Electric chic at Selfridges

Bombay Electric at Selfridges London

The story goes something like this: Sebastian Manes, buying director of UK's top departmental store, Selfridges, visited Mumbai's Bombay Electric and fell in love with the brand. The result was an invitation to create a space for it in the centre of the Oxford Street flagship store in London for 10 weeks. This collaboration started two days ago. "Bombay Electric is a personal edit of the energy, colour and incredible design explosion of the new India. It is a dream to bring the underground aesthetic of Mumbai to my home city, London, thanks to Selfridges," says Bombay Electric's London-born founder Priya Kishore.

Bombay Electric at Selfridges London

Bringing Indian design to London, this international outpost will feature a mix of ready-to-wear fashion and accessories, as well as antiques, collectibles and treasures. The labels that will be available at Bombay Electric at Selfridges will include Manish Arora, Miuniku, Pero, Anupamaa, Rashmi Varma, Cue, Gaurav Gupta and Namrata Joshipura.

Five British designers including Nicholas Kirkwood, Mary Katranzou and Roksanda will create original, limited-edition saris that will be available in Selfridges, London and Bombay Electric, Mumbai. Profits from sale of these creations will go to charity. British set-designer Gary Card has collaborated with Bombay Electric to create an immersive retail environment at the centre of the Oxford Street store.

The residency also happens to coincide with an exhibition, titled, The Fabric of India, underway at the Victoria and Albert Museum, till January 10. It explores the rich world of handmade Indian textiles featuring the earliest known Indian textile to contemporary fashion design, and is the highlight of the V&A India Festival 2015, that the museum hosts.

"This cultural fashion exchange is the first of its kind at Selfridges. The V&A's dynamic schedule of exhibitions is always close to the cultural zeitgeist, so we expect to see a discernible Indian influence on fashion in the UK and beyond. Bombay Electric will bring colour, energy and a new dialogue to London retail," said Selfridges' buying director, Sebastian Manes, in a press note.