The last time her clothes were visible in a show was in 2003, at the then Lakme India Fashion Week. Soon after, Delhi designer Monisha Bajaj completely disappeared from the fashion circuit. Cut to the present: Bajaj is set to make a comeback, but this time as the creative director of Store One, a multi-designer and multi-brand chain of boutiques that will mark financial services and real estate development company India Bulls’ foray into retailing.

Over cappuccino at Select Citywalk, Bajaj smiles and says the sabbatical was a conscious choice. “My daughter was just a year old then and I was pregnant with my son. I wanted to see my kids grow up,” says Bajaj who studied fashion at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise, Los Angeles. Now, with her kids all grown up Bajaj is looking to make up for lost ground. “Initially it was a little strange, but then, the good thing about this industry is that there is enough scope for everybody. When I attended the men’s fashion week as a buyer, my designing background helped me grasp things better,” she says.

At Store One though, Bajaj is not going to put up only her own collections. There are brands like S Oliver and United Colours of Benetton, Forever New and several others. The Indian designers included in the gamut include Manoviraj Khosla, Hemant Sagar, Ritu Kumar, Anju Modi, Nandita Basu and Abhishek Gupta of Fightercock to begin with. The first store of the chain will be launched in Pune around Dussehra. Set over two levels, the 65,000 square feet store will have a café as well. This will be followed by an outlet in Mumbai’s Lower Parel and then Delhi. “Merchandising is not just about business skills. It’s another medium of design for me. You also need to be creative enough to know what will work in which centre. I have handpicked each of the labels, worked on the price points and their saleability. We are looking to position it as a Macy’s in India,” she says.

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