The meteoric rise of India as an economic powerhouse this past decade comes with an increasingly sophisticated and expanding consumer market and talent pool, and it’s a combo which is slowly changing the country’s leading cities on many levels, including retail and shopping. After graduating from NIFT in Delhi and Milan‘s Istituto Marangoni, Indian designer Dhruv Kapoor (1988) initially worked on womenswear at the ETRO head office in the Lombard capital, before returning to his home country to establish his eponymous fashion brand in 2013. The designer’s contemporary women’s and men’s silhouettes straddle the past and the future, pairing an urban coolness with distinct Indian elements along the way, and resonate with a fashion-forward clientele across the planet and also on home turf.

It’s here, in the sprawling urban surrounds of Delhi, its home base, where Kapoor has raised his operations to a higher level by opening a flagship store. Kapoor secured a lofty ground floor unit at The Corridors, a newly built commercial complex in the fast-emerging, leafy southern suburb of Chhatarpur. Four large arched windows at the front and two sizeable side windows allow passers-by ample peeks of understated, practically all-white setting. Although a monolithic rock-like display unit adorns each of the arched windows, which also tie in with a more decorative equivalent in the side window, it’s an elegant, U-shaped counter with built-in glass cabinets that steals the show. A curved metal-clad side wall conceals the fitting rooms while also reflecting extra daylight into the retail space.

The back sees recessed display nooks interspersed with floor-to-ceiling mirrors. A low upholstered bench, obviously in matching white, sits right beside the eye-catching counter. White concrete flooring ties in all the different shop sections, while overhead, rows of embedded linear ceiling lights add a visual dynamic element to the setting. And that’s not all further elevating the shopping experience is a custom-developed scent and a carefully calibrated soundscape. The chosen design codes extrapolate the designer’s ongoing dialogue between past and future, and this is also supported by a palette of elemental materials and soft monumental forms. The new Dhruv Kapoor flagship store carries the full range of women’s and men’s apparel, bags and special projects products. © superfuture