Inside Studio Medium’s Dhan Mill Flagship by Chennai’s Whitedge

Over a decade in the past, Dhan Mill compound, a former warehouse in New Delhi’s Chattarpur, reopened to the general public as a luxurious retail hotspot. Now dwelling to over 65 boutiques, the style vacation spot’s newest entrant is attire label Studio Medium’s debut bodily retailer. Helmed by designers Riddhi Jain and Dhruv Satija, the model’s first bodily retailer is geared toward giving the “Studio Medium ethos a tangible dimension”. Over time, the duo says they felt that the “breadth of what we do on the studio — from textiles to collaborations — wanted to be skilled with the proper context and narrative”. Due to this fact, the shop is envisioned as an area the place folks can interact with their textiles firsthand.

Dhruv explains that their fascination “with the instruments and processes that create textiles” guided the fabric decisions for the shop. “We needed a palette that allowed the textiles and colors to take heart stage. Metal is used extensively — within the facade, racks, consoles, and mirror frames — a cloth that deeply resonates with us. It displays qualities we worth: precision, fluidity, energy. The vessels we use for dyeing are additionally metal, and its reflective floor reminds us of water, a key factor in resist dyeing,” he says.

The shop’s design has an industrial undercurrent working by means of. With India being the second-largest metal producer globally, utilizing the fabric felt like a nod to the nation’s industrial prowess and future, says Dhruv. “We additionally created furnishings from our instruments, equivalent to a console desk with outdated arashi pipes (a Japanese dye resist technique whereby cloth is wrapped round outdated PVC pipes) as legs,” says the designer, including that their ongoing work with pre-consumer thread waste has additionally been built-in all through the house by means of wall panels, frames, and fabric. “Objects and sculptures produced from this materials are featured on the mezzanine,” he says.

Chennai-based structure agency WHITEEDGE labored on the shop’s interiors 
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association

One other recurring factor within the retailer’s design is the circle — a type the duo continuously interpret of their work. “You’ll discover it subtly throughout the shop — in racks, ground inlays, and the textile set up titled ‘If Circles Might Fly’. Even the pateela, a standard software and motif we regularly return to, is a circle and has its place within the retailer,” says Dhruv.

A key collaboration within the venture was with Chennai-based structure agency WHITEDGE, who had been “instrumental in shaping the shop’s spatial expertise — protecting it minimal but tactile, and making certain the textiles and craftsmanship remained on the coronary heart of it”. Gaurav Kothari, Principal Architect, explains how the shop is designed to make sure the attire and merchandise take centre stage, with the structure performing as a backdrop. “We used metal for the facade as a result of the fabric’s clear strains and impartial tone mix fantastically with out stealing the highlight. Inside, the flooring is Kota stone: easy, grounded, and really Indian. So as to add a contact of enjoyable, we inlaid Indian white marble in key spots,” he says of the venture that took 5 months to finish. 

A smooth, folded metal staircase connects the degrees, protecting that industrial really feel whereas feeling mild and open
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association

For the reason that Dhan Mill compound was as soon as sheds, he retained the tall ceiling and used it to create a mezzanine. “A smooth, folded metal staircase connects the degrees, protecting that industrial really feel whereas feeling mild and open. The trial rooms have stretched cloth ceilings and tender lighting that make the garments pop. Up on the mezzanine, we designed a minimal handrail,” says Gaurav, including that each one the chrome steel show racks are custom-made and movable, “so the shop can shift and evolve with new experiences”. 

Elaborating on the sustainable angle to the design, Gaurav says he caught to metal and Kota stone as the principle supplies. “Metal is hard and recyclable, whereas Kota stone is low-maintenance and constructed to final. We additionally skipped issues like gypsum false ceilings or plastered partitions, choosing a metal ceiling to remain true to the shed’s uncooked, sincere really feel. We used PVC pipes that had been used within the arashi dyeing course of to create furnishings,” he says.

The shop’s design has an industrial undercurrent working by means of
| Photograph Credit score:
Particular Association

Elaborating on the interactive and “delicate, enjoyable touches” within the studio, Gaurav says these come within the type of polka-dot-shaped white marble inlays which have been embedded within the Kota stone ground to mark particular areas, like outdoors the trial rooms or close to specific racks. “They’re like little signposts that catch your eye and information you thru the shop, including a playful expertise. The storefront window can also be a mirror by the day and an artwork show at evening,” says Gaurav.

With Dhruv and Riddhi working carefully with artisans throughout India, the collaborations prolonged in placing collectively the shop as nicely. “For a number of signature furnishings items equivalent to Terrasan (two seater bench), Levitate (a chair with an acrylic seat) and Ombra (a chair), we collaborated with Kolkata-based architect Abin Choudhary and his agency, Fingers & Minds,” says Riddhi. The shop can also be dwelling to a window show that doubles up as an inventive showcase. “Each few months, we’ll collaborate with an artist, designer, or create one thing in-house to reimagine the window — by means of installations, textile artwork, or experimental works. It’s our means of protecting the house dynamic and providing one thing surprising to anybody passing by,” concludes Dhruv.