New Design Store Opens in Kala Ghoda

With the opening of the Artisans’ Centre, Galerie Isa, new design store Filter, the imminent re-opening of Red Light and early next year, yet another boutique (look out for details soon), the quiet precinct of Kala Ghoda is poised to become as bustling as Bandra and Colaba. Anti-noise activists who protest the Kala Ghoda Festival may soon look into this, but for the moment, we can only cheer.

The latest addition, Filter is a cheerful all-white space located bang across from designer boutique Kitsch. Run by ad executive Alok Nanda and his team of designers, Filter, as the name implies, offers a highly curated selection of stationery, prints, magazines, mugs, notepads and sunglasses, most of it designed by Nanda’s in-house team (even the cut-paste chap has a line of his own notebooks called “Handmade by Suresh”). It’s a pared-down, decidedly non-Bombay kitsch aesthetic that nonetheless is reflective of the quirks of our beloved city. You’ll find Sameer Kulavoor and Lokesh Karekar’s limited edition zine 100%, plus mugs and notebooks bearing vibrant prints designed by Karekar.

There are pocket-sized notebooks made from pages of recycled dictionaries, one-off framed posters of old London maps taken from vintage magazines, printed T-shirts, bookplates, postcards printed with quotes by Ogden Nash and Groucho Marx, and reading glasses by Berlin-based brand Mykita. The South Mumbai art map, and potable cans of Black Soda (it’s regular soda tinted jet black) make for nifty gifts, as do the notebooks printed with city staples like the “gadi-wallah”, “the munshi” and “noker”. Ajoy Advani, who will be managing the store for Nanda, says the idea is to provide a platform to emerging designers and students who may not otherwise get a chance to display their work, and to this end, Filter will soon accept product designs and ideas from anyone who wishes to contribute (as long as it fits their aesthetic).

Prices range from Rs100 for postcards to Rs14,000 for framed photographic prints.

Filter

LocationShop No.3
43 V. B. Gandhi Marg
Near Rhythm House
Kala Ghoda

Phone2288 7070

HoursMonday to Saturday, 11am to 7.30pm; Sunday closed

Websitewww.filtershop.in