The Beige Effect

RooshadSHROFF studio creates a casual salon-like retail store for womenswear brand, Beige, in Mumbai.

Curated by: Deepa Nair
Photographs: Pankaj Anand, courtesy RooshadSHROFF

At Beige the atmosphere is casual… the customers can browse through the garments, and even spend time on this fabulous set-up — with a plush sofa, bespoke coffee table and single seaters, potted plants, art and accessories — over a cup of tea.

The brief

Following the redevelopment of Mumbai’s famous Rhythm House and the opening of Kunal Rawal’s boutique, RooshadSHROFF was commissioned to design a retail space adjacent to the boutique, on level one. The client, now settled in Mumbai, wanted to open a multi-brand store — Beige — which would retail casual womenswear primarily sourced from Portugal, the owner’s home country. She wanted to offer customers a wide choice of clothes in mid-range pricing, as opposed to an intimidating shopping experience. Her brief was to create a salon-like feel for this retail store, where clients can both shop and spend an afternoon over a cup of tea.

The 20-foot ceiling height and a pitched roof add to the charm of this free-flowing space. A diagonal display platform crafted from beige travertine stone is the central focus of the store. A line of mannequins is placed on it to mimic the runway.

The spatial configuration

At a modest thousand square feet, the design team opted for an open plan. The 20-foot ceiling height and a pitched roof add to the charm of this free-flowing space. The changing room and back-of-house is pushed to the rear of the store.

The material palette

As the name suggests, the material palette also features shades of beige, using wood, fabric and textured paint. A 30-foot-long wall is cladded with pleated beige silk fabric as a wall finish, softening and adding warmth to the interiors. Another wall features textured polish in a darker hue of beige, and the rest of the walls and ceiling features wood. The design team also recreated the wooden flooring to retain the original historic look of the building.

This 30-foot-long wall is cladded with pleated beige silk fabric as a wall finish. Wooden flooring was recreated to retain the original historic look of the building.

Custom brass display racks allow each collection to be showcased individually. A diagonal display platform crafted from beige travertine stone is the central focus of the store. A line of mannequins is placed on it to mimic the runway; while an overall tropical touch is added to the space by tall plants.

Fact file

Project: Beige
Location: Kala Ghoda, Mumbai
Area: 1,000 sq ft
Principal architect: Rooshad Shroff
Design team: Khushali Chawda, Vartika Jangid, Haroon Mohammed and Aneri Mehta