Whether you’re going prêt-á-porter shopping in your Loubs or scouting for some uber-cool watering hole in your green mean machine, the crescent-shaped heritage stretch of Kala Ghoda in SoBo (a portmanteau for South Bombay) has become the ultimate ‘adda’ for India’s rich and famous. Dilapidated British-era buildings that once housed offices, dingy bookstalls, tea stalls, raddi shops, and dusty godowns, have given way to flagship stores of luxury labels and international fashion brands. Several ace designers have their flagship stores in this posh heritage art district – Sabyasachi (Horniman Circle), Anita Dongre (Sasson Building), Masaba (Khattau Building), Ensemble (Great Western Building), House of Hermes and Christian Louboutin literally rub shoulders here.
Many have converted these century-old majestic neoclassical heritage buildings into 25,000 sq. ft to 50,000 sq. ft flagship stores.
Buzz is that Parisian luxury store Galeries Lafayette too plans to open its flagship store in SoBo’s Fort area. A decade ago, the area was frequented by gamblers, drug peddlers, hookers, and ruffians. Today, the entire area is bursting with pub crawlers, culture vultures, fashionistas, tourists, swashbucklers, haw-kers, and gawkers.
There is a bohemian air in Kala Ghoda. There is a little something for everyone if you are willing to loosen your purse strings! Till three decades ago, Shaina NC’s Golden Thimble and Tarun Tahiliani’s Ensemble were the two most prominent desi.
