekends, we don’t even leave our house; it’s just so beautiful.” Located in the heart of Colaba, the Brady Flats are an ironically elusive Mumbai landmark. A remnant from a forgotten era, the neighbourhood is like a time portal. The turn-of on Cusrow Baug can be likened to a vortex of energy that gives way to a diferent Mumbai, back to when it was called ‘Bombay’. Homes then had high ceilings, beautiful black-andwhite tiled floors and oodles of old-world charm. Details like these were already built into Priti and Gaurav’s three-bedroom flat when they moved in almost 10 years ago, but the elements that resonate with their natures set this residence apart. A home is an extension of the personalities of those who live in it, of their tastes, desires and interests—if this living room is anything to go by, the Mahajan family adores travelling. “Gaurav, I and now Jiya, we’re travellers before anything else and I think that everything in our lives revolves around that. We are always exploring—be it a new place or culture—and our house is a by-product of that,” Priti tells me as she continues hunting for Gaurav’s passport on the eve of another family holiday. Travel has touched almost every corner of this home. A Theyyam mask from Kerala shares space with a seated Buddha statue from Barcelona (of all places!); a brass statue of a tribal dance troupe from Bastar lives companionably with a Maasai head from Africa—the list goes on. “We have a whole lot of things from diferent places over a period of time that work well together. We are very casual people, so our style is also relaxed and eclectic since it reflects our travels and our story.” CUSTOM-MADE It is a story whose Mumbai chapter dates back 20 years. Priti and Gaurav moved to Maximum City to further their careers, which began at the National Institute of Fashion and Technology, Delhi for both of them. Bound by a love for design and a similar set of friends, the couple also shares an appreciation for beautiful things. “I was the head of product and project development at the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, where I worked on the restoration of the palaces and on their resorts,” says Priti. She credits her time at the luxury hotel group for cultivating a distinct aesthetic. Today, she runs a brand and design advisory, The Lifestyle Project, with a strong focus on curating experiences and styling spaces. Gaurav, who heads the apparel division at the Raymond Group, adds, “I have been close to design and style all my life, having a more-than-two-decadelong association with the retail industry. Whenever we travel, we always agree on carrying a piece back home. For example, one of my favourite pieces is this warrior princess circular artwork that we carried back from Athens a few months ago. The girl is beautiful and strong at the same time. She captivated us the moment we spotted her.” Work takes them all over the
world, but the constant travel makes the feeling of coming home even more special. “The fact that we are in a home we love, that it has brought us happy times, and that it has now got this amazing sensibility that works for us—what more could we ask for? This is where it all comes together,” she tells me. This apartment is also where they let their imaginations run wild. Not just adept at the art of curating, the couple loves designing and customizing furniture pieces for diferent spaces. “All the stuf in my house is customized in that it’s either been fabricated and designed in collaboration with us, or selected and curated by me,” she says. The living room itself is testament to this design philosophy. The unusual chandelier that hangs above the dining table was dreamed up by Priti and Gaurav, and brought to life by Sonja Weder and Thomas Schnider, who run the Goa-based design firm Sotodecor. A Punjabi family with a fondness for cocktail hour, the Mahajans also custom-created their leather bar. “We are big on imagination,” Priti says, and, to emphasize her statement, points to a series of objects that have been repurposed—a Burmese container that’s been put to use as a flower vase; an original window from a haveli in Jodhpur that sits pretty as a mirror in the balcony; and a Sri Lankan rice-husk container that has been transformed into a light fixture. ROOM TO GROW The living and dining area is adjacent to the master bedroom, which is connected to Jiya’s room by a long corridor. She runs in to confer with her mother about a matter of pressing urgency— may she please have some atta (flour) for her latest experiment? Priti allows it, in keeping with the spirit of this home that gives Jiya ample room—literally and metaphorically—to try her hand at new things. The youngest Mahajan gets half the house to pursue her varied interests: figuring out where alfalfa sprouts come from; creating a Henri Matisse-inspired work of art; or whipping up signature scents for the home (the top notes change every time but the base is always citrusy). Jiya’s room leads to a craft area that is surprisingly neat; the precocious seven-year-old makes sure she doesn’t spill any of the flour as she embarks on her latest quest. And that is the last I see of her. My tour resumes. Another hour passes and the light changes, as the shadows of the window grills make lovely patterns on the floor of the master bedroom in this 1,800-square-foot home. However, it feels much larger because of the four-sided ventilation that the apartment afords— something that, Priti tells me, is unusual in a Mumbai home. We come to the end of the tour and I realize how the Mahajans’ many design quirks and sensibilities lend themselves to this house. Natural fabrics in neutrals, for instance, become a canvas upon which vibrant furnishings are draped, or on the walls, upon which framed artworks hang. “I have always had a silk cream-coloured couch,” Priti says, “And all my friends ask me how I maintain it.” The secret is revealed to me with a cheeky smile; she doesn’t. “I just change it every six months! It’s an indulgence I allow myself, because I feel that in this house when I put a base of cream or beige, it allows me to express myself in other things through colour, be it plants, furniture or even just art.” Another balancing act, executed with the flair that comes with years of practice. It is a fitting ode to the 1920s building they live in, where past, present and future merge seamlessly, by design.
THE KITCHEN REPORT PUT ON YOUR APRON AND DUST OFF THAT TOQUE—AD’S ANNUAL KITCHEN REPORT IS HERE, AND IT'S SHARP
THE LAST SUPPER To be invited to dine in the kitchen of Azzedine Alaïa was to be invited into the upper echelons of the fashion elite. Mumbai-based master embroiderer MAXIMILIANO MODESTI had a permanent seat at the table, alongside Naomi, Stephanie et al. In a moving account of what it was like to dine in the world’s most exclusive kitchen, he fondly remembers his mentor and friend, the late, great Azzedine
AS TOLD TO GAURI KELKAR. PHOTO: ALEC SOTH.
Designer Azzedine Alaïa and Carla Sozzani in the kitchen of his Paris home.
