Fast And Fashionable
The Sunday Age
Sunday September 11, 2005
Mumbai is becoming a designer label hub, writes Isabel Choat.
Shopping in Mumbai? Still referred to as Bombay by the locals, it is rarely more than a stopover en route to the beaches of Goa or Kerala's backwaters. Tourists tend to fly in, tick off the Gateway of India and Elephanta Island and move on the next day, relieved to leave the dirt and noise behind. Yet Mumbai deserves a little more time, and happens to be one of the hottest destinations at the moment for Europeans.There's a new breed of European-style coffee shop, stylish restaurants and cocktail bars, such as Indigo, voted one of the world's top 60 restaurants by Conde Nast Traveller magazine, and Bed Lounge and Bar in the wealthy suburb of Bandra, where the city's rich set and the odd Bollywood star sip martinis as they recline on divans. Then there's the shopping. Mumbai has always had a reputation for textiles and handicrafts, but now it's a major centre for fashion, too.Louis Vuitton opened last autumn in the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel; there are also Tommy Hilfiger, Benetton, Lacoste and Mango clothes at the city's dozen or so malls. But far more interesting, for the visitor at least, is the rise of Indian designers, particularly Tarun Tahiliani, who has dressed Jemima Khan. About 15 designers are represented at The Courtyard, a new, exclusive complex, and another six or so at Cue/Ogaan, near the Taj Hotel.The clothes are stunning, delicate chiffon blouses, slinky silk dresses and full-length raw silk skirts, heavy with giant sequins that rustle as you walk. Designer outfits don't come cheap. Tahiliani's printed T-shirts cost 7100 rupees (about $230) and the long skirt I had my eye on was 17,200 rupees ($510), but a similar piece in Australia would cost three times as much.If you want to experiment with the ethnic look without forking out on designer gear, there are plenty of cheaper places. My guide took me to Artland, a tiny jewellery wholesalers, where the owner, Kamal Rathi, produced trays of silver pendants, bracelets and necklaces. There's more jewellery on Colaba Causeway, a frenetic road lined with stalls crammed with towering piles of scarves, sequined bags, thousands of strands of beads, bangles and dangly earrings. Set out with some idea of what you're after. Top buys include beaded slippers and thongs - they'll cost 300 rupees ($8.90), much less if you buy several pairs and barter. After an hour of haggling in the heat to the background noise of a thousand car horns, slip into Leopold's for a restorative Kingfisher beer and a plate of chicken tikka with nan bread, or dust yourself down and head to the Taj Hotel for a chilled juice by the pool.In Mumbai, moments of calm are to be savoured. The city is exciting and exasperating in equal measure; it gets into your pores and up your nose, leaving you feeling exhilarated and drained.
© 2005 The Sunday Age