23 August,2026 12:02 PM IST | Mumbai | Dhara Vora Sabhnani
The new flagship store opposite Metro Cinema. PICS/SHADAB KHAN
In the 40 years that designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla have been in the industry, many can boast of owning outfits designed by the duo; but only a select group of friends and family live in a home designed by them too. Known for their Indian maximalism aesthetic, even those who don't follow fashion have seen a bold glimpse of their style with the decor of Mumbai's T2 airport, a collaboration with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), a New-York-based global architecture firm that designed the airport for GVK.
The designers now want to formalise their love for designing spaces with the launch of A Wonder Room. Through this, the designers wish to present their curation of pieces created in collaboration with artists across genres - sculptors, carvers, metal artists, fine artists, even photographers.
While this project will be headquartered in North Goa ("We plan to convert a home into a living gallery in Moira or Mapusa"), their first imposing project is their new flagship store opposite Metro Cinema. The designers have restored the heritage neo-classical building Framjee Cawasjee Institute (leased from the Institute), which used to be defaced with brand flex banners that would rent the heritage space until now.
Art Deco doors now greet you as you enter the 20,000 sq ft space with 30-ft high ceiling (restored to its original glory), Mubarak Baug, which demands multiple visits to soak in. Every corner speaks of craft and art, and couture pieces also try to get your attention simultaneously. There are flowers made using shola craft, leftover gota, murals on the walls executed by Shiloh Shiv Suleman, handmade brass screens and floating lamps that used 2,500 kg of brass in total, photographs of scenes from Mumbai by Viraj Nayar, and more.
Abu Jani (Sitting) and Sandeep Khosla
"We've been house doctors for many years. If I see something's wrongly placed in a space, it's going to bother me. That's where the house doctoring began. And we've always had a passion for home interior. But this flagship store presented the best opportunity to showcase our vision for A Wonder Room," says Khosla. While looking for a space, the designers tell us that their mandate to Reliance (their partners) was to find a landmark which could be restored back for the city.
"We honour ourselves as artists, and clothes have always been the priority. In our 40th year, we said let's make some other priorities as well. We are collectors. And A Wonder Room is about collection and curation, maximalism done right. Because people usually confuse kitsch and gold with maximalism," says Khosla. Money can't buy you a good aesthetic, feel the designers, and they have a beef with the Indian design industry labelling all Indian design as ethnic rather than global.
"If you go to the Milan interiors fair, there so many Indians buying the same Italian sofa for Rs 20 lakh, instead of buying a painting by an Indian artist which costs much lesser. It's because anything Indian is always called ethnic, but the right direction can make it contemporary," says Khosla. The crafts are very alive in India and Indian designers can help the craftsmen become a part of the international design dialogue. The Taj Mahal can be made in India today too, says Khosla. "The artists are there, you need the means, patience, most importantly good aesthetic."
The designers will work across craft clusters in India to design for the home space. "You might call our ideas eclectic maximalist, but the homes we have designed 30 years ago look contemporary even today. Design requires editing, and layering. This store is original in thought, and Indian, not inspired."
How does one edit maximalism we ask? One needs to have an eye, they say, to know when enough is enough. "Our crafts, stories (which have inspired artist Shine Shivan's commissions for the designers) offer many possibilities but we need accept them first. Any home you go to today, they have the same white walls with a few photos or paintings, and books put together on a shelf. But our crafts offer a spectacle that can move beyond clothes to our daily lives too. It's about creating art and fantasy that comes from our land," Khosla sums up.
