Striking A ‘Cord’ | Verve Magazine
India's premier luxury lifestyle women's magazine
Fashion
June 10, 2017

Striking A ‘Cord’

Text by Sadaf Shaikh

Curators of cool, the good guys at Cord throw open their first flagship store in New Delhi…

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When Neha Singh and Pranav Guglani bonded over their shared love of art, travel and fashion, little did they know that it would lead to the conception of one of India’s most coveted bag labels. After all, their range of bags includes everything from backpacks and totes to messenger bags and slings. What adds to the charm of Cord is their unique philosophy of creating simple shapes and clean lines, an aesthetic that the creators of the brand seem to have carried forward to their first physical store in New Delhi’s Mehar Chand market.

On entering, one can finally see the brand’s apparel line (the online portal having catalogued only the bags) that celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt and Shraddha Kapoor are stepping out in. But what strikes us most is their clever sense of spatial design. The folios stacked neatly on a table, the stag head wall mount, even the bucket bag carefully placed on the floor brings to mind the phrase ‘a place for everything and everything in its place’. This is when we ask the founders the most obvious question: Why a physical store in the age of online shopping? Pranav explains: “The idea is to give an essence of our ethos not only through the products we feature but also through the thoughtfully designed interiors, packaging, props and the little elements in between. Additionally, the kind of craftsmanship that goes into making our leather goods is highlighted when one is able to feel the quality of the product in person. With our introduction to apparel, we thought it would be best to put clothing and accessories together as a story in a space which we can call ours.”

How did they decide the aesthetic of the store? Neha quips: “We always knew that our store would echo our brand language — handcrafted, minimal, progressive and nostalgic. This is the essence that we maintain while designing products, when putting up Instagram posts and now while building our retail store. With clean lines and geometric hints, we’ve tried to integrate an old school charm, with a focus on Indian craftsmanship which we endorse through every nook of our store. Also, the soft vintage jazz music playing all day long adds to the whole vibe.” We approve, as we hum along to those old tunes.

Here are some of our favourite picks from Cord’s latest collection:

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