Galeries Lafayette’s 90,000 sq. ft. India debut in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai

To commemorate the much anticipated debut of Galeries Lafayette in India, guests were ferried by golf cart from the Royal Bombay Yacht Club to the private jetty opposite the Taj Hotel, where we hopped onto speedboats bound for six different yachts. I was put on the Allegra, which gleamed in the sun as we set across the across the harbour.

With Mumbai’s iconic Colaba harbour as its cinematic backdrop, the storied 130-year-old French luxury department store floated giant red-and-white balloons above the Arabian Sea, while sailboats with its signature crimson flags drifted across the water. From the yachts moored offshore, an audience of editors, stylists, designers, and French and Indian executives looked on as the city witnessed a moment of pure Parisian spectacle — tying the city’s maritime legacy neatly into a historic moment for luxury retail in India.

One of the most hotly anticipated debuts, it took almost eight years after their initial courtship for Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd (ABFRL) and Galeries Lafayette to open its doors in Kala Ghoda. Almost two years went towards painstaking building renovation. “We are supposed to be retailers, instead we became structural engineers and architects,” joked Ashish Dixit, managing director of ABFRL, while on one of the boats. He added that he felt tremendously proud of the repurposing of two historic buildings, Turner Morrison and the neighbouring Voltas House.

Parisian style meets Indian craftsmanship

The 90,000 sq. ft. space, spread across five floors, is designed by London-based architectural firm Virgile + Partners, and blends Parisian sophistication with Mumbai’s architectural heritage. Think wonderful interior details such as monochromatic black-and-white tiles bordered by gold, a lotus-motif parchinkari on the atrium floor, and inviting pastel pink sofas and chairs. And, of course, the cupola inspired by l’Intrépide, the French hydrogen observation balloon used by the military in 1796, that the department store is known for across the world. Inside, shoppers will encounter over 250 brands, both Indian and international, across five floors.

While the Turner Morrison building is set up like a traditional department store, with a floor each for beauty, leather goods and accessories, women’s luxury and evening wear, and the like (and one for food and drink), Voltas House will include a gallery space for exhibits, a gift shop, a personal shopping salon and men’s luxury wear. Alexandra von Canisius, a seasoned fashion executive with stints at Saks Fifth Avenue in Bahrain and Holt Renfrew in Canada, has been brought in to head retail operations.

The store is not fully stocked yet — doors will officially open in the first week of November — but amongst the brands I saw were Patou, which makes its India debut. Comme des Garçons and Phoebe Philo are also in the mix. The food section will only appear next year, but the company is betting it to be a driver of footfalls.

Start of a consumption boom

At the preview, Kumar Mangalam Birla and his family were spotted mingling with the guests — Neerja Birla in a chic black Patou pants suit, while matriarch Rajshree Birla was resplendent in a sari. A momentary blip of rain had everyone gathered on the rooftop diving for cover, but it also resulted in them taking a leisurely walk through the various floors of the Turner Morrison.

Once the weather settled, guests were ushered back onto the roof, where K.M. Birla and Nicolas Houze, executive chairman of the Galeries Lafeyette group, spoke about India’s luxury sector being poised for transformation — with the growing number of affluent, aspirational consumers. The country’s luxury market will hit $85 billion by 2030, according to Kotak Securities, while Mercedes-Benz Hurun India Wealth Report 2025 stated that India has 8,71,000 dollar millionaire households today.

At a time when department stores are languishing in the West, new markets like India provide hope to retailers. “You can’t compare India in 2025 with the U.S. in 2025,” explained Dixit. “We are going to see a consumption boom over the next 20 years. Remember, our population is so large that even if a small sliver of it moves up, somebody must service that aspiration.”

Heritage homes for luxury

While luxury retail in India is principally found in malls today, ABFRL seems to have made a conscious choice to buck the trend, providing brands under their roster heritage spaces instead. Whether it’s Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s celebrated Horniman Circle store, now just a stone’s throw from Galeries Lafayette, or Tarun Tahiliani’s beautifully appointed Ballard Estate store, these nurture the sense of a more personalised, elevated shopping experience.

For Galeries Lafayette, a closely held family business, a heritage property was important given that its Paris flagship is in a landmark 1912 Art Nouveau building with the famous glass dome.

Mumbai is the brand’s 10th international location. “These kinds of projects are amazing because it shows even the government that if you save these old buildings rather than tear them down, there is so much potential,” concluded Dixit.

The writer is a Mumbai-based journalist and author.