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PHOTO: PETER LINDBERGH
t was possibly the most extravagant dinner I have had in Azzedine Alaïa’s kitchen. There were eight of us present the day fellow guest and world-renowned castanet player Lucero Tena—who has played with some of the world’s greatest orchestras—performed an impromptu 15-minute concert as a gesture of thanks for the invitation. It was a beautiful moment, to see two geniuses communicating with each other through the ofering of their arts. And viewed from the perspective of both his creative pursuits—fashion and cooking— Azzedine Alaïa truly was a genius. It was in the kitchen that I first met Azzedine Alaïa, back in 1993. That was where I had my interview and he ofered me the job as his assistant. Right there in the kitchen. It was the place where he judged people. And if he never invited you to the kitchen again, that was not a good sign. Never has a room personified anyone as much as his kitchen did Azzedine. There were two [places for art] in his Paris home, an 18th-century hôtel particulier on Rue de Moussy—the kitchen and the studio. The kitchen was almost designed along the lines of la salon, a concept that was de rigueur in 18th-century France, where enlightened people would invite artists, philosophers and writers to congregate and speak. Coincidentally, nearly 300 years ago, this building served as the residence of the Marquise de Pompadour, renowned not just for her literature- and art-centric salons, but also said to have introduced fashion to the royal court. It wasn’t something Azzedine knew when he bought the building, but it certainly resonated with him. It was almost as though his Parisian home was meant to fulfil a destiny. In this house, I have seen the kitchen evolve from what was a small space, which would seat just 12 people, into a state-of-the-art, professional kitchen fitted with every modern amenity. The table would easily seat 26-30 people and you could cook for up to 100. But what was really interesting about the kitchen—even as it evolved in size—was its location. It was always at the connection of the movements in the house. If Azzedine wanted to go from the studio to the atelier, or even outside, he would have had to pass through the kitchen. It was really the nerve centre, the heart. It reflected his love for food and cooking, and, more importantly, for sharing that love with others. I think, for him, the act of cooking and congregating in the kitchen was deeply connected to his Tunisian roots. In the Arabic world, it is a tradition to greet people with food. And for him, it was a way to communicate with you and welcome you into his world. When I worked with him, missing a lunch was never an option. It could get delayed, if the work at the studio was pressing, or even get interrupted—if a client showed up—but it would never be cancelled. It was a way to keep his entire team united. If the studio was all about his work—the creating, the fittings—the kitchen was his sanctuary, his place to unwind. But it was also the place where work from the studio
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spilled over. He would meet clients, photographers and models there. Often, Naomi [Campbell] and Stephanie [Seymour] would drop by around lunch and Azzedine himself would cook for them—steamed fish for Stephanie and a simple omelette with basil for Naomi. There was a time when people would show up unexpectedly and even though it became more of a by-invitation afair over the last 15 years or so, friends were always welcome to turn up unannounced. He would invite guests over at the last minute—a fact that made his chef quite frantic. Often, you never knew who you would be sharing your meal with. Your dinner-time companion could be Julian Schnabel, Demi Moore, Nicole Kidman, Mathilde de Rothschild, Tina Turner, Sting, Elton John, Madonna, John Galliano, Marc Jacobs, Lady Gaga or Rihanna. But what impressed me the most was that the most humble, and the most incredible, could be seen at the same table. From fashion editors, movie stars, music artists, ministers, and French presidents and their wives, to the assistants, drivers and people working in the house—everybody was equal around that table. There was no barrier. That was the most powerful message of the kitchen: it didn’t matter who you were or where you came from— because everyone was there for Azzedine. He was the host, cooking for his guests, giving each one the impression that they had this unique moment with him. He was completely tuned into the tastes of those guests who were regulars at his table. He would know exactly what was there—the number of wines, the ingredients in the fridge, everything. And the food would always be spectacular. I don’t recollect a bad meal—and I have been Azzedine Alaïa to thousands. But my 1940-2017 favourite dish was the omelette he prepared—firm on the outside and soft on the inside. In the past 25 years, at each of the countless meals I’ve had in Azzedine’s kitchen, the overwhelming feeling was always one of going home. His dinners or lunches would sometimes have close to 30 people, while sometimes it was just three or four close friends—those are the ones that I cherish the most. Those were occasions when Azzedine would get nostalgic, reminisce about his clients, dressing Greta Garbo or sharing memories about fitting sessions with (French actress) Arletty. And those meals would stretch for hours together, almost as if he didn’t want dinner to end. My association with Azzedine is tied to his kitchen—that’s where it started and ended for me. I was with him at what ended up being the last dinner he would ever host (the day before he passed away). In hindsight, there was almost something of the ‘Last Supper’ to that evening. He has taken the kitchen with him, because nobody will be able to recreate what he did. He was the kitchen. It energized him, inspired him, personified him. Now, almost 10 months since he’s been gone, I sometimes still imagine that he’ll call me and say, “Why the hell haven’t you come for dinner? I’ve been waiting for you.” Words that I am never going to hear again.
Early this year, at the 22nd edition of EuroCucina, Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen unveiled two designs for Italian kitchen brand Dada by Molteni&C WRITER DIVYA MISHRA
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ver a span of more than 80 years, Italian furniture brand Molteni&C has ensured its evolution stays in step with changing times and tastes by frequently collaborating with an impressive roster of leading architects and designers. In 2016, it took one of these collaborations a step further and appointed Belgian architect Vincent Van Duysen as its creative director. In mid-May this year, the Van Duysen-designed Molteni Group’s flagship store opened in New York, bringing to the space the designer’s trademark aesthetic of refined minimalism and quiet tactility. At a whopping 12,500 square feet, the bilevel space on Madison Avenue, for the first time ever, housed all three Molteni brands—Molteni&C, Dada and UniFor—under the same roof. Van Duysen used a material palette of travertine, stucco, walnut wood and cement, all of which, pared down to their essence, came together to create a modern Italian aesthetic, rooted firmly in the country’s traditional architecture. This year, aside from designing the brand’s booths at Salone del Mobile, his minimalist yet practical signature breathed new life into the two Dada kitchens that were presented at the fair. Abbreviated from his name, the ‘VVD’ recessed-handle kitchen, which was
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launched in 2016, was seen at EuroCucina this year with a palette of alternating materials and forms that produced a modern yet classic kitchen. In the ‘VVD’, the thickness of the ‘Ceppo’ worktops (with integrated sinks) is balanced out by slim, glass-fronted side and end units. A built-in LED strip ensures adequate lighting, and an innovative hinge feature allows the closet doors to open 180 degrees, making the shelves more accessible. In the ‘Ratio’ kitchen (pictured), Van Duysen’s sophisticated layering of materials—stone, wood, steel and glass—and balance between light and dark areas ensures a sense of well-being without compromising on functionality. The basic architecture is structured on metal grids that create a stunning visual efect. “The interplay of vertical and horizontal lines gives the product a strikingly graphic and architectural expression,” says the designer. Sophisticated woods like mooreiche oak and black palm feature prominently, as do natural stones like Silk Georgette marble and Rapolano travertine, giving the space a warm Mediterranean feel. But possibly the best part of the ‘Ratio’ kitchen is the kitchen island that neatly joins with a snack counter, making for a smooth transition between preparing food, and sitting down to enjoy it.
