Homes get fashion-forward with designer labels, signature styles

Realtors roping in fashion designers for luxury housing

Homes get fashion-forward with designer labels, signature styles

From French knots and chikankari in elegant khadi, fashion designers such as Kunal Rawal and Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla are now setting their sight on designing homes in their signature styles.

With luxury housing demand rising, developers are now offering luxury not only in location and size, but also in houses designed by celebrity designers.

For Mumbai-based fashion designer Kunal Rawal, whose eponymous luxury menswear brand is known for metallic, geometric detailing and comfort, both fashion and real estate share a common thread of form and functionality. “The only change I see is that my design aesthetic will be added to a new canvas,” said Rawal, who has collaborated with luxury real estate brand Boheim to design villas and homes in Goa and Alibaug, priced between Rs 5 crore and Rs 15 crore.

“Since I design for young India, who seek comfort and functionality, the homes will have finer details that a progressive, young Indian looks for. They will tell the India story where slow living and hand-made products are supreme,” said Rawal, who plans to add functional spaces in every room to multitask.

“Homes are moving away from the usual boxy construction. It’s a design-forward approach,” said Samarth Bajaj, founder of Boheim, whose inspiration behind the name comes from the concept of a bohemian lifestyle, free-spirited, slow and nature-friendly homes. Currently with luxury home projects in Hyderabad, Goa and Alibaug, Bajaj is gearing up for expansion in Dubai, Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand as well.

The reason why Bajaj has roped in fashion designers is because they understand luxury well. “They sell aspiration, and a story behind a garment. With this in mind, we want to tell the India story of skilled artisans and craftsmen, and nobody serves this purpose better than them. Both fashion and real estate share the same synergy and bring premiumness to any project,” said Bajaj, who has roped in carpenters from Jodhpur and Udaipur to craft furniture, hand painters from Coimbatore, and bamboo shingles from Assam to design the villas in his projects.

Bajaj has also collaborated with ace designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, who have dressed the likes of Judi Dench, Gigi Hadid, Bachchans, Kapoors, besides most of B-town. They have also designed the Delhi home of Shweta Bachchan and Nikhil Nanda.

For couturier Sandeep Khosla, whose design approach depends on what the buyer wants, home interiors are more than just walls and floors. “A home should not be overwhelming or underwhelming. Detailing is important and design must highlight elements like lights, mirror play with art deco,” he told FE.

“It can be a chikankari curtain or a painting of a craft on a wall, or cleverly used art deco mirrors, which are a few possibilities in home design. Our cell tables are a talking point and so are the powder bars. Getting the green inside your house is important, especially if it’s a place like Goa,” said Khosla, who has a team of specialists working under an interior design vertical, A Wonder Room.

“Just as people come for fashion, they now come to us for homes. It’s an extension of the design DNA of the label,” said fashion designer JJ Valaya, who has worked on six interior projects which include luxury residential projects under his interior-architecture-furniture label for bespoke luxury, Valaya Home.

Valaya has boarded an architectural firm to look at home projects to ensure quality, besides two strategic licensing arrangements with FCML for tiles and Obeetee carpets. Besides elaborate tapestries and wall art for The Leela Palace Chanakyapuri, Valaya Home is building homes for a residential project, RG Mirage, in Sector 120, Noida.

The transition of designing apparel to a home is an extension of the fashion design skills. “The design must have an enduring appeal and it must grow with the person living there. I like adding surprises to each room. I change flooring, walls, ceilings, just about everything. And yet there will be a very strong connection through the home,” said Valaya.

Luxury real estate is a growing market in India. India’s luxury housing (units priced Rs 4 crore and above) segment maintained strong sales momentum, registering a ~27% Y-o-Y increase in the January-June’24 period, estimated by CBRE South Asia, the real estate consulting firm, in its report ‘India Market Monitor Q2 2024’. The total sales of luxury units during the January-June’24 period stood at ~8,500 compared to ~6,700 units during the same period last year. Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Hyderabad emerged as prominent markets, accounting for nearly 84% of the total luxury housing sales across the top seven cities.

Anshuman Magazine, chairman & CEO – India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE, said, “The luxury housing segment is set to thrive as buyers seek homes that align with their affluent lifestyles. Capital value growth in this segment is projected to stabilise, with an increasing focus on core project fundamentals such as quality, location, and access to essential infrastructure.”
With per capita income growing rapidly, Bajaj is targeting a customer base earning annually between Rs 2 and Rs 8 crore.

Not just real estate, designers see home and interiors category as an innovative extension of the fashion universe. Globally, top fashion labels have an extension of their brands in this segment. Ralph Lauren, Fendi, Versace, Armani, Jason Wu, Gucci, Rachel Zoe, Nicole Miller, Calvin Klein and Christopher Kane have launched their home lines or collaborated on capsule collections with established home brands.

“There is no reason why a designer should be drawing boundaries as to where the look can be implemented. Apart from designing an ensemble, we have created accessories, carpets, tiles, furniture, objects and tapestries. People look for something that’s special and new in their homes, and designers fit that space,” Valaya told FE.

Bajaj, too, by the year end plans to add décor and hospitality to Boheim. “All three feed into each other. If a consumer who can’t afford a Rs 5 crore home, he can buy a candle from Boheim for Rs 1,000,” added Bajaj.

Rawal plans to launch a range of fragrance and marble candles this festive season. Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla also plan to expand their home space into candles and perfumes in the near future.

Designer duo Abraham & Thakore have wallpapers inspired from traditional crewel, kantha, and bandhani; upholstery fabrics drawn from basket weaves, ikat, and kantha; tableware, scented candles, ikat bed linens, stitched kantha quilts. Ritu Kumar Home is a contemporary take on traditional Indian textiles, architecture, and motifs, featuring a range of bed linen, wallpapers, tableware, and home décor. Satya Paul has added a lifestyle portfolio to their bouquet of upscale brands called the Satya Paul Home.

Get live Share Market updates, Stock Market Quotes, and the latest India News
This article was first uploaded on September eight, twenty twenty-four, at fifty-five minutes past five in the morning.
X