These Emerging Designers Are Redefining Indian Craft - Architectural Digest

Manan Narang (left) and Urvi Sharma of Indo-.

Frances Denny

INDO-

When Urvi Sharma and Manan Narang, who both grew up in New Delhi, met at RISD in 2016, they realized they were working on similar projects: reinterpretations of the Charpai, a traditional Indian bed. They decided to join forces under the moniker INDO- and soon debuted Char Quarter, a pale beech bench with a woven cord seat and split-turned legs. Soon they took that same approach to other Indian archetypes, using ikat dyeing techniques on the tambour doors of a credenza and updating mooda seats as barstools by placing them atop skinny steel legs. (In May, they’ll debut mooda-inspired light fixtures at the WantedDesign fair.) Each piece comes out a little different from the last, but they embrace those variations. “Growing up, a lot of the objects we encountered were handmade,” recalls Sharma. “Now some of that is being lost for the sake of convenience. So we’re trying to celebrate an element of hand and the identity it brings with it.” indo-made.com

Leah Singh with some of her textiles.

Or Harpaz

LEAH SINGH

Upon returning to India after attending Parsons School of Design, Leah Singh experienced her homeland’s vibrant textiles with fresh eyes. “I saw an opportunity to modernize these traditions and target a new market,” explains the designer, now based between New Delhi and New York. Age-old techniques, she learned, were languishing as artisans pushed their children toward office jobs. But at local Indian markets she connected with producers from across the country who could stitch, weave, and print her patterns on pillows, carpets, throws, and more. Each group has its specialty: In West Bengal, Kantha embroi­derers compose patterns from triangles, whereas in Punjab, Phulkari embroiderers sew in small stitches that are perfect for more intricate designs. “I don’t change the way they work,” says Singh, who adapts these customs with her own color palettes and architecturally inspired motifs. “They’re so special. They’ve been there for so long. I want to highlight that.” leahsingh.com

Designer Arati Rao of Tantuvi.

Or Harpaz

TANTUVI

After years working on the corporate side of the fashion industry, Arati Rao needed a change. “I felt disconnected from the process of making,” explains the New York–based designer, who quit her job in 2009 and headed to India, her family’s homeland, to explore its rich craft culture. “People can make anything there,” she marvels. “You just have to find it.” Founded in 2012, her own brand, Tantuvi (it means “weaver” in Sanskrit), has quickly segued from textiles into rugs and other home products. Rather than producing the wares in factories, Rao tapped cottage-industry workers in Rajasthan and Telangana to create graphic dhurries and rugs. Natural fibers are dyed by a family in Jaipur before being sent to villages in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert, where they are woven on panja looms. “There’s a true revival happening in India,” explains Rao, who just launched a collection of new rugs and bath mats at Shoppe Object in February. “Government grants have resuscitated areas that lost a lot of weavers. Now more people—even Indians—want handcraft again.” tantuvistudio.com

Palaash Chaudhary (left) and Utharaa Zacharias of Soft-Geometry.

Alanna Hale

SOFT-GEOMETRY

“Growing up in India, we both saw women artisans weaving cane at incredible speed,” remembers Utharaa Zacharias, who cofounded the San Jose–based studio Soft-Geometry with her friend Palaash Chaudhary in 2018. That childhood memory inspired a first series of industrially produced steel chairs, some of which were outfitted with cane seats. “It takes about 48 hours to weave one,” she explains. The pair learned the technique from local cane weavers in Kerala and soon began collaborating with Indian craftspeople in other ways. When a New Delhi factory asked if they had a use for the leftover wood cutoffs, Zacharias and Chaudhary devised a technique to glue the pieces together and carve them by CNC machine into a doughnut-shaped table base. Next up, they’re working with another group of artisans on furniture and lighting that feature traditional bone inlay, which they plan to launch later this year. soft-geometry.com

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