Valcucine’s newest model in the brand’s Logica series, seen at EuroCucina this year, uses clever concealment and reveal elements in what is its most sophisticated kitchen till date WRITER DIVYA MISHRA
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hat do you get when you cross a 15th-century Italian knight’s armour with a modern-day Italian aesthetic? Aside from one very confused knight, the answer is: the ‘Logica Celata’ kitchen, by Italian brand Valcucine. For over 35 years now, Valcucine has been designing innovative modular kitchens that are technologically advanced, stylish and intuitive. At the brand’s headquarters in Pordenone, Italy, Gabriele Centazzo—the founder and principal designer—focuses a large part of his firm’s energies on research that primarily centres on ergonomics, innovation and sustainability. But that is not to say that Valcucine ignores aesthetics—just that Centazzo believes they are a natural extension of functionality. As if to prove this point, this year at EuroCucina, the brand unveiled its most sophisticated kitchen yet. ‘Logica Celata’ translates into ‘hidden logic’, and cleverly presents this idea in an elegant space. It features a series of doors that can be raised or lowered, opened or closed, to reveal entire work areas, appliances that can be pulled out or hidden away, and ingenious hooks, nooks and crannies that extract the most out of spaces. The design and branding of the ‘Logica Celata’ are a clever play
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on words—‘celata’ is Italian for ‘concealed’, as well the type of helmet worn by the aforementioned knight—and the kitchen takes inspiration from his sallet. Much like the single-piece helmet that covered the knight’s head, the doors of the ‘Logica Celata’ close flush with the underlying base units, giving the space a monolithic appearance until it is opened up. The new counterweight balancing mechanism in the design ensures that the section doors can be softly and unobtrusively raised or lowered to create the option of distinctions between public and private kitchen spaces. Each of the interior configurations are designed and fitted out with accessories appropriate to the space—a tap that folds out, a row of hooks for hanging cooking implements and storage area next to the cooking range. The sliding doors, which operate at the touch of a hand, can hide a number of customizable options—a food-prep area, a work space or a kitchen counter, and Valcucine’s latest addition, the new home bar. Fitted out with all the equipment needed for a winetasting, an evening of cocktails, or even the perfect espresso, the bar is a perfect microcosm of the Italian way, which celebrates all aspects of life—especially that of taking time to eat and drink well.
When a cutting-edge Italian luxury fashion brand gets into the kitchen, you know things are going to get really hot WRITER DIVYA MISHRA
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alone del Mobile has seen many iterations of global fashion brands stepping into home spaces. This year, the fair saw one such iteration taken a step further with the launch of Fendi Cucine, an “ultra-luxurious collection of home professional kitchens”. Featuring designs by architect Marco Costanzi (an old Fendi favourite, who also designed the brand’s stunning headquarters in a Benito Mussolini-commissioned World War II-era building), Fendi Cucine is the coming together of the Italian luxury maison and Scic, its compatriot and a leading kitchen brand. Scic—which stands for Super Cucine Italiane Componibili (Super Italian Modular Kitchens)—was established in 1948 as a small carpentry workshop in the centre of Parma. In 1963, under the leadership of Renzo Fonari, it grew into a company that became synonymous with creating elegant and technologically advanced kitchens. Fendi, of course, has been in the luxury fashion business for 93 years now, and almost 30 years ago, ventured into the home design space with Fendi Casa. The extension of the brand into the kitchen space promises to meld the avant-garde style associated with Fendi, with the technological proficiency of Scic.
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Costanzi’s relationship with Fendi was strengthened over the years, courtesy their many collaborations. Aside from the brand’s headquarters in Milan, he designed the Fendi Private Suites in Rome, and the brand’s first collection of lights, called Velum Lamps, which were unveiled at the 2016 edition of Salone del Mobile. In the professional-style kitchen models seen at Salone this year, Costanzi brought together the two great Italian loves—fashion and food. The ‘Ginger’ model was a warm, cinnamon-toned kitchen with a feminine feel. Copper and bronze elements complemented the Calacatta Oro marble island. In keeping with the idea of pairing exclusivity and elegance, it is available in a range of customizable options. The ‘Kurkum’ model (pictured) featured a monochrome palette that is a broody minimalist’s dream come true. With sharp, clean lines, a vintage pewter colouring and stainless steel in diferent finishes, it was not merely aesthetically pleasing, but also resistant to scratches and wear. As a nod to the fashion brand’s signature Pequin stripes, metal bands ran along the cabinets. It was the kind of kitchen where you just know all the chef’s knives will be Damascus steel, the pasta will be hand-rolled, and the kissing of said chefs—no matter how suave—a strict no-no.
Come and be inspired at www.quick-step.com
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Discover your Quick-Step floors at your nearest dealer. North & East India : +91-9818010453 South India : +91-9845319254 West India : +91-9619704733 E-mail: Quickstep.india@unilin.com
RAJYASHRI GOODY, a Pune-based artist with Dalit roots, curates a booklet of
PHOTO: TALIB CHITALWALA
‘recipes’ —an ode to the marginalized community—one where memories inform measurements, discrimination dictates ingredients, and each meal is a reminder that hunger is ubiquitous. tastes her unusual take on the traditional puri
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From temperature-controlled wine coolers to pop-up extractor fans, latest innovations in kitchens
rustles up the
STYLIST SAMIR WADEKAR
‘FOGLIA’ NATURAL BLACK STONE WALL CLADDING, TOPSTONA ‘VERDANTE’ QUARTZITE STONE, THE QUARRY
‘DIESEL OPEN WORKSHOP’ FITTED KITCHEN, SCAVOLINI
‘RAKU’ TILES FROM THE EXOTICA COLLECTION, ORVI
‘LYON POLISHED STONE CARPET’ MOSAIC (LEFT), ‘NO-41’ CERAMIC ROMAN MOSAIC (BELOW), KERAMOS
‘THOUSAND LI OF RIVERS AND MOUNTAINS’ MOSAIC, SICIS
‘UNIQUE’ KITCHEN BY EGGERSMANN, PLÜSCH
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‘K7’ SINGLE-LEVER SINK MIXER, GROHE
ATELIER AM
PHOTO: NIKOLAS KOENIG
Alexandra and Michael Misczynski of Atelier AM designed this Chicago home—in collaboration with its architect, Marvin Herman—for an art collector. The designers introduced pops of colour and character in the otherwise staid kitchen by adding a couple of artworks—an Andy Warhol portrait of Elvis Presley and a piece by Roy Lichtenstein. The hood, sink and cabinetry are by Bulthaup, the counters by Caesarstone, the sink fittings by KWC, the microwave by Miele and the range by Wolf.
