So how do you fit everything a leading luxury chocolatier wants to say into a small kiosk? Fabelle, India’s home-grown luxury chocolate brand from ITC, is all about crafted indulgence and boutique experiences, which meant the space had to feel more like a miniature experience salon, rather than just a typical mall counter. The brief for the kiosk at Forum South Bengaluru, one of the city’s new-age destination malls, was clear: small footprint, big presence.
The first step of course is to choose the right teams for the job: Aspiration to design it, and INKspirations to build it.
We planned to quietly hide all the serious retail requirements – display, back-up stock, cold storage, invoicing, cable runs – while presenting a luxe, inviting front to chocolate lovers rushing between stores. Every function got a precise home within the grid, so that the team could work comfortably without breaking the illusion of effortless luxury.
A big part of the end effect stemmed from the material and finish choices. The palette leans on warm wood tones, deep chocolate-inspired hues and soft metallic accents, echoing Fabelle’s brand palettes. Matte and satin finishes keep reflections controlled, while small hits of gloss or metal are reserved for the logo, trims and edge details, so the eye reads “premium” without feeling overwhelmed.
Then come the part where “God is in the detail” stops being a quote and becomes a checklist. Edge profiles are refined so there are no sharp, unfinished lines; joints and screws are concealed; hardware is chosen to either disappear or align with the metallic accents; and even the thickness of shutters, plinths and frames is tuned to feel slim and tailored. Lighting is calibrated to make the chocolates gleam, not melt, turning each product niche into a tiny stage instead of just a storage box.
The result is a kiosk that behaves like a full-fledged Fabelle boutique compressed into a compact world of smooth finishes, precise joinery and quiet branding that still manages to stop people mid-stride in a busy mall.
With Aspiration setting the concept and INKspirations obsessing over materials, finishes and build, the kiosk proves that when every millimetre is thought through, small can look seriously, deliciously luxe!