India Design ID 2026: emerging studios and global brands in focus

Recycled PET vessel seats, French iridescent crystal orbs, benches that wed sabai writer weaving and teak carving, cashmere seats with formed brass ellipsoids for drama, sculptural lighting — these were conscionable immoderate of the plan statements and worldly mastery connected show astatine India Design ID 2026 successful New Delhi. It ran successful the penultimate week of February.

Some of the highlights astatine this edition, which celebrated Design Syncretism, included ‘Design, Tomorrow’, a peculiar curation of objet d’art by festival manager Misha Bains, the ColourNext pavilion by Asian Paints, and French mastery crossed manner spaces. A fewer standout booths won applause for their imagination, with a genuinely Indian soul, and finally, The New Guard celebrated upcoming plan voices.

The French quarter

Business France and the Embassy of France successful India, on with ID, presented French designers and Indian innovators crossed trade forms. H.E. Thierry Mathou, Ambassador of France to India, was upbeat astir the collaboration. “Being held nether the India-France Year of Innovation banner, this lawsuit combines the excellence of the French manner manufacture with innovation to physique ambitious and inspiring collaborations betwixt our 2 countries.” The curation was energetic and eclectic. Brilliant crystal by Baccarat, Daum and Cristal Benito, blase sonic systems by Devialet, biophilic kinetic lighting by Lux Temporis and furnishing by Casamance & Misia shared abstraction with Indian plan workplace Klove, a impermanent decorator known for hand-blown solid lighting.

Bains observes, “When it comes to France, it is not the marque sanction but the designers who basal astatine the forefront. As for India, earlier we were considered a maker’s market, but present India is simply a spot wherever collaborations tin happen, celebrating craftsmanship with a modern flair. We besides person a beardown beingness astatine the symposium with co-curated talks with designers Vikram Goyal (architect) and India Mahdavi (designer) coming together.”

Modernism meets tradition

Celebrating objects of singular bravery, some successful materiality and scope, ‘Design, Tomorrow’ offered studios a abstraction to spotlight Indian modernism joined with accepted creation forms. This year, Bains said she “wanted to show trade and plan successful a museum-like environment. Traditionally, if you speech astir futuristic design, you deliberation of abstraction and technology. We wanted to specify the aboriginal of plan successful presumption of storytelling, by highlighting eco-conscious design, utilising and reusing resources from the POV of longevity.” Each of the 47-pieces created was unsocial crossed materiality and encompassed lighting, tapestries, furniture, textiles, etc.

“The EcoLattice seat uses recycled integrative discarded and bonded worldly to make a seat. You person a communicative of sustainability wherever Ariane Ginwala’s studio, ThisandThat, has a beauteous seat celebrating accepted craftsmanship (teak carving with sabai writer weaving from Odisha). There is sustainability built into each trade successful India, due to the fact that it’s from a peculiar portion catering to regular needs, and trade is functional,” Bains explains.

Material quality forecast

Asian Paints celebrated craftsmanship, practice and hope, with a future-facing plan connection astatine its ColourNext pavilion. The marque unveiled ‘moonlit silk’ arsenic the colour of the year. A delicious shadiness of amla green, it is simply a instrumentality to quality and texture, and rather a departure from Pantone’s monochrome ‘Cloud Dancer’. The pavilion, besides presented 4 plan directions, each with its ain curated abstraction conceptualised and designed by Bengaluru-based Wari Watai. The curation by Asian Paints offered an thought of what Indian plan tin expect successful the twelvemonth ahead.‘Pastoral’ was a solemnisation of heritage, focusing connected materials and traditions shaped implicit time, portion ‘Solarpunk’ highlighted regeneration, resilience and a equilibrium betwixt quality and technology. The ColourNext pavilion balanced overstimulation with mindful beingness successful ‘IRL’, designed to spark conversations, by creating thoughtfully grounded environments, portion ‘Daydream’, was an ode to fever dreams with playful forms, creating environments that consciousness comfortable, utilizing transparency and gentle layering.

Gen-Next designers

An inaugural to make a level for Gen-Next designers, this pavilion was a look astatine however rooted Indian plan branches out, uncovering caller look successful modern aesthetics. “We created an unfastened telephone for radical to taxable their projects and shortlisted six studios. A batch of them are precise young, but they’re reviving shapes and forms traditionally,” explains Bains. “The effect to our collection, particularly the interactive wall, was exceptional. We met unthinkable people, explored breathtaking concern opportunities, and walked distant with caller ideas for our upcoming collections,” says Parth Parikh, laminitis of Design Clinic India.

The chosen six studios celebrated Indian artisans utilizing practice trade with a modern syntax. Three studios from Ahmedabad: Umber Furniture Co. (co-founded by Niti Sehgal and Nandakumar S.S.) invoked intuitive plan with accepted craftsmanship; the Hero Chair by Amolakh (founded by Amolakh, managed by grandson Maneesh Kumar Jangid) explored structural ratio and utmost lightness; and Dhaaga Designs (co-founded by mother-daughter duo Mehal and Aashni Thakore) collaborated with artisan communities from Kutch, Bihar, Bengal Rajasthan and Gujarat to observe tactile richness of manus processes. Indore-based Spero Furniture, founded by Madhuri Rao, explored furnishings arsenic dialog betwixt alloy and wood grains and New Delhi-based Orikrit, co-founded by Deepti and Ayush Jain, reinterpreted folding done modern objects and lighting.

Worthy mentions

For Sharan Apparao, originative director, Apparao Galleries, 3 studios stood out. She explains, “Beyond Designs (velvet chateau), Nivasa (sophisticated vignettes) and Within (marble particulate partition installation, traditionally built objet d’art) truly shone with their maximalist presumption successful a modern way. From woven walls, beautifully framed images, and adept finishing, they were impressive. Both creation and accessories got bully attention. I peculiarly liked Kohelika Kohli’s booth, portion Jaipur Rugs are truly outdoing themselves (collaboration rugs with Princess Pea).”

Elsewhere, each eyes were connected The Petty Chair (made by the Wallmakers successful collaboration with Neytt Extraweave), fashioned from recycled PET vessel yarn, with a azygous magnitude of the carpet repeatedly folded and stitched to signifier a self-standing ergonomically designed seat.

The molten-inspired chairs of metallurgy, sculptural chromatic furnishings by Pasana, embroidered cabinets and Mr. B eating chairs by Rooshad Shroff (cashmere upholstered chairs with walnut wood and formed brass ellipsoid features) and Radhika Sanghvi’s inspired sculptural illumination, Faulty Lines, were conscionable immoderate of the materially divers examples of the theme, ‘Design Syncretism’.

Bains concludes, “The full thought is to work the pulse of the industry. What we spot close present is designers calved successful India, but with planetary influences, bringing backmost rooted craft. We person antithetic taste practices from crossed the country, coming unneurotic arsenic well. It’s modern design, a caller wave.”

The freelance writer is based successful Chennai.