Inside Sabyasachi's New Flagship Store In New Delhi
From ceramic fruits and Calcutta tramcars to antique carpets and couture, Sabyasachi's new Delhi flagship is made for discovery.
“As the world becomes increasingly digital, spaces that celebrate craftsmanship, beauty and human connection become more valuable than ever.” — Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Founder and Creative Director
Two large wooden double doors, the iconic Sabyasachi logo set against black stone and regal lion sculptures crafted in white porcelain, welcome visitors into the designer’s newest flagship in Delhi’s Mehrauli. Located at The Citadel, just a few metres from his former store, the 26,000-square-foot space is an immersive ode to Indian craft, Calcutta and the designer’s own visual vocabulary.
For someone who firmly believes in a life rooted in minimalism, the store is a striking contradiction. Here, restraint gives way to abundance; quiet gives way to colour, pattern and layers of history. The interiors draw from Mukherjee’s travel memories, his childhood in Calcutta and the many objects he has collected over the years. Even the soundtrack is personal. A playlist curated by the designer moves from English tunes to Bengali folk music and old Bollywood classics, giving the store its own rhythm.
And perhaps that is why the store feels less like a retail environment and more like a museum. There is no prescribed route, no single focal point, and certainly no shortage of things to look at.
“We don’t have a brand book because a brand book makes a brand very stagnant,” Sabyasachi Mukherjee says. Instead, he prefers people to interpret the world of Sabyasachi for themselves. The Delhi flagship follows that philosophy precisely.
Walking through the entrance, a statement vase and floral arrangement sit beneath a dramatic floral chandelier, while large blue-and-white porcelain vases punctuate the space. “The great markets of Calcutta were never about singular objects, but accumulation and discovery. Things arrived through trade, migration, inheritance and chance,” he says. The store’s corridors, deliberately dense with art, objects, curiosities and fragments of memory, are, as Mukherjee describes it, a Calcutta in miniature, setting the tone for what follows.
Hands That Matter
If the store looks maximalist, the philosophy behind it is surprisingly practical. For Mukherjee, filling a space with beautiful things is also a way of creating work for the many hands behind them. “How many people can I employ for the store design?” he asks. For him, maximalism has never simply been an aesthetic position; it also creates an economy. “A richly layered store requires millworkers, stonemasons, carpenters, painters, metalworkers, sculptors, embroiderers and artists. It creates space for many different hands and many different forms of knowledge,” he explains.
That belief can be seen everywhere. Cane and rattan sit alongside handmade rugs, carved furniture, custom wallpapers, intricate inlay and chandeliers created by Indian artisans. The scale is equally impressive: 120 chandeliers, 200 antique carpets, 300 original paintings from the Sabyasachi Art Foundation and more than 100 antique textiles, alongside mirrors and historic decorative objects.
The walls feature custom wallpapers and upholstery designed by Sabyasachi for Nilaya by Asian Paints, while bespoke cabinetry is detailed with mother-of-pearl inlay and pink Sarrancolin marble. Along the corridors, rows of blue-and-white porcelain vases hold handmade ceramic fruits created by artisans in Calcutta. “Throughout the new flagship, you'll find a profusion of rose-coloured ceramic fruits: bananas, star fruit, mangoes, custard apples and lychees; familiar forms from the tropics, individually handmade by artisans in Calcutta,” Mukherjee says.
The carpets follow the same philosophy, with each one developed specifically for its surroundings. Colour, scale and pattern respond to the architecture of each room. “In certain spaces, the palette takes its cues from the Royal Bengal Tiger, the burnished warmth of its coat, the depth of its markings, or the unexpected neutrality found in nature,” he says.
The store is, in many ways, a vivid depiction of the richness of India’s craft traditions. And Saybasachi declares that “India may not win many medals at the Olympics, but they will win 90% of the gold at a craft championship.”
