Deities, art, and 100-year-old brocade—inside the world of Delhi Vintage Co

Something about the Delhi Vintage Co boutique in New Delhi’s Lado Sarai feels out of time. As the home and resting place of a bold, bohemian fashion staple, you half expect it. Decorated with God figures and mythical iconography, the space feels like the abode of a divinity, one who prefers to be worshipped with offerings of rich silk and zari-embroidered fabrics. 

As I make my way in, a five-headed Shiva sculpture stands guard at the entrance. On closer inspection I find it’s half Shiva and half Shakti, the Ardhanarishvara Shiva that symbolises duality. Further in, I’m transfixed by a painting of the Lanka Dahan, which I later learn was commissioned to an artist from Varanasi. It’s a Caravaggio-like scene, all shadow and light, that depicts Hanuman setting Lanka on fire.

Every corner in this expansive space tells a story. The walls are muted and textured, but somehow they serve to offset Delhi Vintage Co’s exuberant, consciousness-altering designs as well as its collection of antiques and art, most of it either sourced over the years or commissioned by Manish Chhabra, the brand’s founder and designer.

I’m at the store to meet Chhabra, a rare thing since he prefers not to give interviews. He’s just finished attending to a client fitting and I see him in a white shirt from Dark Wave Community, a small concept store in Singapore, paired with slouchy black trousers from Shanghai-based designer Ziggy Chen. Minimal and bordering on grungy, his personal style is a stark contrast to the opulent, occasion-worthy creations he designs.

His label, DVC, as it’s called, achieves its bold silhouettes by embellishing dresses with zardozi and embroidering jackets with contracting textures. Amidst this colour and creative chaos, Chhabra comes across as warm but quiet as he tells me that he’s been collecting art for a long time.

As we enter the store, we stop to admire a series of arches. “Each arch depicts a phase of the moon, and it ends with the full moon. We wanted to celebrate the mythologically important days in the Indian calendar, like Dev Diwali. It’s something that’s not celebrated a lot in Delhi but it’s a big deal in Varanasi,” he explains. Like with his clothes, the 49-year-old textile evangelist is always looking to highlight aspects of Indian culture that might be forgotten.

Moving deeper into the space that he designed with his wife Payal, we walk past antique pichwai artworks, a 200-year-old glass painting of Lord Shani, or Saturn, a set of lampshades that Chhabra reveals were crafted from pieces of south Indian temple pillars, and a few other contemporary works of art. Among them is a hard-to-miss, white plaster sculpture of a Devi that leans off the edge of a table, anchored in place by a series of threads, that he commissioned to Mumbai-based artist couple Doyel Joshi and Neil Ghose Balser. “We thought of exploring the idea of Devi throwing a trishul on demon Mahisasur. It looks really impactful when you enter and it shows signs of power and energy. I got this one especially made for the store. Indian philosophy as a subject has always appealed to me. When you dive into how it’s connected to Indian mythology and you actually discover the whole philosophy and the science behind it—that’s what interests me more,” he explains.

The space has been open since March this year, but more artworks are slated to come next month. “They’re getting framed and ready to be installed. There is a huge painting depicting the Sansar Vriksh, or the Tree of Life, which is mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita. So that’s going to go up on the ceiling when you enter. It’s around 13 feet by 8 feet. The entire painting is in grayscale,” he elaborates.

Not surprisingly, this interest in Indian myth-making and textiles is a result of the many formative years he spent in Varanasi working with weavers. Chhabra started travelling to the holy city around 1992, staying on Assi Ghat, getting around on a two-wheeler to meet with artisans. “I used to go there every 15 days. I have a lot of friends there. So, I’ve seen the evolution of the textile industry in India, especially the Banaras industry. I’ve seen it grow and then go down. There was a time when people in the early aughts stopped wearing traditional saris and wanted to wear something with embroidery. Later, the popularity of textiles went up drastically and now it’s going down again. It’s a whole cycle, but I feel I have a deep connection with Varanasi just because of my own conditioning and having spent so much time there,” he shares.

DVC works with artisan clusters in Varanasi besides weaving centres in Madhya Pradesh and a small centre in Leh. The design house is currently planning to establish a small setup in Kochi as well. “There are beautiful textiles being woven in every state that we don’t even know about. I just want to have a good setup where we can use and show off Indian textiles,” says Chhabra.

Every piece of clothing in his store is a study in a specific textile, embroidery technique or embellishment form—from the ornate waistcoats to couture jackets to lehenga skirts. There are antique brocades dating back to 100 years, sourced from collectors around the country, and vintage zardozi that he’s able to deftly assemble in a patchwork of colour and shine. Gleaming brocades in jewel tones, coin embellishments, and plenty of cultural iconography and symbols (god figures, sacred phrases) juxtaposed with more graphic, contemporary motifs (think chevron stripes and stars; he once made a cropped lehenga skirt that had a cheeky four-letter word embroidered on it, a secret hidden in silk) make each piece an heirloom of sorts.

“We don’t make garments but craft collectible art pieces. I feel every garment purchased should stay with you forever. You should be able to cherish it and wear it whenever you want,” says Chhabra. That’s the guiding design philosophy behind each DVC garment. Each piece is one-of-a-kind and never replicated. A bridal outfit can take four months to make. The label doesn’t work on collections but makes about 250 to 300 pieces every year. And since they create only a specific number, it’s difficult to divide offerings into seasonal collections.

Chhabra wants to keep it like that and not expand exponentially. He doesn’t harbour any aspirations to open multiple stores or become a Bollywood favourite (although everyone from Rhea Kapoor to Deepika Padukone are already fans of the brand). Reverse any of their pieces and you’re likely to notice that the fabric used in the inner linings is actually more expensive than the outer fabric. “That’s what I love, because if you’re making a limited number of pieces, then you have time to make those pieces very beautifully.”

This sense of exclusivity and a made-to-order spirit guides his brand and, as a result, they stay away from Instagram as much as they can. “Instagram is a good medium but can be tricky, because when you show your garments you’re out there, everybody’s seen it. There is no surprise element for a buyer,” says the designer, who’s currently working on a four-feet-long cape coat with artwork on its back featuring Lord Vishnu’s virat roop for an undisclosed client.

Chhabra travels a lot, and sharing his creative canvas with artisans and weavers keeps him inspired and upbeat. Next week, he’s heading to Gujarat and has a meeting with a couple of weavers. “You won’t believe it, but the most amazing leather bags are made in Gujarat,” he says. A self-confessed hoarder, he says that being an Indian designer often means being more a curator. “You find people, you find art, and you curate them into a garment. That’s what it needs. Because the artisan who’s actually crafting these exceptional things is the real designer.”