Indian fashion designer Anita Dongre asserts herself in the international market. After opening a space for her label’s organic-focussed sister concern Grassroots in SoHo last year, she has unveiled her second American shop.
Located in the heart of New York City on 473 West Broadway, the new Anita Dongre flagship is much bigger than her first Manhattan space and will stock everything from her ready-to-wear, bridal collections, menswear to fine jewellery and the Grassroots’ handmade contemporary line.
The sprawling three-storey location artfully dedicates the ground floor to Grassroots, while the lower level designed with dark flooring and old-fashioned Indian mirror tiles, features Dongre’s offerings for menswear and RTW line.
Whereas, the top-level that consists of two floors, transports you back to India’s vibrant city of Jaipur in Rajasthan. This floor will host Dongre’s massively popular bridal and fine jewellery collections, in an effort to assist Indian brides living in the West, who often have to make a trip to India to purchase their wedding trousseau.
The level features a big swing as the central piece, mimicking her Indian boutiques and boasts of block-printed fabric walls, pichwai-style paintings and marble inlays from Udaipur. With handcrafted furniture upholstered in heavily embroidered textiles, the space looks like one of Rajasthan’s regal Haveli homes.
“I’m looking for a customer in the US who would love to wear hand-crafted design, who loves textiles and would appreciate that what you get here is like nothing you would get in the entire country. It’s that different,” says Dongre about her target for this new outing.
Apart from her usual colourful bridal wear, this store will also have a white bridal line with golden embroidery in a retail range of US $ 1,500 to US $ 12,000.
The space will also serve as a gateway for the designer’s international clients who can have appointments in New York before they place an order after which the gown will be made in India and shipped to the US for their fittings.
The wedding party collection uses hand-woven textiles and comprises of traditional styles like lehengas, sarees and suits for women, and kurtas, jackets and sherwanis for men.