Industrial Opulance

1999AD the fashion and lifestyle boutique recently launched by husband and wife duo Designer Amita Bajoria and Deepak Bajoria at Salt Lake, Kolkata is a designer boutique showcasing designer apparel, jewelleries and bags designed with an Indo-Western twist to make them appealing to the younger generation. Added to this is also the elaborately created trousseau collections. Amita explains that the store was named 1999AD after the year in which she and her husband started working together.
 
The store environment design was planned and conceptualized using interesting architectural and presentation principles in forms, textures and art to create a unique multi-sensory experience for the visitor. The entry area features an ornate antique door which works as a backdrop to highlight an embroidery artist at work. Carved antique impression wooden blocks, that also worked as candle stands, adorn the flight of stairs with balustrades dressed in rope and rustic finish.

The store has four key areas of interest each with its own individual visual treatment, all of which organically merge into each other. The first, the Jewellery section, features the exclusive collections displayed in museum cases built on antique drafting tables and repurposed wooden wardrobes. Old industrial props like Shoe Lasts and Wooden Templates used for making latex surgical gloves, Wooden Trays used in temples and Bengali households add drama to the merchandise display.

A dramatic light instillation adorning this section is modelled like old mine shaft lights. "The tungsten lights were specially fabricated from a small factory in the city who used to make these lights but had stopped production due to the onslaught of new technologically advanced products. Combined with these lights are the new edition bulbs, which are a rage now!,” informs Swarup.

The next is the Casual wear area which also houses the hand bags section. The furniture and display racks are made from basic domestic or industrial water pipes combined with acid treated wood to render an antique worn out look. An old grandmother's chest works as the table display unit. For the lighting advantage was taken from the location of a window in that section. "The casual garment range area is next to a huge glass windows, so I decided to use the natural light to our advantage. The window section is patterned with horizontal lines, which creates and interesting pattern and the light balance in this section is calibrated with sunlight,” shares Swarup.

The Occasion wear display area has an intricate curved ceiling created from solid wooden slats and combined with the natural wooden flooring it draws attention to the designer fashion collections. Recessed soffit lighting in the ceiling help light the merchandise on the perimeter wall.  Old drafting tables along with monolithic wooden seating stools add to the setting.

The Private Bridal section is a semi-circular enclosure to give the needed privacy and attention in service. The section features a spectacular setting created with an old carved mirror, old doors repurposed into display units, an ornate semi-circular seating, an industrial riveted table, a red turn of the century adjustable working table and old durries on the floor. The lighting concept is an arty combination of industrial dome lights along with old mining lights in a chandelier installation. Bags and shoes displayed in the outer enclosure of this are as add-on coordinates to the ensemble selections.

Oil cans used as flower vases, old trunks painted and restored to be repurposed as drawers and old brass glasses used for displaying jewellery add the quirky touch to the whole store experience. The wall treatments in is a palette of rough concrete textures, cement brushed exposed brick and chiselled wall surfaces to create a rustic yet industrial impression theme for the drama of the store presentation and merchandise to unfold so delightfully.

The store concept was conceptualised by scenographer Swarup Dutta, who explains, "I had an elaborate discussion with Amita and Deepak on the look and feel of the space, and we concluded that we will use rustic and industrial setting as a backdrop to showcase the opulent jewellery and occasion wear. So, I decided to mix turn of the century industrial furniture and fixtures and juxtaposed the same with antique folk-traditional elements from India. So we gave it a warehouse look which is fairly popular abroad and is also coming in here slowly. We looked at Indian elements which are quasi-industrial and the team travelled expansively in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and sourced everything”.