Hermès unveils new store windows designed by Mumbai-based artist duo

Hermes commissions select artists to turn their storefront into a whimsical canvas, designed to make one stop and stare. Hermès’ new store in Mumbai’s Jio World Plaza luxury mall has its windows decked up by sisters and mosaic artist duo Aashika and Tanishaa Cunha. Over 1,200 hours and 36,000 tiles (a mix of Indian and Italian) across two windows later, the result is an immersive window installation.

As luxury houses recognise the value of thinking glocal for a market like India, collaborations with homegrown names have only been on the rise in recent times. For French luxury house Hermès — that has continually championed the intersection of fashion, craft and culture — this has always been a no-brainer. The brand’s codes may be steeped in equestrian heritage but a steady patronage of art is just as integral to it. Case in point: its special window displays, where the brand commissions select artists to turn its storefront into a whimsical canvas, designed to make one stop and stare.

And if you are due for a visit to Hermès’ new store in Mumbai’s Jio World Plaza luxury mall, you can witness the latest one for yourself. This one has been dreamed up by sisters and mosaic artist duo Aashika and Tanishaa Cunha, who have also created murals and figurines for Ala Moana Centre in Honolulu, Hawaii, and Elephant Parade in the past. As Hermès celebrates Faubourg at its historic address on 24 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris all through the year, the sisters have used the ancient craft of hand-cut glass mosaic to create their very own fairground of joy behind the store windows.  

Over 1,200 hours and 36,000 tiles (a mix of Indian and Italian) across two windows later, the result is an immersive window installation that lets you step into a fantastical realm, all taking its cues from the architecture of the brand’s iconic store. A ferris wheel attached to a stairway alongside a gilded ironwork elevator adorns one window. The metal work extends to the next window through connecting stairways and archways. A brightly lit carousel with horseshoe-inspired seats is a nostalgic nod to the quintessential fairground, but adapted using Hermès objects. “We transformed the gilded ironwork elevator and other metal work into whimsical rides in order to capture the magical energy of a fairground as well as the Faubourg,” says Tanishaa.

This is not the brand’s first artist collaboration in India, it has also worked with the likes of Sumakshi Singh and Rooshad Shroff in the past. In April this year, Hermes also had designer and filmmaker Aradhana Seth create the ‘Faubourg in an Enchanted Forest’ window installation inspired by Gond art for the launch of the JWP store.

This latest collaboration with the Cunha sisters was particularly relevant because of the dominant presence of mosaic in Hermes stores around the world. “After several immersive conversations about stories of the house and the theme of the year, we wanted to create a joyful setting through a well-balanced geometric play of lines and patterns,” explains Aashika, who also works at the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Museum in Mumbai. “The idea was to depict imaginary levels combined with connecting pathways made of stairs and archways, inspired by the labyrinth-like structure of the Faubourg store,” adds Tanishaa.

The meticulous process started with digital explorations and drawings and patterns, followed by honing in on the colours of the vitreous glass tiles before they could be washed and hand cut. “We both believe that beauty is in the curves, so the glass tiles were cut manually, and this process is very intricate,” admits Aashika. The design was then sketched out on a cement sheet for the tiles to be glued on to. “We used the house’s emblematic codes like the Art Deco-inspired ‘H deco’ pattern and the ‘chaine d’ancre’ motif (often used in their jewellery), and recreated it with mosaic tiles,” Tanishaa carries on. “We are always in search of moments and opportunities that inspire us to further our passion, so it’s been thrilling to collaborate with a brand that has craftsmanship and creativity at the core of its DNA,” they sign off.

The windows designed by Aashika and Tanishaa Cunha will be on display at the Hermès in Jio World Plaza, Mumbai, until October 15.