Revisiting Nappa Dori
by Sasha Mills
Today Bimble is revisiting a past blog featuring one of London’s coolest businesses. From New Delhi to Covent Garden, check out one of our features that was released mid-lockdown; in conversation with Nappa Dori.
Visiting Nappa Dori’s Covent Garden store for the first time, in the Summer gap between lockdowns, I found it tucked away in the Seven Dials, masquerading as a straightforward coffee shop. But step inside and you’ll find a wonderland of handmade leather goods, and a great cup of coffee for good measure.
I spoke to Gautam Sinha, founder of Nappa Dori, about the store’s start in New Delhi, their leather goods and his plans for the future.
Nappa Dori was born unintentionally. A local company was looking for a craftsman to make belts, and Gautam volunteered himself; Nappa Dori cascaded from there. Gautam had started but never graduated from fashion school. He knew that design was something that he wanted to do. He was struggling financially, and put the last of his savings into the brand, which started out in a tiny scooter garage. He rented a store space in Hauz Khaz village, an area which is now widely known for its eclectic independents, but had only just started gaining popularity at the time.
Looking to the future, Sinha still wears “every hat in the business,” but has stuck to his design roots: “everyday there’s something new churning and the brand is constantly evolving — but designing is still my favourite part.” his has led to the development of Dori living, their upcoming homeware line. Focused on sustainability, the pieces are only produced in limited runs. He’s also building on his love of coffee; Nappa Dori stores contain coffee shops, and he’s working to develop a cold brew exclusive to them.
Central to Nappa Dori is the idea of craftsmanship. Sinha felt that it was time to break the stereotypical image of India in design, that there was room to show how Indian craft is still very much alive. They’ve hired artisans whose craft has been passed through the generations, to produce hand-stitched leather. The brand’s ethos runs in direct opposition to mass-produced fast fashion, which has allowed the brand to constantly reinvent and innovate, a phenomenon that Sinha calls ‘fast design.’ In the future, Sinha believes that brands that fail to adopt this kind of approach will struggle, particularly as COVID-19 has pushed them away from the ‘seasons’ model.
I asked Sinha why he feels that bricks and mortar is important, particularly given the rise in online retail, “bricks and mortar stores are a critical part of the business — that’s not going to go away. People need to be able to experience tangible retail; we all want to be able to touch products before we buy them.” But he also said that you need to offer an experience outside of just sales, particularly in an age characterised by instant gratification. Nappa Dori’s flagship store in New Dehli, ‘The Warehouse,’ focuses on experience-based retail, and contains a cafe, DIY classes, and gin tasting as some of its offerings. Nappa Dori’s clientele in both New Dehli and London are people that Sinha described as having a “design sensibility,” and are looking specifically for hand-crafted, rather than mass-produced products. Sinha emphasised the need not to create in-store sales, but instead experiences that their customers would remember.
The London branch of Nappa Dori opened in 2017 and it is the brand’s first venture into Europe. To Sinha, London feels like a “soul city” — he also added, wryly, that the long history between India and Britain means that the two nations have a level of familiarity with each other. One feature that has been imported from India is the Masala Chai, sold in Nappa Dori’s coffee shop. It’s a mixture of spices, herbs, and milk and Sinha described Masala Chai as the ‘everyman’s drink,’ that people from all facets of society have. It’s known for its medicinal properties, perfect if you’ve caught a cold. In store, they serve this drink in biodegradable clay pots, sourced in India.
After the interview, Gautam recommended his favourite spots to eat, drink, and shop in London. Head over to Bimble, to see a placelist of Gautam’s favourite places — click through here!
All photos courtesy of Nappa Dori and Sasha Mills
If you have a story you’d like to share about a great little place or other bimbling experiences, get in touch with us at hello@bimble.com