‘DIALOG’ OVEN WITH M CHEF TECHNOLOGY, MIELE
‘RAKU’ TILES FROM THE EXOTICA COLLECTION, ORVI
INTEGRATED COLUMN REFRIGERATOR AND FREEZER, FISHER & PAYKEL ‘HAIKU’ HOOD, ELICA
‘STRIX MONT CLAIRE GREY DURAGRES PLANKS’, SOMANY
GLAZED-STEEL KITCHEN SINK, DORNBRACHT
CAROLINA CASTIGLIONI Carolina Castiglioni, who launched Plan C, a readyto-wear fashion brand, this June, imbued her home with a simple aesthetic and a delicate mixture of colours, shapes and textures. The steel-clad kitchen features vintage stools and a lamp from Stilnovo.
PHOTO: MANOLO YLLERA
‘C71F65504’ COMBI SINK, HANSGROHE
‘COUNTRY’ (PACIFIC BLUE) CERAMIC TILE, NITCO
‘HAMAL’ BACK-LIT MARBLE LITHOS DESIGN, KEHA CASA
‘LABRADORITE LEMURIAN’ GRANITE, THE QUARRY
‘5G 6B2P50’ HOB BY BLAUPUNKT, HÄCKER
‘P905CPROX’ GAS HOB BY BERTAZZONI, HÄFELE
‘XILA’ KITCHEN BY BOFFI, STUDIO CREO
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EXTENDABLE TABLE VENTILATION FROM THE 400 SERIES BY GAGGENAU, PLÜSCH
‘OSIDO BRUNO’ LAMINAM, STONEX
‘ELBA’ TERRAZZO FROM THE KALINGASTONE COLLECTION, CLASSIC MARBLE COMPANY
‘CUT’ KITCHEN BY RECORD È CUCINE, GRANDEUR
WINE CELLAR, KITCHENAID
‘PAN’ SINGLELEVER MIXER BY ZUCCHETTI, INTERSEKT
FAUCET FROM THE SYSTEM COLLECTION BY THG, C BHOGILAL WEST-END
‘PERFEQUE’ KITCHEN FAUCET WITH PULL-OUT SPRAY, GRAFF
‘TWOINONE’ HOB WITH EXTRACTOR, MIELE ‘SIMPLICE’ SEMIPRO KITCHEN FAUCET, KOHLER
PHOTO: JOSÉ MANUEL ALORDA. SCULPTURE: STEPHAN BALKENHOL; (C) VG BILD-KUNST, BONN 2018
PIERRE YAVANOVITCH The French interior designer transformed a staid Belgian home—originally built for an aristocratic family back in 1910— into a sophisticated space with a dramatic picture window in the kitchen as a spectacular highlight. In the kitchen, a cone pendant light by RU Editions hangs over a bespoke stone-topped island. The sink and fittings are by Dornbracht. The counter stool is by Mark Albrecht Studio and the range is by La Cornue. The sculpture against the window is by Stephan Balkenhol.
‘NEXON AZUL’ POLISHED TILE, KAJARIA CERAMICS
‘ORGA’ TRAY FROM THE CARGOPLUS SERIES, HETTICH
‘LOUNGE’ KITCHEN SYSTEM FROM THE ESSENCE COLLECTION, VENETA CUCINE
‘IRISHGREEN’ MARBLE, ANTOLINI
‘PACIFIC LIGHT BLUE’ ENAMELLED OUTDOOR KITCHEN, OFFICINE GULLO
‘FPS 611 BK’ BUILT-IN OVEN, FABER
‘DIAMOND’ FIVE-SPEED BLENDER, KITCHENAID
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‘F91BA582’ HOOD, SIEMENS
INDUCTION COOKTOP, NEFF
‘INTEGRA’ (PAPYRUS GREY) KITCHEN, NOLTE
ITALIAN MARBLE AND BRASS MOSAIC TILE, PIETRA1556
BIOFRESH SYSTEM IN FREE-STANDING AND BUILT-IN REFRIGERATOR, LIEBHERR
‘GAUDÍ’ TILE, THEIA TILES
‘EGYPTIAN PATTERN’ TILE, BHARAT FLOORINGS & TILES
BLACK MARQUINO MARBLE, A-CLASS MARBLE
‘QUANTO’ CORNER SOLUTIONS, HÄFELE
For details, see Stockists
From the hottest products to the coolest launches, here’s the low-down on the latest in the market this season Dornbracht has perfected the recipe for an unforgettable multisensory shower experience with its latest launch, the ‘Aquamoon’ shower (pictured right). The defining feature of its minimalist design is a dome in the ceiling that integrates seamlessly in any bathroom. The use of clever mood lighting–a concealed light strip inside the deep dome–evokes a feeling of infiniteness when gazing upwards. Combined with four flow modes, the futuristic system turns stepping into the shower a dynamic afair every single time. (dornbracht.com)
Jaipur Rugs’ Artisan Original collection (pictured below) began as an experiment, but turned into a movement that makes a case for creative exploration, professional growth and the empowerment of rug weavers. The experiment brought diferent weavers together to create original designs for the brand. The result is a collection of one-of pieces that cannot be duplicated because of their complex colours. Each rug is handmade with more than 200,000 knots, making it a lesson in artisanal skill—and a veritable treasure. (jaipurrugsco.com)
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Fenesta’s uPVC windows don’t just look great, they also protect your home from noise and air pollution. By balancing science with a strong sense of aesthetic, Fenesta believes that these windows can transform the character and feel of any room. Easy to install and maintain, these rust-proof windows are a lesson in innovation. The uPVC (an insulating material) used in the construction of Fenesta windows ensures that no heat penetrates the glass, while the airtight sealing prevents cooled air from escaping. Doubleglazed Fenesta windows provide higher degrees of insulation, thereby saving energy. (fenesta.com)
CERA, one of India’s preferred premium bath solutions brand, recently opened its 14,000-square-foot CERA Style Studio in Hyderabad at Mytri Heights, Jubilee Hills. Spread across two floors, the space showcases the brand’s range of sanitaryware, faucets, tiles, wellness products, mirrors and kitchen sinks. The store also exclusively retails products by Italian luxury sanitaryware brand ISVEA. (cera-india.com)
