pérodise by péro
After 17 years, péro opens pérodise, its first flagship store in the heart of Delhi.
More than a retail space, it brings the label’s world of craft, material and storytelling into a physical experience.
Aneeth Arora speaks to Blur The Border:
Blur: After 17 years of building péro, what made you feel that the brand had reached a point where it was ready for a physical space of its own?
Aneeth: péro has always grown very organically. We have never felt the pressure to prove something, compete with anyone or follow a particular timeline. Over the years, people have always made the effort to find us, so we never felt that having our own store was something we had to do. It happened when the time felt right. We found a space in the heart of Delhi that resonated with the philosophy of the brand, and we simply went with the flow. After 17 years, pérodise feels like a very natural next chapter for us.
Blur: What made Delhi the right starting point for péro’s physical retail journey, and how are you thinking about expanding its presence from here? Are there any cities you’d like to enter next?
Aneeth: Delhi has always been home to péro, so it felt natural that our first flagship would be here. What makes it even more special is that we had actually seen this very property almost ten years ago, when we had first begun imagining a home of our own. It did not happen then, and all these years later, the same space found its way back to us. We believe a lot in manifestation and in things happening when the time is right, and this felt like one of those moments. As for what comes next, we have always grown very organically and do not really work with a five-year plan. If we find the right space in another city, at the right time, we would be very happy to create another pérodise. We also have wonderful relationships with our retail partners in India and overseas, many of whom we have worked with for 17 years, so there is no pressure to have many stores of our own. The journey has started. Never say never.
Blur: Looking back, you have also witnessed the industry move from physical retail to digital and now back towards physical spaces. What insights have you gathered over these years that helped you bring péro’s own store to life?
Aneeth: For us, it was important that having a physical space should offer something beyond simply another place to buy péro. Before we even began imagining what pérodise would look like, we knew how we wanted it to feel. It had to have warmth and love, and it could not be purely transactional. We wanted to create an experience. That became the starting point for the store. It is about allowing people to spend time with péro, experience the materials and handwork more closely, and discover things they may not encounter elsewhere, including our archives and péro classics.
Blur: As brands increasingly build themselves across both digital and physical spaces, what do you think each offers the other? What can a physical store do for a brand that digital alone cannot?
Aneeth: Digital has allowed the language and stories of péro to reach people everywhere, but there is something very different about experiencing the work physically. Our clothes are tactile and multilayered. There are different textiles, techniques, handmade details and many hands involved in making a single piece. pérodise allows people to experience those things more closely, but also to experience everything around them. More than simply seeing a product, we hope people remember the warmth of the space, the warmth of the people attending to them, and the feeling that they experienced something special while they were there.
Blur: Is there a blueprint for knowing when a brand is ready to open a physical store? In your expreience, what do you think young brands should have figured out before making that move, if anything?
Aneeth: We don't know if there can really be a blueprint. péro certainly didn't follow one. We waited 17 years, not because we had decided that 17 years was the right amount of time, but because we never felt any pressure to open a store simply because everyone else had one. Perhaps it is less about reaching a particular milestone and more about knowing what you want the space to be. With pérodise, before we knew what it would look like, we knew what it should feel like. Once that was clear, everything else could begin to take shape around it.
Blur: péro’s has built a signature identity through its garments and collections, how did you approach translating that language into a physical space?
Aneeth: We approached pérodise much like we approach our clothes. A péro garment is multilayered, bringing together different textiles, techniques, crafts and hands. We wanted the space to have the same quality, only here our materials became stone, brick, wood, metal, terracotta and terrazzo. We knew what we wanted the space to feel like, but we make clothes, so collaborating with people who understood architecture and these materials was essential. It became a process of bringing our sensibility together with their technical knowledge, with a lot of exchange and collaboration along the way.
Blur: The store brings together a lot of different elements; from the terrazzo flooring and Odisha tiles to péro’s signature heart motifs. What was the thought process behind bringing these different elements into the space?
Aneeth: The process was very similar to making a péro garment. Different materials and crafts may come from different places, but eventually all those layers find their way to one another. The canopies are lined with terracotta tiles made by potters in Odisha, while the rain chains are made from copper bells from Kutch. Every inch of the terrazzo has been laid by hand and punctuated with blown-glass hearts. Brass strips and hand-cut lettering are embedded into the flooring, while the metalwork was developed in collaboration with metal craftspeople. Even our hand-beaten metal hangers, shaped in our heart-with-wings motif, are an extension of the handmade metal details and buttons that have long been part of our clothes. The heart itself has always been an important part of péro. It began as a little embroidered heart hidden within a garment, almost as something for people to discover and find the love that had gone into making it. In pérodise too, hearts appear quietly in different forms and materials, never too much in your face.
Blur: Beyond a place to shop, what role or possibilities do you hope to see the store embody for the wider péro community?
Aneeth: We always imagined pérodise as more than a retail space. The space has been designed with a sense of fluidity. The clothing rails can be removed completely so that it can become a gallery or exhibition space, while the central podium allows us to host talks, presentations and conversations. The doors fan-fold and open completely, allowing the inside and outside to almost become one. The space also moves seamlessly through ramps, making it inclusive and accessible to everyone. We would like pérodise to become a place for cultural exchange, where people can gather, experience, discover and engage with péro in ways that go beyond simply shopping.
Blur: péro has continued to expand beyond the garment itself, through immersive experiences, runway shows and now a physical store. What new possibilities are you excited to explore in the next chapter of the brand?
Aneeth: What excites us about pérodise is the freedom it gives us. It allows us to bring people closer to different stories within péro, including things they may not experience through our other retail partners. There can be access to our archives and the iconic péro classics, alongside what we are currently creating. The space itself can continue to change too, becoming a setting for exhibitions, conversations, presentations and other forms of cultural exchange. We don't know exactly where that will lead, and perhaps that is the exciting part. péro has always evolved organically. pérodise feels like the beginning of another journey, and we are excited to see what grows from it.