Pondicherry’s prime location, Mission Street is now home to its native accessory brand, ayesha accessories recently opened their flagship store in Pondicherry and is all about mixing old and new elements into the space, in terms of interiors as well as the collection.
ayesha flagship store space has been conceptually designed, keeping the brand colours and Pondicherry’s architectural heritage in mind. The store facade is a see through glass window and the acrylic letter branding shines bold and bright in electric pink. Beautiful hand carved antique doors mounted on the walls display the accessories to its fullest potential. The fixtures, display stands are all wooden and are sourced from local antique shops, restored and painted in various shades of pastels and white. The walls are painted in neutral shades of grey and white and the flooring in oxidised pink to give a fresh look to the store.
To enhance the shopping experience, products are organized by theme, such as pastel, ethnic, or metallic collections, with sub-brands kept on dedicated displays. Products are grouped in displays in colour blocks to suggest pairings and to match outfits. The displays are constantly renewed since every week there is an addition of new merchandise. A harmonized playlist has been carefully selected for the young customer base to create a fun and an energetic environment and encourage customers to linger over the displays. And the cheerful, stylish staffs are always on hand to give advice or suggest pairings.
The store also has an unwinding space, PY Love Café, conceptualised by Jaqueline Kapur; a perfect spot for gathering and relaxing after an exhausting day. The café is based on the concept of spread love, eat well and have fun and themed vintage pastels.
The café greets you with a signboard that reads welcome to our loud crazy fun place and motivational, mood lighting quotes painted on wooden boards throughout the space. It also has a wall full of old broken clocks that is inspired from Pondicherry’s tag line ‘Give time a break’. The menu is an assortment of modern cuisines, for example, balsamic dressing does not come as a drizzle but served as tiny little pearls; the cold coffee is carbonated and the burgers are charcoal black. The interiors are designed and the menu is curated by team Ayesha: Jaqueline Kapur, Co-Founder and Dona Aideau, Brand Manager.
PY Love café has also initiated a campaign on #spreadlove to spread good vibes around. The customers are given notepads to write letters to their loved ones and the staffs posts the same. This lovely space creation is a result of talented artists like Metal Sculptor: Rahul KP – Mechanimal, Stencil Artist/Graffiti Artist – Shunnal Lingade, Nithin Sadhu – layer tape artis, Abhinaya – young architect from Chennai, and many others.