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WILL YOUR FAVOURITE RESTAURANT MAKE THE TOP 50 LIST? VOTED FOR BY OVER 100 TASTEMAKERS ACROSS INDIA ACHINTYA ANAND KARTHIK GANAPATHI KARUNA EZARA PARIKH KEITH EDGAR NAKUL BHONSLE NIKHIL MERCHANT NISHAT FATIMA L NITIN CHORDIA AKANKSHA ARORA ABHIMANYU ALSISAR ABHIMANYU SINGH RATHORE ADITI VASU AMITAV GHOSH AMRITA GUPTA ANEESH BHASIN ANIRBAN DAS BLAH ANIRUDDHA PATIL ANISHA RACHEL OOMMEN ANN DOMINIC ANNAH CHAKOLA ANUBHUTI KRISHNA ARCHANA PIDATHALA ASHIS NAYAK ASHWIN RAJAGOPALAN ATUL KASBEKAR ATUL MALHOTRA AYSHA TANYA AYUSH KASLIWAL CHIKI SARKAR DEANNE PANDAY DEEP KALRA DR KIRAN LOHIA DR WASIM MOHIDEEN FAHAD SAMAR FATIMA GRACIAS DSILVA FIONA CAULFIELD GOPI KRISHNA KISHORE BYLUPPALA ISHETA SALGAOCAR JANICE PARIAT JAYANTI RAJAGOPALAN JIVI SETHI KADAMBARI KAPOOR KALYAN KARMAKAR KALYANI CHAWLA KANISKA CHAKRABORTY KAREN ANAND KARINA AGGARWAL LATHIKA GEORGE MALAIKA ARORA MALINI RAMANI MANGAL DALAL MANJU SARA RAJAN MARIA GORETTI MICHELLE POONAWALLA NAMRATA SRIVASTAVA NANDITA IYER NAVONIL DAS NEHA PRASADA NILANJANA ROY NIMMY PAUL NUR KAOUKJI POOJA MAKHIJA POORNA BANERJEE PRAMIT JHAVERI PRATIBHA KARAN PRATITI BASU PRIYADARSHINI CHATTERJEE PRIYADARSHINI NANDY PRIYANKA RAJA PURVA MEHRA RAHUL AKERKAR RAHUL BOSE RAJ MAHTANI RAJEEV SAMANT RAKESH RAGHUNATHAN REVATI UPADHYA ROOHI JAIKISHAN ROSHNI BAJAJ SANGHVI ROXANNE BAMBOAT RUPALI DEAN RUSHINA MUNSHAW GHILDIYAL RUTH DSOUZA PRABHU SAHIL KHAN SAMRATH BEDI SANAYA GHANDY SANJAY MANAKTALA SANJIV SHANMUGAM SEPHI BERGERSON SHAUN KENWORTHY SHAYAMAL VALLABHJI SHEETAL MUNSHAW SHILARNA VAZE SHOBA NARAYAN SHONALI MUTHALALY SHUCHIR SURI SHVETHA JAISHANKAR SONA BAHADUR SONALI SWAMI SONAM K AHUJA SOURISH BHATTACHARYYA SUCHITA SALWAN SUHEL SETH SUMANA MUKHERJEE TANIA FADTE TISHANI DOSHI VANDANA VERMA VIDYA GAJAPATHI RAJU SINGH VIVEK MENEZES WENDELL RODRICKS YASMIN KARACHIWALA
Nothing can spruce up a home as easily or quickly as a quality rug. With festive season right around the corner, leading upholstery fabric manufacturer D’Decor has introduced a versatile range of contemporary and chic rugs in five design categories—abstract, geometric, floral, classic and plain. The exquisite rugs are available in a wide variety of sizes, pile heights, prints, textures, designs and colour palettes to suit your home decor preferences. (ddecor.com)
Iconic French luxury label Ligne Roset’s collections are now available at New Delhibased IOTA Boutique Furniture. The brand’s entire range of living, dining, lighting and bedroom accessories find a place of pride on the ground floor of IOTA Boutique. With a strong European design sensibility, the multi-brand store is the perfect partner for Ligne Roset, which will introduce local customers to a European way of living, through its contemporary range of sofas, dining tables, chairs and home furniture. (iotafurniture.com) 258|
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For over 40 years, Springfit has been one of India’s leading manufacturers of luxury mattresses and, even today, the brand continues to work towards developing perfect sleep solutions. Their new Autograph collection (pictured) is another step forward; a range of mattresses that guarantee comfort and undisturbed sleep. With its exquisite detail, colour variants, fine craftsmanship and aesthetic design, the Autograph collection makes going to bed an absolute joy. (springfit.com)
When looking for statement pieces to jazz up your interiors, Shazé is the name that inevitably comes to mind. The lifestyle brand, well-regarded for its edgy and inimitable products, launched a collection of decanters and glasses that are perfect for those who love to entertain in style. Sophisticated designs that ooze luxury, the decanters are fitting accessories for wine and spirit connoisseurs. The collection features contemporary yet unconventional designs such as the ‘Wise Owl’ (pictured) and ‘Clown’ decanter sets. (shaze.in)
The Ravello collection—GM Fabrics’ latest ofering— celebrates the essence of rustic Italian living. The prints and patterns are inspired by the playful gardens, traditional villas, frescoes and the flora of Italy. Elegant trellis patterns set against stripes, with backgrounds in complementary colours, render the whole range of fabrics glamorous and contemporary. The complete look is available in five diferent colours for diverse design options. (gmfabrics.com)
An array of crystal prisms, waterfalls of hand-finished metal discs, strings of crystal drops and beadings–the Sarella collection by Swarovski is made to dazzle. The soft light emanating from the stylish and sleek ‘RS8343N’ chandelier (pictured) is the embodiment of elegance.The chandelier is available in many variants (with diferent pendant lights and sconces) so it can be adjusted to suit rooms of multiple sizes and types. (swarovski-lighting.com)
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From architects to interior designers, The List is an indispensable directory for every home decor solution. Search by service and location at architecturaldigest.in/the-list
PHOTO: IWAN BAAN
Want to be on the list? Write to thelist@condenast.in
FROM THE DESIGNER'S PORTFOLIO Studio Wodehouse
Studio Wodehouse is known for its high-end design expertise in luxury residential projects for her discerning clients. It works with real estate developers in Mumbai, Pune and Alibag to ofer all encompassing solutions for interior and architectural design, execution, project management and manufacturing. With floor-to-ceiling glass doors and exquisite master suites, Villa 6B by Studio Wodehouse in Alibag is a stunning example of their aesthetic brilliance.
