Dishoom

Dishoom had the rare problem of demand without product. A following that already wanted to carry the brand out of the room, and nothing was built to a retail standard to give them. The brief was specific. A core range that could sit on a shop floor and online, hold its own against everything else Dishoom sells, and read as unmistakably theirs. Nothing that felt like merch.

We worked from the room outwards. The palette came off the tiling and the signage, not a brand deck. We developed a washed-cotton cap and a heavyweight tote as the anchors, then a stoneware mug specified to match the in-house service. Three rounds of samples, each one tightened: closures, label placement, the exact weight of the canvas. We developed every item from scratch and built it to retail spec, not giveaway spec. The caps were custom-fit with premium leather finishing, embossed buckles and woven labels. The Ringer Tees were built to an exact shape specification rather than pulled off a blank. The brushed-cotton tees were Pantone-matched to the brand and cut for a relaxed fit. The Socks were jacquard-knit with the slogan and contrast stripe worked into the knit rather than printed on, cushioned underfoot so they earn everyday wear. And the totes were built on the archetypal Bombay market bag: striped cotton canvas, an inner pocket, two handle lengths for carrying at the side or over the shoulder, and a body that folds away. Released across a run of colourways so the bag became a collection in its own right.

The collection launched across stores and online as a permanent part of what Dishoom sells, not a one-off drop. The tote in particular took on a life of its own, multiplying into colourways and becoming a piece people buy on its own terms rather than as a souvenir.