Da Design Street

Da Design Street is a ritzy and modernistic studio showcasing garments, jewelry and bags by more than 30 big-time designers of Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. Big-time means big-time - count Rohit Bal, Shantanu & Nikhil, Mandira Wrik, Preeti Jhawar, Sunita Shankar, Gauri Bajoria, Aparna Chandra and Abhishek Dutta among them. If you have tasted blood with designer wear, most probably outside the city of Hyderabad, you will soon haunt this store as much as your budget will allow you.

Partners Swapna Cherukuri and Swathi Kilaru talk about the ambience and shopping experience that the 3,300 sq. ft. store offers its customers as its unique selling proposition. Verily, the store, done minimalistically in stark red and glossy white, offers a quiet and rather luxuriant shopping experience. The staff is friendly, and well-versed in the store credits and the stuff on display. And the store is large enough, so you can wander solitarily with an attendant in tow and imagine you are in a designer store in the French Riviera.

Glass cases loaded with stone earrings, bracelets and pendants greet you when you enter. Spend hours gazing at them and trying them out on the mirrored walls. The silver range of jewelry by Anand from Mumbai has a Western theme. It delights with colorful semi-precious stones - turquoises, pinks mauves, greens. They look elaborate and heavy, but are airy-light to wear.

Evil eye bracelets are all over here, and some assorted artwork, like triangular glass coasters filled with spangles and a golden evil eye wall hanging, will jump out at you periodically. The oxidized silver jewelry range is more ethnic, and is designed by Vandana of Kolkata. The danglers looks a lot like the Nizam-style chandeliers. More colorful than the silver range, less understated. They are priced between Rs. 700 and Rs. 3,000. Purses, designed by Sarita of Mumbai, boast Kutch's Srujan embroidery.

DDS is also the exclusive retailer in Hyderabad for the rather vivid and furbelowed Cheemo brand of bags. They come with 3D flower patchwork, string embroidery, tassels, and other bold and flashy designs. The prices range from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 3,000. It's difficult to find an occasion or a dress that these will accessorize, but this isn't your 9-5 working plain Jane store.

The saris are also dazzling and ornate, and for the only sari you will ever wear in your whole life, come here! They come in far-out feminine colors that leap to and fro right across the spectrum - gulaal pink, algae blue-green, grape purple and lots more. The prices range from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 25,000. Contrasting blouses complete the look, and some of the designers also take on orders for making these.

The Westerns include tops, kurtis, skirts and ponchos. The skirts are divine - georgette skirts with a frilly and feminine flare, raw silk ones with peeping georgette underskirts and so on.

Definitely visit for your big day, and at any other time when you can afford to spend a bomb.