THE DESIGNER
Shonali Mahajan Studio Wodehouse is the brainchild of Shonali Mahajan, whose design sensibilities are inspired from her travels and experiences across Italy, the Middle East and India. Mahajan graduated from the Domus Academy in Milan with a major in Interior Design and dived into the world of design and interior solutions. She experiments with diferent styles and various materials, challenging conventions to create fascinating residential concepts for Studio Wodehouse.
FROM THE DESIGNER'S PORTFOLIO ABACA
Inspired by nature and a simplistic design philosophy, ABACA features an extensive range of furniture, lighting solutions and accessories, suited for the outdoors. Known for their responsible manufacturing practices and keen attention to detail, its products are curated from ateliers in South East Asia and Europe. Since ABACA’s allweather furniture is made from contemporary, lightweight materials, it is elegantly robust and convenient to move around.
THE DESIGNERS
Rashida Baker Asrani Asrani’s tryst with interiors began in 1999, when she sourced Italian modular kitchens to refurbish her cooking space. It was during her trip to South East Asia that she developed an ainity towards handcrafted outdoor furniture. Having found her calling, she gave up her career in law and founded ABACA in 2004. With ABACA, Asrani is constantly focussing on quality, value and functionality.
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Sanyanth Naroth, Sasha Anand, Kunaal Seolekar, Karan Khilnani & Rohan Rehani at the Audi Display
Vikas & Namita Thapar
GQ’s Almona Bhatia, Sagar Chordia & Vineet Mishra
Shribala Chordia
OLD FRIENDS, NEW MEMORIES WHAT: GQ GENTLEMEN’S CLUB WHERE: JW MARRIOTT, PUNE Pune played host once again to the GQ Gentlemen’s Club, in partnership with Chivas, Audi and Etihad Airways. The city’s well-heeled and whisky-loving set – including businessmen, designers and professionals – turned out dressed in their best to toast their city over delicious food and vibrant conversation.
Pooja Sharma
Natasha Shah, Gunjan Indulkar & Pritika Kinra
Tasneem & Gaurav Gadhoke
e Gold Signatur Chivas Regal 18
The Etihad display
Sunil Pai
Nivedita Saboo
Wasim Khan & Karishma Shahani Dhaval Shah
SEPTEMBER 2018
# GQAWARDS
YEAR S
stockists
A-CLASS MARBLE: New Delhi 09958791101 (aclassmarble.co.in) ALEX EAGLE X ANDREW BLYSZAK: London 0044-20-75890588 (alexeagle.co.uk) ALEXANDER LAMONT: (alexanderlamont.com) ANTOLINI: (antolini.com) ARCHANA RAO: India 09652323683 (archanaraolabel.com) ARIK LEVY: France 003301-44786161 (ariklevy.fr) ARTTD’INOX: Bengaluru 09964969969; Mumbai 07506363207; New Delhi 09717999527 (arttdinox.com) ASIAN PAINTS: India 1800-209-5678 (asianpaints.com) BALENCIAGA: (balenciaga.com) BALMAIN: (balmain.com)
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BHARAT FLOORINGS & TILES: Mumbai 022-40574423 (bharatfloorings.com) BOTTEGA VENETA: Bengaluru 080-41738931; Mumbai 022-66152290; New Delhi 011-46098262 (bottegaveneta.com) BREGUET: Johnson Watch Co, New Delhi 011-41513121; Ethos Summit, Bengaluru 080-41130611; Horology, Chennai 044-28464096; Exclusive Lines, Kolkata 033-22820626 BURBERRY: Bengaluru 080-41738826; Mumbai 022-40801994; New Delhi 011-46529850 (in.burberry.com) C BHOGILAL WEST-END: Mumbai 022-61523100 (cbwestend.com) CATTELAN ITALIA: Italy 0039-04-45318711 (cattelanitalia.com); at AND MORE STORIES: Mumbai 09821040007 (andmorestories.com) CHLOE GOSSELIN: (chloegosselin.com) CHOPARD: England 004420-74093140; Mumbai 02222884757; New Delhi 01146662834 CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN: Mumbai 022-43471787; New Delhi 011-41017111
ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST|SEPTEMBER 2018
(christianlouboutin.com) CLASSIC MARBLE COMPANY: Mumbai 022-41404140 (classicmarble.com) COMMON PROJECTS: (commonprojects.com) DANSE LENTE: (danselente.com) DE GOURNAY: London 0044-20-73529988 (degournay.com) DE SEDE: (desede.ch) DHRUV KAPOOR: India 09810047259 (dhruvkapoor.com) DIOR: Bengaluru 09945910302; Mumbai 022-67499091; New Delhi 011-46005900 (dior.com) DORNBRACHT: Mumbai 022-26853900 (dornbracht.com) ELICA: (elica.com) FABER: India 1800-2093484 (faberindia.com) FISHER & PAYKEL: (fisherpaykel.com) FLEXFORM: (flexform.it); see LIVING ART INTERIORS; at VITA MODERNA: Mumbai 022-61270011 (vitamoderna.in) FORNASETTI: Milan 0039-02-84161374 (fornasetti.com)
GARRETT LEIGHT: USA 001-310-3922100 (garrettleight.com) GAURAV GUPTA: Mumbai 09699693434; New Delhi 08800289555 (gauravguptastudio.com) GIANFRANCO FERRÈ HOME: Italy 0039-02-801384 (gianfrancoferrehome.it) GRAFF: (graf-designs.com) GRANDEUR: Mumbai 022-67476746; New Delhi 011-41631591 (grandeurinteriors.com) GROHE: Gurugram 1244933000 (grohe.co.in) GUCCI: Kolkata 03322870888; Mumbai 02267477060; New Delhi 01146471111 (gucci.com) HÄCKER: Mumbai 02243470125; New Delhi 01146102000 (haecker-india.com) HÄFELE: India 1800-266-6667 (hafeleindia.com) HANSGROHE: (hansgrohe.in) HERMÈS: Mumbai 02222717400; New Delhi 01143607780 (hermes.com) HERVÉ VAN DER STRAETEN: Paris 0033-01-42789999 (vanderstraeten.fr)
PHOTO: BJÖRN WALLANDER
The merchandise featured in the magazine has been sourced from the following stores. Some shops may carry a selection only. Prices and availability were checked at the time of going to press, but we cannot guarantee that prices will not change or that specific items will be in stock when the magazine is published.
