Galeries Lafayette Mumbai celebrates its first Diwali with Klove Studio's stunning glass-and-brass light sculptures, showcasing intricate craftsmanship and artistic brilliance. The installations, inspired by the Enchanted Forest collection, span multiple floors and windows, marking a creative partnership that highlights the significance of handmade design and quiet luxury in India.
Galeries Lafayette Mumbai, the Paris department store's India debut at Kala Ghoda, is marking its first Diwali with its first major art takeover: glass-and-brass light sculptures by Klove Studio, the New Delhi design practice founded by Prateek Jain and Gautam Seth. Drawn from the studio's Enchanted Forest collection, the installations, The Tree of Life and The Wishing Tree, span the first and second floors, alongside a takeover of the flagship windows. The works represent over 100 hours of specialised hand-craftsmanship, pairing lamp-worked and hand-blown glass with shaped brass frameworks.
Apeksha Gupta, Chief Marketing and Growth Officer at Galeries Lafayette, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd., is part of the team behind the store's India debut. The partnership with Klove Studio began at India Design, where the studio's installation for the French Pavilion sat directly opposite Galeries Lafayette. Founded in 2005, Klove has spent nearly two decades turning hand-blown glass and metal into sculptural lighting. In an exclusive conversation with Robb Report India, Jain and Seth discuss the studio's creative journey, the significance of handmade craft, the growing importance of provenance and what Paris means to the designers.
Prateek Jain (PJ): My design journey began sometime in 2005. Before that, I was always creative in the way I looked at the world. I always imagined creating ambiences and spaces that were immersive in some way. I always imagined music, taste and sound accompanying everything I did. But the practice started when I met Gautam in 2005 and we decided not to continue with the professions we were in earlier and move on to design as a practice.
Gautam Seth (GS): When we came across glass, it was, to me personally, one of the most fascinating moments, because here was something so transparent and fragile, and yet it could be moulded with fire. It was just fascinating.
PJ: Handmade to me is a process, or a way of creating things, that is very personal. Every handmade object carries a little imprint of what the maker makes and what he visualises. So to me, handmade is about a very visceral way of getting to know the person behind the object.
GS: I personally feel that a considered piece is always the one that fits the energy of your place, or your home, or whatever you are buying it for. And you need to feel inspired or happy seeing it, wearing it, whatever.
PJ: To me, luxury is about having an experience, or owning a piece of craft, that is truly at its best, at its peak. Luxury does not need to spell out that it is luxurious, and a person wearing or owning an object or garment that is considered luxurious does not need to tell the world that he owns it. That luxury is validation, and actually experiencing luxury is a very personal choice and a personal journey. So quiet luxury is obviously the right way to experience luxury.
GS: As time goes by, with AI happening, I think provenance will be incredibly important. I think Indian craftsmen and artists need to sign their works better, and they need to do it very carefully. It will definitely be incredibly important in the coming times.
GS: I would say one of the toughest, and most interesting yet challenging, projects was working with the Bangalore airport. It was a beautiful project, and we were very excited to do a really large-scale installation, especially the trees and glass. It was commissioned by a very dear friend of mine, Payal, the founder and chief designer of Aura Design, someone with great taste whom I really admire.
PJ: Every time I do something new, the latest work becomes the piece I am most proud of. But when I look back at the vocabulary of work we have created over the last 20 years, I would say my collection Totems Over Time, with four totems as big installations, is what I am most proud of.
PJ: Gautam and I have always been drawn to France, especially Paris. It is a city we have gone back to ever since we started our practice. For almost 20 years, we have gone to Paris two or three times a year, and we have always looked at it as a source of inspiration, a city that leaves us awestruck. To get an opportunity to do windows for Galeries Lafayette, which is an icon on its own, is incredible. It is a full circle moment for us as designers to look at something with reverence and then finally get an opportunity to work with them.