There are certain places where you meet yourself. In the slant of the sunray on a chair. In the cool breeze caressing the garden plants. Where the open skies meet the terrace. Or, a deep dive into a creative chasm. In the stillness of the moment and in the beauty of the calm. At Richa Kanoi’s Bombaim on Dr Sarat Banerjee Road. There is a sense of utmost serenity that envelopes Bombaim’s new home after AJC Bose Road. Much like Richa. Beautiful in quietude. Spread over 6,000sq ft, it is a refurbished property, a home in the truest sense, with a sense of belonging. We dropped by one afternoon to savour the beauty of the multi-designer store and sat down for a chat with Richa post the tour.
Congratulations! This must have been a dream come true...
You have to feel it and then I like working with certain people, and, I really liked the people who owned this house previously. For me, blessings matter, especially of the elderly. We wanted this place to stay true to what it really was and add to it. We have retained the facade but had to break down the inside part and change it, which is why we could make that hollow structure in the middle. Animesh Nayak of Open to Sky Architects from Calcutta has worked with us on this project. We have collaborated with him on the past two projects too and Jeffrey Chen and his (business) partner Sean were the contractors. Animesh, Jeffrey and I are friends and have worked on multiple beautiful projects together.
Bombaim has a mixed bag for you to choose from. From occasion wear to bridal wear and wedding picks
What was your vision when you thought of shifting to a bigger space?
I’ll be honest, I can’t shop online. It’s not like I don’t but it’s mostly basic things that you need to pick up. I really feel I need to wear something and experience it to purchase it. I am a slow (life) person. I can make it through by knowing as much as I know about technology. I feel it’s in a way good that I am more in tune with what makes a person tick and my intuitions, rather than being very technical about things. Now, I hear a lot of people spending alone time, de-stressing. I have been doing this forever and it came to me naturally because I am a shy person. I am happy being in the background, building true, meaningful relations, and having substance and quality over quantity. My brain shuts down with too much noise. Even at work, I need to take power naps every now and then. I give so much of myself that you need that time to switch off. Coming back to your question, we are of course in a fast-paced industry and Covid made us monkeys in a circus. The last few years have been about high-pressure scenarios. I get the whole business aspect of it, but, if we can afford to have a little bit more of quality along with the craziness, can we please do it? Animesh, luckily, understood it very well. It was always about having space and letting people who are a part of your team breathe because that is where they’ll spend most of their time. If you can improve your quality of life and anyone else’s around you, I am all for it. We are true to who we are.
Given what Covid put us through, did you think it was a risk?
We’ve had this conversation in the design circle and concluded that you cannot change humans. We knew they would come back. It’s just how we are built. How can you not want to purchase and buy? You buy for 10,000 different needs. And, it’s not all bad. It makes you feel good and adds to your confidence levels. At times, it’s also the love for something. I was never nervous about people not coming back to the shop. The Indian body is not standardised and physical stores are there to understand your needs and help you from scratch to finish.
The ‘open-to-sky courtyard area’ is the centrepiece of Bombaim. With sunlight streaming in, it oozes a positive charm and fills you up with inexplicable happiness. And, as you look up, you’ll only feel the happy rush of gratitude. The store interiors have elements of the sky, stars and waves
What kind of change have you seen in the consumer behaviour pattern in the last three years?
People are like, let’s live today. When Covid hit, people switched their lives off. You never know what is going to happen when. If you can enjoy it, you might as well. Living in the moment is great. Who thought that for two years we were going to be stuck in our houses? Travel is booming. I think we have also become careful about the environment. I think people have become intelligent about how they purchase. It is dictated by your needs and lifestyle. They realise that pre-loved is not such a bad thing. People are adopting and adapting and everything is fluid. I love the fact that there is no judgment. I feel you should have fun with clothes and are constantly telling people to experiment. Enjoy the freedom.
Why do you think topend luxury designers in India have started doing pret? The demand of the time?
The demand of the time and also income brackets are increasing. A lot of people have more disposable income than they had previously. It’s a cycle and it’s happened everywhere. If you see how a regular person is dressed today, it is quite stylish compared to what it was long back. When you are getting that exposure and more money to spend, you might not end up spending on couture, but you definitely can pick up that one nice outfit that is more expensive than what you would normally spend. That chunk of the population is increasing.
The cash counter wears the look of an “open bar”
Do you like the corporatisation of fashion?
It’s what works for you and where you are as a brand in your story right now. If you are at a place where the only option is to get bought out by a corporate because you have become so big, you will walk down that path. Then there are people who still need the support of people like us to partner with them to open their flagships. Rahul (Mishra) and I partnered six years ago to open and operate his flagships, today he’s flourishing with a corporate. We have recently partnered with Kshitij Jalori and opened his first flagship in Delhi, which will soon be followed by one in Bombay. And then there are some people who are happy marching to their own tunes, at their own pace. That’s the beauty of it. It’s a creative industry.
How has the Calcutta market evolved?
A lot and beautifully. I was very clear that I didn’t want to open another bridal store because it was a saturated market already. I figured pret and Indo-western were the categories which were still not there, and that’s where we walked in. We came up with designers who weren’t wellknown at that point. We had Rahul (Mishra), Nachiket (Barve), Kishmish.... we’ve always identified talents and cultivated the best that we could cultivate here. When we started it was a bit of a challenge to get people to spend the kind of money we were asking them to spend on pret and Indo-western. Today, people are way more open, willing, experimental and confident.
We have also gone into the heavier Indianwear segment. We have an entire floor dedicated to heavier Indianwear. Jayanti (Reddy) has been working with us on and off for a very long time. We now have a shop-in-shop with her. Calcutta is definitely a pricesensitive market but it has grown by leaps and bounds. In Calcutta, you have to give it time and keep showing till they understand and accept you. Delhi is a fast-paced city and Bombay thinks more than Delhi.
(l-r) Probably the only fashion stop in Calcutta to have an ‘amphitheatre’ on the terrace, evenings here will be sublime, This is the first spot Richa takes us to. The garden. As you sit with a cup of tea, the building reveals itself in numerous ways, in the light and the shade
Where do you see retail going in the next five years?
I see retail booming. I think people are going to remain free. If the economical growth remains steady and another Covid doesn’t hit, people would want to spend. I am not saying it’s going to be crazy. There will always be a bit of thought on what you are spending on. Quality will and should always matter.
You can spend hours on this verandah, soaking in the sunshine and taking in the view of the street below. The windows that have been retained and the cane furniture and lovely mul curtains somehow remind you of a Rituparno Ghosh film set