HETTICH: India 08460069020 (hettich.com) HUEMN: (huemn.in) ILO RUGS: India 09400065159 (ilorugs.com) INTERSEKT: New Delhi 09818193161, D-82 Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-1 IOTA: New Delhi 011-41012280 (iotafurniture.com)
PHOTO: ASHISH SAHI
JOSMOSTUDIO.COM: Mumbai 022-40794756 JUMBO COLLECTION: Italy 0039-03-170757 (jumbo.it) KAJARIA CERAMICS: (kajariaceramics.com) KEHA CASA: Bengaluru 080-48536043 (kehacasa.com) KERAMOS: New Delhi 011-46032765 (keramosindia.com) KITCHENAID: India 1800419-0790 (kitchenaid.in) KOHLER: India 1800-1032244 (kohler.co.in) LE LABO: (lelabofragrances.com) LEMA: Italy 0039-031630990 (lemamobili.com); at SPAZIO: Pune 02066473131 (spazioliving.com) LIEBHERR: Mumbai 02261767500 (liebherr.com) LIVING ART INTERIORS:
Bengaluru 080-65699990 (livingartinteriors.in) LONDON UNDERCOVER: London 0044-20-74824321 (londonundercover.co.uk) LOUIS VUITTON: Bengaluru 080-42460000; Mumbai 022-66644134; New Delhi 011-46690000 (louisvuitton.com) MARNI: (marni.com) MICHAEL KORS: (michaelkors.com) MIELE: New Delhi 01146900000 (miele.in) MINIFORMS: Italy 0039-0421618255 (miniforms.com) MINOTTI: (minotti.com); at DESIGN ITALIANO: Ahmedabad 09879026328 (designitaliano.in) MIUNIKU: India 07506099783 (miuniku.com) MONTBLANC: (montblanc.com) MUJI: Bengaluru 08042565926; Mumbai 02224981911; New Delhi 01140566955 (muji.com) NEFF: (nef-home.com) NITCO: India 1800-2664826 (nitcotiles.in) OFFICINE GULLO: Italy 0039-05-56560324 (officinegullo.com) OMEGA: Mumbai 02230602002; New Delhi
011-41513255; Bengaluru 080-40982106; Chennai 044-28464092; Hyderabad 040-23331144 ORVI: Jaipur 141-2735301 (orvi.com) PIETRA 1556: (pietra1556.com) PIPPA SMALL: (pippasmall.com) PLÜSCH LIVING: Bengaluru 080-25504444; Mumbai 022-24467750; New Delhi 011-41553333 (pluschliving.com) PLUSH DECOR: India 09553155590 RALPH LAUREN HOME: (ralphlaurenhome.com); at SEETU KOHLI CONCEPTS: India 09999966702 (seetukohli.com) REJINA PYO: (rejinapyo.com) ROCHE BOBOIS: Mumbai 022-49237772; New Delhi 011-41407772 (roche-bobois.com) ROLEX: DiA, Mumbai 02222042299; Kapoor Watch, New Delhi 011-46536667; The Helvetica, Chennai 044-28490013; Luxury Time, Ahmedabad 07926469797; Meena Jewellers, Hyderabad 040-44767758 SAINT LAURENT: (ysl.com)
SALVATORI: Italy 0039-0584769200 (salvatori.it) SCAVOLINI: (scavolini.design) SCHÖNBUCH: Germany 0049-97-613962 (schoenbuch.com) SICIS: New Delhi 011-46114811 (sicis.com) SIEMENS: India 1800-2091800 (siemens.com) SOMANY CERAMICS: New Delhi 011-28345049 (somanyceramics.com) STELLA MCCARTNEY: (stellamccartney.com) STONEX: New Delhi 01149494444 (stonexindia.net) STUDIO CREO: New Delhi 011-46002100 (studiocreo.com) THE CONRAN SHOP: (conranshop.co.uk) THE QUARRY: India 09930544444 (quarry.asia) THEIA TILES: Portugal 00351-21-8133391 (theiatiles.com) TIIPOI: (tiipoi.com) TOPSTONA: India 09829795787 (topstona.com) VENETA CUCINE: (venetacucine.com) VISIONNAIRE: Italy 0039-05-16186322 (visionnaire-home.com)
Nishka Lulla
From left: Vogue’s Anaita Shroff Adajania with Anupama Chopra, Adhuna Bhabani, Preeta Sukhtankar, Alisha Abdullah and Aditi Kothari
Praneeta Diwanji
Neeta Lulla
THE ROAD TO SUCCESS Kainaz Messman
Vasavadatta Gandhi
WHAT: The launch of She’s Mercedes; an initiative by Mercedes-Benz co-hosted by Vogue WHERE: The St. Regis, Mumbai
Tanisha Rahimtoola Agarwal and Anam Patel
Parizaad Kolah Marshall
Tina Kakkad Dhanak and Richa Begani
Mercedes-Benz India and Vogue India came together to celebrate the women making waves in various fields with an all-women soirée— She’s Mercedes. The evening kicked off with Mercedes-Benz India’s Maithali Adhye narrating an inspiring story about Bertha Benz. This was followed by host Parizaad Kolah Marshall shining the spotlight on two women running successful empires—Neeta Lulla and Kainaz Messman. Also on the agenda was a panel discussion moderated by Vogue India’s Anaita Shroff Adajania. Present for the discussion, which spanned subjects like work-life balance and tackling tough decisions, were Anupama Chopra, Adhuna Bhabani, Alisha Abdullah, Preeta Sukhtankar and Aditi Kothari.
