Store reviews
PlayClan Store Saket Select Citywalk MallSend this article to:
Published: September 20, 2009
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I first heard about the PlayClan store almost a year ago on one of the sneaker communities on Orkut, the social networking site. Someone mentioned it in the passing during a discussion on customized Chuck Taylors, and that was the first time I heard about a store in India selling custom Chucks. Naturally, that piqued my curiosity, and I decided to pay the store a visit.
PlayClan is located in the sprawling Select Citywalk Mall in Saket, a posh south Delhi neighbourhood. It is in my opinion, the best mall in India and one can easily spend a full day just browsing through, if you just had the time. Having said that. the sheer size of the mall is a disadvantage when trying to hunt down tiny stores like the PlayClan if you do not know the shop number (I later came to know it was F51, first floor). In my case, I had to walk down the entire length of the mall on both the floors and still couldn't find it, so I went out and walked along the side to look at the store signages outside. After walking for a few minutes (and trying to avoid bumping into people since I was looking sideways and up) I saw the Playclan logo outside a store on the first floor. After I mentally made a note of where the signage was, I went inside and I finally found the store! It was easy to see why I missed it - the store was no bigger than 250 sq. ft and it was tucked away in one of turns off the main floor. Earlier, I had walked right within a few meters of the store and missed it completely.
I went looking for the Playclan store thinking that it would be a small kiosk in a mall, where you could take in your pair of Chuck Taylors, brief what kind of design you wanted, and then come back a week later to pick up your custom kicks. I was in for a disappointment - Playclan is nothing like that. Though it sells Chucks as a part of its assortment, PlayClan is, in essence, a streetwear store, for lack of a better term. If you go by what streetwear means in the west, this urban sub-culture is practically non-existent in India. Streetwear in the west or countries like Japan, Hong Kong has been, for the most part influenced by the graffitti, music and skate scene, with a bit thrown in from anima and other popular sub-cultures. India has none of those - no skate, graffiti or manga, so most of emerging Indian streetwear (though in a very nascent stage) takes its influence from a smorgasbord of elements - a mix of mythology, religion, bollywood, urban transport, bumper sticker one-liners, or Hinglish catch lines. One of the first quasi-streetwear labels was Tantra, a T-shirt brand which has been around for more than a decade or so. Tantra, with its combination of catchy one liners and graphics became a instant hit for young college kids who wanted something more than the tacky tees available in markets which sold export surplus. A similar thing was happening in the state of Punjab too - a north Indian state with an extremely strong sense of cultural identity and attachment. Soon, brands like '1469' and 'Punjabi Heritage' came into existence, designing and selling tees which appealed to the fun loving Punjabi's, both in India and overseas.
But while brands like Tantra and 1469 were (and still remain) affordable labels focussing mostly on tees, PlayClan is a premium street fashion store which sells everything from tees, bags and collectibles to lampshades and journals, all with a refreshing design twist which is original and emphatically Indian. It is difficult to slot PlayClan design into a particular genre; the influences and inspiration for the art on their items are from all over the place - from motifs and texture on traditional Indian fabrics to auto-rickshaws and Indian architecture. Each item is different from the one next to it, with a life and character of its own.
And yes, there were hand painted Chuck Taylors too - when I visited the store the first time around a year back, there were around a dozen of them. But expensive; in the range of Rs.3000 a pair. When I recently visited the store around a month ago, the Chuck Taylors on the shelves were replaced with journals and curios, save for a few pairs. Overall, the price is slightly on the higher side for what sells in PlayClan - the tees are somewhere in the range of Rs.800, and some curios can cost a few thousand rupees. But things like mugs, journals and smaller knick-knacks can be had for a few hundred. So the next time you want to step out in something different and original, PlayClan might be place to go!
We think this is the start of something new in India - small, indie brands toying with tees, sneakers and curios as mediums of creative expression. Besides PlayClan, there are brands like 'happilyunmarried' which also sells a delightful collection of wittily designed objects, each with an Indian-ness unique to itself. The sub-culture is already becoming a bit of a revolution - young Indians taking art into their own hands, bored with the monotony of a 9-5 job or repetitive exams. Be it hand painting Chuck Taylor or making tees which are individual and fun, all contributing to the rise of a new phenomenon - authentic, uncensored Indian streetwear...
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awwh.. nice!
heard of d store ni agree to u sneako...
never saw it in d mall though. lol!
gnna visit store next time i go to select city walk.looks kewl.
hey i visited this place the first time we went to the mall. its pretty amazing...the whole ambience is just so hip. and have to agree, its not jus the converse that attratc ur attention, its the whole place.