A BARE' MINIMUM

Kushal Shah's new store SDS in Kala Ghoda uses unfiltered elements against a brutalist canvas to pay homage to his eccentric fashion

- 

Raw and unfiltered, cement courses on the walls in unruly textures. There is a sudden overwhelming urge to graze your fingertips over it. Fighting it, you steer away to the centre of the space. As you stand under the colossal ceiling, amongst 15 ft tall arched windows and regal pillars, unknowing of their European roots, you can't help but muse on the reign of art. Apparel by fashion designer Kushal Shah is the art here. Standing within the earthy swirls of visual arts characteristic of the Kala Ghoda neighbourhood in the southern strip of Mumbai, Kushal Shah's flagship store, SDS, swerves from the stereotype. "The world of fashion is often associated with glamour and extravagance, but for this store, the goal was to create a space that would complement the glamour of fashion without overshadowing it," reveals Kushal. There's something curiously bewitching about gazing at art against an i