The Spiritual Designer

Designer Dhruv Kapoor has two big launches this year—his new Gen-Z brand K 2.0 and his first flagship store in Delhi

- Pooja Singh

Designer Dhruv Kapoor's office in Gurugram looks like a laboratory. Everything is off-white, from the bare walls and flooring to the furniture and cutlery. No fabric samples, files, cuttings, mannequins—the things that usually take up space in a fashion house—are in sight. There's color though, most of the staff, including Kapoor, are dressed in shades of green.

He's the designer behind the independent eponymous ready-to-wear brand that in a span of 11 years has created a global name for itself, sitting comfortably between streetwear, casualwear and high fashion. As I enter his cabin on one of the four floors of the 40,000 sq. ft building, which includes the factory, I ask if it's a coincidence that most people are dressed in green? "It's Wednesday, a day ruled by (planet) mercury and green is the color associated with it (according to Vastu Shastra, the Hindu principles of architecture and design)," he says, while binaural beats in the beta frequency play in the background—supposed to improve concentration. "Green is associated with creativity, communication. I believe in Vastu, yoga, spirituality in general…that has rubbed off on my team." Thursday is yellow, Friday, blue.

That belief system extends to every aspect of his life—the off-white shades of the office, wearing colors to align with one's chakras, depicting the steps of pranayama breathing on the inside of shirts, incorporating yoga practices like jal neti into his life for over two decades. Even his first flagship store, to be launched in October in south Delhi's Dhan Mill Compound, has been designed to Vastu principles. "Fashion is 80% intangible, 20% tangible," says Kapoor, 36, explaining why he incorporates elements related to Vedic traditions into everything he does.