Two Extra Lives has been popping off in the Mumbai fashion circuit for quite some time. And as a spectator of all things different on Instagram, I knew my heightened excitement and curiosity for this concept store had to be curbed, and that's when I started digging.
Their store's Instagram bio describes it as 'A Multi-designer Concept store built to embrace circular fashion models to achieve a livable future & contribute to save Global Environmental crisis'. I love the sound of that, but personally, I feel there's more to the place because the 'environment' this space has created makes me feel like I want to spend my life here.
The store is housed in a 150-year-old heritage bungalow in Bandra. The doors and windows have been redone, the walls have been textured like the houses in the quaint valleys of Himachal, while the exposed beams of the ceiling have been covered in paint, the flooring is the original from what it was when the bungalow was built. And contrasting all this old-world charm are the vintage, eclectic, Jenna Lyons-coded fashion pieces that belong in a fashion vault in my opinion. From a vintage pearl Armani necklace to irresistible Ferri pointed heels, this is the place to be.
Brands like Clara Pinto, Clan, Western Affair, Kuta House, Behen studio, Tama Toby and Permu are a things of common here. Most of the pieces are available to buy and rent both. Certain pieces in the store are only available to rent, and certain only to buy. So you pretty much have to visit the store and do some soul-searching to set your heart on a piece (even if temporarily if you only plan to rent).
How are the pieces procured? The founder of the store, Anchal Notani, travels across and handpicks the pieces herself. All the brands are researched upon and checked if they are sustainable. Anchal came up with the idea of this store when she travelled to the Himachal during the summer and witnessed the adverse effect of global warming herself. What should have been a warm, hilly summer was a sharp winter. The farmers were confused about sowing the crops as they had no idea what season would unfold next. On her visit to Spiti Valley, she spoke to the locals who told her about how Spiti, the dry valley faced floods for the first time because of the impact of our actions. And the books which inspired the store, Save The Humans and Against the Anthropocene.
The idea is to make available a space for highly curated items of fashion to subvert fast fashion and its constant draining of our Earth’s resources, a thought as positive as it is deep, and one that needs our undivided attention ASAP.