A Love Letter To Another Era
From craft, the store moves into memory. Mukherjee’s fascination with Calcutta and old-world travel runs through the architecture, bringing with it the romance of railway carriages, steamships, staterooms and houseboats. “I have always romanticised the bygone era of travel. In many ways, the flagship is an homage to time travel,” he reflects.
That nostalgia is particularly evident in the corridors, which take inspiration from Chowringhee, one of Calcutta’s most storied boulevards shaped by hotels, shops, theatres, clubs and grand residences. The labyrinthine passages also recall the corridors of old North Calcutta homes, where moving from one room to another becomes an act of discovery. For Mukherjee, however, maximalism is not simply about having more, but about the accumulation of meaning.
Among the store’s most theatrical installations is an enclosed room inspired by the tramcars of Calcutta, constructed in wood and detailed with etched, star-cut glass. Inside sits a life-size sculptural Bengal tiger, rendered by a team of artisans from Mumbai. The idea, Mukherjee reveals, came from an unlikely cinematic reference: “while watching The Reader, with Kate Winslet as a tram conductor,” he recalls. But it was also rooted in childhood. “I travelled by tram throughout my childhood in Calcutta. There was something extraordinarily civilised about its pace, the sound of it, the measured movement through the city, the possibility of watching Calcutta pass slowly outside the window.”
The theatricality continues elsewhere. In the main foyer, sculptural pieces that look almost straight out of The Odyssey divide the room horizontally, becoming striking focal points within the vast space. “The inspiration, once again, comes from old Calcutta.“The gardens of old Calcutta homes often contained marble statues. With time, they weathered. Their surfaces softened, discoloured, and acquired the patina of life. Yet somehow, they became more beautiful for it. They are majestic, but they also carry a certain melancholy,” he explains.
From the dramatic foyer, the experience softens in the customer lounge, conceived around the Bengali nachghar—spaces traditionally associated with music, conversation, performance and patronage. “The Tea Lounge at Sabyasachi Delhi is an ode to that spirit,” says Mukherjee. Plush velvets, embroidered surfaces, pink marble, sculptures, glassware and layered textiles create an intimate setting for Darjeeling tea and the Bengali ritual of hospitality.
Rooms Within A World
Regal archways separate each space, while museum-style descriptive boards add context. The bridal couture section feels particularly intimate, with lehengas displayed on wooden shelves and hanging rails. Plush sofas and a central table create a comfortable setting for family and friends, while smaller adjoining rooms offer brides-to-be a more private viewing experience. The menswear section is equally expansive, with a large horse sculpture anchoring the room. Here the collection moves from Nehru jackets and kurtas to embellished bandhgalas.
The High Jewellery Salon and Accessory Parlour are among the store’s most striking spaces. In the jewellery salon, large wooden cupboards with intricate inlay work house precious and semi-precious pieces behind glass. The Accessory Parlour, meanwhile, brings together Sabyasachi’s prêt pieces and intricately crafted handbags. Some sit beneath cloches, while others are displayed openly or enclosed within glass-fronted cabinets. Signature clutch bags sit alongside Assouline travel books, while darker corners showcase some of the designer’s more avant-garde pieces. Black-and-white photographs, coffee-table books and richly patterned interiors complete the scene, making the space feel part boutique, part gallery.
Throughout the Delhi flagship, Sabyasachi refuses to confine design to clothing. It spills onto walls, panels, corridors, cupboards and ceilings. Surfaces that might ordinarily have been painted or papered become fields of handwork. Craft becomes architecture; decoration becomes employment, continuity and cultural memory. “When someone asks how I design these stores, I tell them it’s like having 10 days off and deciding you want to travel, but not knowing where you’re going,” Mukherjee says. “You simply explore and end up discovering places you never thought you would.”
And that, perhaps, is the best way to experience Sabyasachi’s new Delhi flagship: without a prescribed route, allowing each room, object and memory to reveal itself along the way.
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