Carma Chameleon

When art collector Lekha Poddar and her daughter-in-law Malvika wanted to reimagine the interiors of their New Delhi fashion boutique, they kept it in the family. AD previews the first interiors project of Anupam Poddar.

- Sunil Sethi

It is the nature of karma to aspire to a better, brighter, more fulfilling life. So it is with Carma—a play on an acronym for Crafts and Art Revitalizing Movement—New Delhi’s smartest fashion store that, in its latest avatar, sets a new standard in architecture and design that is both glamorous and innovative.

Carma’s location was always superb. Sequestered between a rambling 1920's’ colonial haveli (known for a while as the Qutub Colonnade), and the fashionable Olive Bar and Kitchen in Mehrauli’s “style mile”, its old, red-brick building was originally a carriage house to the haveli. Set in a walled courtyard garden, it was acquired by philanthropist and art collector Lekha Poddar in the 1980's as an exhibition space that showcased art, including works by the late Gond artist Jangarh Singh Shyam and watercolours by Olivia Fraser. In its second incarnation, after a revamp by Mumbai-based architect Rajiv Saini in the 1990's, it became a storied fashion store with a glittering roll call of designers, from Tarun Tahiliani to Rohit Bal, and Rina Dhaka to Meera and Muzzafar Ali’s Kotwara label.

REINCARNATED