After a while, the eyes crave new things. New colours, designs, ideas – it’s stimulating to the senses and invigorating to the soul.
That’s how I felt when I went shopping in India. Everything is so completely different. and there is so much variety. For example, if you want high end fashion, there is Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Stella Mcartney, you name it. If you want jeans, or polos, there is Levi’s and Lacoste. There’s Aldo, Nine West and Hush Puppies for shoes. You get everything that you get here, but more too.
Along with all the American/Euro stuff, you get the incredible range of fashion that India now has to offer. India has always been on the cutting edge of textiles and design, but that industry is now on a completely different level. India Fashion Week attracts press from all over the world, and Indian designers such as Manish Arora, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Rana Gill are gaining worldwide acclaim.
With three little kids at my side, I didn’t get to meander and window shop like I used to. But, I did get out a bit and here are some of favourite shopping moments:
This is Linking Road in Bandra (Mumbai). It’s roadside shopping at its best. My favourite place to shop in the world – you get great deals on purses, shoes, clothes and costume jewelry. The Girl (an established ShoeNut) wanted to live at this stall and I had to tear her away. The array of goodies is endlessly tantalizing.
In Bangalore, we visited Vijay Mallya’s (one of India’s richest men, and the owner of Kingfisher beer and airline) mall, UB City. The architecturally beautiful mall features mostly high-end retail (think Paul Smith and Burberry) and has a stunning rooftop terrace with a lovely food court (including Rajdhani, which I blogged about in my recent Food Post). UB City features a few good Indian stores. Kimaya carries Indian couture, and has some of the most stunning clothes I have ever seen – wandering through this boutique was like entering a fairy-tale land of lush fabrics and delicate embroideries.
I also loved the home decor store, Good Earth – check out this awesome bed!
And last but not least, bangles, bangles, bangles! There are shops in India devoted only to bangles – and my girls were in heaven. Check out the Baby here in our favourite bangle shop in Chennai, Dreams Come True (Prince Plaza)! By the way, isn’t that the most brilliant name? I love the notion that finding the exactly perfect bangles will make all your “dreams come true”. If only it were that simple!
Sounds like an amazing experience. My DD would be in heaven in the bangle shop too!
Amazing Amreen! Thanks for being our tour guide. Now, when can we do the real thing?
Wow! The colours immediately call to mind that Diana Vreeland quote that “pink is the navy blue of India”. I don’t know much about Diana Vreeland or much about the fashion of India, but that quote always intrigued me. Your descriptions and your photos are wonderful and provide such a neat glimpse into a side of India I knew nothing about. Thanks for sharing.