Mumbai has long been a city of contrasts – where colonial-era and Indo-Saracenic architecture sits alongside soaring high-rises, and artisanal traditions thrive alongside cutting-edge design. In recent years, a new generation of designers has begun to reshape the city’s design scene, blending craftsmanship, material innovation and global influence.
Nowhere is this shift more evident than in the recent launch of Nilaya Anthology, a new destination that brings together some of India’s most compelling contemporary designers – from Vikram Goyal’s sculptural metalwork to the textile artistry of Pavitra Rajaram and the ornate wallpapers of fashion icon Sabyasachi – alongside work from iconic European brands like Nilufar Gallery and Cassina. It’s a space that celebrates India’s evolving design identity, placing local creative talent on a global stage and embracing an international perspective.
“For years, the Indian customer has been an afterthought in the global design conversation,” explains Pavitra Rajaram, a celebrated designer and Creative Director of Nilaya Anthology. “But the market has come of age. Nilaya Anthology is a statement to the world – and to India – that we deserve a space where international brands can engage meaningfully, and where Indian designers can take their place on the world stage.”
Read on to discover eight brands reshaping India’s design identity:
When Nilaya Anthology opened earlier this month, it made a bold statement about Indian design. Part showroom, part gallery, and part co-working space for the city’s interior designers, it offers an immersive experience where India’s craft heritage sits alongside contemporary design, and local and International work weaves an evocative narrative about India’s coming-of-age on the global design stage.
Designed by Mumbai-based architect Rooshad Shroff, the 100,000-square-metre space is vast yet surprisingly intimate, with a labyrinth of galleries, rooms – and even a plant-filled orangery – waiting to be explored. Its collection is equally far-reaching: ceramics shaped from clay foraged along the city’s coastline, sculptural baskets woven in Ghana, and immersive rooms swathed in Sabyasachi’s opulent textiles and wallpapers. Even icons of European design take on new life here, with chairs by Gehry and others reinterpreted in handwoven forms by Indian artisans. The result is a new way to approach luxury, one that is less about exclusivity and more about storytelling.
Pavitra Rajaram is one of India’s most celebrated interior designers – and has built her reputation on the belief that “design is meant to be savoured, not devoured”. As Creative Director of Nilaya Anthology, she has created a space that encourages slow appreciation and connection with the story behind each piece. Her own product designs – including intricately patterned wallpapers, handwoven textiles, and collaborations with the likes of Jaipur Rugs – reflect this commitment to storytelling through craft, blending historical Indian motifs with a modern sensibility.
For two decades, Vikram Goyal has reimagined India’s artisanal metalwork for the international collectible design market – think intricate works that blur the lines between art and design at an impressive scale. More recently, he has launched Viya Design, a collection of more accessible homewares that continue to explore India’s traditional craft techniques in contemporary ways. Nilaya Anthology is not only home to several exclusive Viya Design pieces – including expressive candelabras that explore the metalworking techniques he is known for at a smaller scale – but also the world’s largest showcase of his art-design pieces, which welcome visitors as they enter the ground floor gallery from the orangery.
Sabyasachi Mukherjee, one of India’s most celebrated fashion designers, brings his signature maximalism to Nilaya Anthology – not just through his immersive gallery dedicated to emerging artists, but also through his Sabyasachi for Nilaya by Asian Paints collection. The collection of upholstery textiles and wallpapers is derived from original patterns hand-painted by artists of the Sabyasachi Art Foundation. The foundation, which Mukherjee describes as “a place to preserve the hand so that they can become great artists tomorrow”, provides a platform for emerging Indian talent, offering them studio space, materials, and financial security to hone their craft.
Tejashree Sagvekar creates beautifully imperfect ceramic tableware crafted from clay foraged along the city’s coastline – meaning each collection is deeply rooted in place and has a completely different material expression. Her creations – from spoons, to dinnerware and large platters, all hand-built and painted with broad brushstrokes of glaze – bridge tradition and experimentation, offering a tactile connection to Mumbai’s landscape and a new perspective on Indian craftsmanship.
Latika Nehra captures Nilaya Anthology’s dialogue between Indian and international design, and between traditional craft and contemporary expression. A self-taught ceramic artist based between Berlin and India, her practice is grounded in traditional coiling techniques, reimagined as striking, contemporary forms. Her sculptural works explore “bodily gestures,” celebrating form through a minimalist, largely unglazed palette.
“Nilaya Anthology features one of my most important works, Post Anthropocene – a sculpture series that reimagines life and the continuity of nature, with or without us humans,” says Nehra. “Drawing inspiration from megafauna and the species that surround us, it aims to evoke a sense of longing for coexistence and appreciation for life-forms, languages, and cultures beyond those familiar to us.”
Indian glass artist Srila Mookherjee was a key player in introducing contemporary glass art to India, founding Aakriti Studio – Kolkata’s first hot glass atelier – in 1987. Mookherjee actually began her creative practice in ceramics, training in Finland, before moving to London where she studied under renowned glassblower Anthony Stern. When she returned to India, she built her own furnace and became an influential figure in the country’s creative community. Her signature work is fluid and organic – think coral-like bowls, colourful platters, and bottles rolled in silver and gold foil.
Atelier Ashiesh Shah is the namesake art-design studio from acclaimed Indian architect Ashiesh Shah. Each piece in the collection is inspired by Indian geometry and cosmic forms, reimagined through some of India’s lesser-known craft traditions – from channapatna (lacquered woodwork)from Karnataka, to longpi (pottery made using a unique mix of serpentine stone and weathered rock) from Meghalaya, and dhokra (a lost-wax metal casting technique) from Chattisgarh. The resulting collectible pieces are a celebration of the hand of the maker.
