GOKALDAS - NEW YORK, NY
SCOPE: Complete Renovation
SIZE: 3000 Sq. Ft.
CLIENT: Munish & Sumir Hinduja
The objective of this project is to create a flexible, versatile and unobtrusive system for the presentation of diverse clothing collections within a seamless dream-like environment that does not compete with the clothes but rather enables them to float freely within the space.
Gokaldas Images is India's largest integrated clothing corporation and garment exporter with a franchise of retail outlets in India, their own brand names and six independent product manufacturing divisions. Gokaldas Images has produced garments for Tommy Jeans, Calvin Klein, Polo, DKNY, Galaries Lafayette, Liz
Claiborne and Armani. Their New York headquarters serves as a showroom for Gokaldas' various manufacturing divisions as well as a launch site for their new line of contemporary womenswear, "Ozia".
The floors, walls, screens and furniture of the showroom are poured in a continuous flow of white epoxy resin in order to create the ultimate sensation of bliss and buoyancy while viewing the garments. Despite the quantity and diversity of garments presented, the purity of this liquid environment allows the clothes to be seen clearly as they float weightless through the space. A simple system of suspended stainless steel rods on sliding tracks allows the display to be easily reconfigured in minutes. The desire for levitation was inspired by the exhilarating views of the city from the showroom's continuous band of wraparound windows high above Times Square and face to face with some of New York's greatest skyscrapers.
Photos by Kilian Mattitsch