As the Galeries Lafayette team at Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd gears up for its second India store at DLF Emporio, New Delhi, Manish Vig reflects on a journey shaped by execution, patience and purpose.
Bringing Galeries Lafayette to India was never about launching another international brand. It was about building a luxury institution—one that could balance Parisian heritage with Indian realities, aspiration with accessibility, and ambition with restraint.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 25th India Fashion Forum, Manish Vig, Head Expansion – Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited, offered a rare glimpse into what it truly took to open India’s first Galeries Lafayette in Mumbai—and why the hardest work often begins well before the doors open.
The First Challenge: Finding a Space Worthy of the Brand
One of the earliest and most demanding decisions was location. Galeries Lafayette needed a home that could carry its 130-year-old Parisian legacy while feeling authentic to Mumbai. The answer eventually lay in Fort—within two heritage colonial buildings, Voltas House and the neighbouring Turner Morrison building, located in the city’s historic mercantile quarter.
Preservation was non-negotiable. While the grand façades—adorned with bas-relief ships and locomotives—were retained, the interiors were completely dismantled. Floors were excavated several feet through rock, and the space was painstakingly re-engineered to achieve the precise configuration required for a self-sustaining luxury department store.
In a first for Indian retail, two independent heritage buildings were connected through architectural bridges to form a single, seamless destination. A new central insertion created a dedicated entrance and consolidated service areas—allowing the store to function as one cohesive whole rather than two adapted structures.
Manish explains that this architectural complexity mirrored the ambition of the project. This was not about fitting a store into an old building, but about reimagining heritage to support a contemporary luxury experience.
Where Paris Meets Mumbai—By Design
Architecture, however, was only the starting point. The deeper challenge lay in translating Galeries Lafayette’s Parisian DNA into an Indian context without dilution.
The Mumbai store spans nearly 90,000 sq. ft. across five levels, and while it follows the familiar Galeries Lafayette blueprint—salons and curated retail on the lower floors, beauty below grade, and high-concept fashion on the upper levels—it is unmistakably rooted in India.
Manish often points to how the design language became a dialogue between cultures. The architecture draws inspiration from French Hôtel Particulier residences and Indian palatial design, blending floral motifs, Art Deco references and residential warmth to create what the designers describe as a Maison de Couture.
At the atrium level, a lotus-motif parchinkari inlay anchors the space, drawing the eye upward to the dramatic Cupola—a floating installation inspired by l’Intrépide, the French observation balloon of 1796. Conceived as the symbolic heart of the store, the cupola evokes a journey from Paris to Mumbai and serves as the visual anchor of the experience.
Higher up, a concept-driven fourth level references Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh, expressed through colour, material and form—adding a modernist Indian layer to the Parisian narrative.
Art as Experience, Not Ornament
One of the defining elements of Galeries Lafayette Mumbai is its deep integration of art. Indian artists were invited to reinterpret Parisian and Galeries Lafayette codes through murals, mixed-media installations and graphic storytelling.
From a surreal arched ceiling inspired by Parisian folklore, to a dramatic escalator wall titled Windows to Paris, and a digital installation where hand-drawn couture-clad animals come alive through animation—art is not an afterthought, but central to the store’s identity.
For Manish, this was deliberate. Discovery had to be experiential, not just commercial.
That philosophy extends to the brand mix. More than 70 percent of the brands housed in the Mumbai store are entering India for the first time, positioning Galeries Lafayette as a true portal of discovery for a new generation of luxury consumers.
As India’s first luxury department store, the Mumbai flagship carries a unique responsibility—not to replicate existing formats, but to help define new codes of luxury retail for the country.
Why Time Became the Most Critical Ingredient
Projects of this magnitude do not move fast. The Mumbai store was the result of years of planning, recalibration and problem-solving—across real estate, design, global brand partnerships, supply chains and people.
The emphasis, Manish explains, was never on speed, but on sustainability. Allowing the store to find its rhythm, its audience and its place in the city was seen as essential to building long-term credibility.
Transformational retail, in his view, is built deliberately.
A Journey That Prepared Him for the Moment
Manish’s role in bringing Galeries Lafayette to India sits within a broader journey defined by building premium retail experiences at scale. He began his career at Louis Philippe, where early mentorship shaped his understanding of fashion retail and brand-building.
Over the years, he played a key role in building scale and operational discipline across several ABFRL brands, before leading the retail vertical at VIP Industries—where he oversaw one of the most aggressive expansion phases in Indian retail, opening 132 stores in a single year (FY22–23) and earning the MD’s Choice Award.
Returning to ABFRL to lead expansion of International Luxury Brands, Manish has since driven the expansion of The Collective and spearheaded the India journeys of Ted Baker, Fred Perry and Polo Ralph Lauren—experience that quietly prepared him for the complexity of Galeries Lafayette.
Looking Ahead: Delhi Takes Centre Stage
With the Mumbai flagship now operational, attention shifts to the next milestone. Galeries Lafayette is preparing to open its 65,000 sq. ft. store at DLF Emporio, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, extending the brand’s presence into one of India’s most established luxury retail destinations.
For Manish, the excitement feels familiar, yet different—tempered by experience and sharpened by perspective.
“As we now look forward to opening the second Galeries Lafayette store in Delhi, I feel the same excitement that has driven me since my early days in retail—now strengthened by experience, perspective, and purpose. Grateful for the journey so far. Excited for what lies ahead.”
If the Mumbai debut is any indication, Galeries Lafayette’s India story is not about quick wins. It is about building something enduring—slowly, thoughtfully, and with intent.