Geeta Rao
Daneesh Davar
Aditi Dugar and Payal Asnani
Madhavi Mariwala
Vogueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Renuka Joshi Modi
Sunila Duggal
Renuka Kirpalani
Biyash Choksey and Sunaina Murthy
Maithali Adhya, Prajakta Bedadur, Anita Khishti and Colleen Dsouza from Mercedes-Benz
KEDAR NENE
Mallika Danani Setalvad, Shaan Khanna and Nitya Arora
Summi Gill, Mili Sanghvi and Ami Bhana
Gauri Tandon
DJ Paroma
Antonia Achache and Elodie Bizalion
Vinti Malhotra and Rashmi Jalan
10 The founder of Arttd’inox and chairman of Jindal Stainless Foundation, Deepikka Jindal is driven by her passion to redefine the perceptions of stainless steel in India and bring forth the best in tableware and home decor. Jindal talks to AD about the things, people and places that inspire her Art on your wish list: An artwork by Anish Kapoor.
Must-see buildings for a design enthusiast: The titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (pictured), by Frank Gehry, and the Sagrada Família in Barcelona.
Work and life inspiration: I admire people who have written their own success stories. For me, my father-inlaw and my family have been a source of inspiration all this while. Apart from them, Oprah Winfrey (pictured)—a multifaceted, successful woman—inspires me a lot.
Artist you would invite to The Stainless gallery: Subodh Gupta—I admire his work and individuality. And he works with stainless steel, our core material!
Architect or designer who influences and inspires you: I like Christian Liaigre’s work. It’s a nice blend of style and chic elegance.
Precious heirloom: A pearl bracelet my grandmother gave me when I was five years old, at my aunt’s wedding.
Favourite shopping destination: London—for variety and versatility.
Object that showcases your brand’s design focus: We marry form and function to create everyday luxury products. The ‘Pink Bloom’ tea set perfectly embodies this. Dream collaborator: Philippe Starck—he’s one of the most prolific and versatile designers out there today, creating timeless designs.
Artist who’s working with stainless steel in an interesting way: Alex Davis, who has created a thin line between art and design.
AS TOLD TO SHREYA GUPTA. DEEPIKKA JINDAL PORTRAIT COURTESY ARTTD’INOX. GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM: REINHOLD MÖLLER. UNTITLED (2014) BY ANISH KAPOOR: ANISH KAPOOR/ THE SAMDANI ART FOUNDATION. SUBODH GUPTA PORTRAIT: NEVILLE SUKHIA. PEARL BRACELET: ARTTD’INOX. LONDON EYE: MARTIN FALBISONER. ‘CHAMPA’ BY ALEX DAVIS: ALEX DAVIS STUDIO. PHILIPPE STARCK PORTRAIT: JAMES BORT. ‘PINK BLOOM’ TEA SET: ARTTD’INOX. CHRISTIAN LIAIGRE TOWNHOUSE: MARK SEELEN. OPRAH WINFREY PORTRAIT: DON ARNOLD/ GETTY IMAGES.
DEEPIKKA JINDAL
YEAR S BE A PART OF THIS MILESTONE ISSUE OCTOBER 2018 Contact: GQIndiaAdsales@condenast.in
The fashion designer is all about precise tailoring, innovative textures, championing crafts and, most importantly, authenticity, as her mood board suggests
“I am very hands-on with my tailors and master cutter. It is important for me to work with them to ensure we get a good fit and finish.” “I took this image of Chand Baori in Abhaneri, Rajasthan in January. I love the scale, the geometry, the repetition and the fact that [the structure] goes deep into the earth.”
“[This tassel] was inspired by artist Sheela Gowda’s sculpture And Tell Him of My Pain. My karigars thought that it was weird [to use hand-blunted sewing needles], but they are used to it [now]!”
“The ‘Kediya’ vest from Collection 2 was inspired by the kedia jackets worn by men from the Rabari tribe. I especially love the neckline and centre-front opening. The aari work is inspired by the geometric motifs of Kutch.”
“I love neutrals, especially black, white and navy with earthy tones. I think black has multiple meanings; it shows form and depth at a primal level. It was also a colour I loved wearing when I was younger—I still do—and my mother was always against it! Culturally, as Indians, it isn’t a colour that young women should be wearing, so it was part of my rebellion! Having lived in Saudi Arabia for a few years also informs my love for neutrals—the desert, the sea and women cloaked in black abayas.”
“We worked with Loom To Luxury, Varanasi to weave this silk-zari fabric blend, which is a part of Collection 4. We call it the ‘snake’ pattern.” “I took this picture of a Zarina Hashmi artwork at her exhibition in Gallery Espace earlier this year. I love the sense of home and place explored through geometry.”
“I work closely with Border&Fall for my brand and discussions about the sari have always been there. I was an associate creative director for The Sari Series. I personally love wearing saris, and their shapes and drapes inform my designs.”
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“Dots, geometry, the grid and raised surface texture—I love all these things. These pompoms were handembroidered on fabric for Collection 4.”
“A sample of fabric from Collection 5. This type of smocking starts with a grid on a flat piece of fabric. It becomes three-dimensional after we hand-stitch it at certain points on the grid.”
“These are pattern studies based on the works of Ellsworth Kelly.”
AS TOLD TO SANHITA SINHA CHOWDHURY. PHOTO: TALIB CHITALWALA. STYLIST: SAMIR WADEKAR. HABITAT 67 PHOTO: ARCAID/UIG/GETTY IMAGES.
“This photo was taken at BioDye in Maharashtra. I love everything about indigo! The beauty of its natural colour, its fermentation and dyeing process, as well as its political and socioeconomic history.”
“I studied interior design. My first job was with a small architectural firm in Toronto. There are many connections between clothing and architecture. Two homes that I have been to and loved for their geometry and use of concrete are Villa Sarabhai by Le Corbusier in Ahmedabad and Habitat 67 by Moshe Safdie in Montreal.”