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

Recycled PET bottle seats, French iridescent crystal orbs, benches that marry sabai grass weaving and teak carving, cashmere seats with cast brass ellipsoids for drama, sculptural lighting — these were just some of the design statements and material mastery on display at India Design ID 2026 in New Delhi. It ran in the penultimate week of February.

A few standout booths won applause for their imagination, with a truly Indian soul, and finally, The New Guard celebrated upcoming design voices.

Some of the highlights at this edition, which celebrated Design Syncretism, included ‘Design, Tomorrow’, a special curation of objet d’art by festival director Misha Bains, the ColourNext pavilion by Asian Paints, and French mastery across lifestyle spaces. A few standout booths won applause for their imagination, with a truly Indian soul, and finally, The New Guard celebrated upcoming design voices.

Misha Bains

The French quarter

Business France and the Embassy of France in India, along with ID, presented French designers and Indian innovators across craft forms. H.E. Thierry Mathou, Ambassador of France to India, was upbeat about the collaboration. “Being held under the India-France Year of Innovation banner, this event combines the excellence of the French lifestyle industry with innovation to build ambitious and inspiring collaborations between our two countries.” The curation was energetic and eclectic. Brilliant crystal by Baccarat, Daum and Cristal Benito, sophisticated sonic systems by Devialet, biophilic kinetic lighting by Lux Temporis and furnishing by Casamance & Misia shared space with Indian design studio Klove, a guest designer known for hand-blown glass lighting.

Cristal Benito

Bains observes, “When it comes to France, it is not the brand name but the designers who stand at the forefront. As for India, earlier we were considered a maker’s market, but now India is a place where collaborations can happen, celebrating craftsmanship with a contemporary flair. We also have a strong presence at 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, both in materiality and scope, ‘Design, Tomorrow’ offered studios a space to spotlight Indian modernism married with traditional art forms. This year, Bains said she “wanted to display craft and design in a museum-like environment. Traditionally, if you talk about futuristic design, you think of space and technology. We wanted to define the future of design in terms of storytelling, by highlighting eco-conscious design, utilising and reusing resources from the POV of longevity.” Each of the 47-pieces created was unique across materiality and encompassed lighting, tapestries, furniture, textiles, etc.

EcoLattice chair

“The EcoLattice chair uses recycled plastic waste and bonded material to create a seat. You have a narrative of sustainability where Ariane Ginwala’s studio, ThisandThat, has a beautiful bench celebrating traditional craftsmanship (teak carving with sabai grass weaving from Odisha). There is sustainability built into each craft in India, because it’s from a particular region catering to daily needs, and craft is functional,” Bains explains.

Material intelligence forecast

Asian Paints celebrated craftsmanship, heritage and hope, with a future-facing design language at its ColourNext pavilion. The brand unveiled ‘moonlit silk’ as the colour of the year. A delicious shade of amla green, it is a return to nature and texture, and quite a departure from Pantone’s monochrome ‘Cloud Dancer’. The pavilion, also presented four design directions, each with its own curated space conceptualised and designed by Bengaluru-based Wari Watai. The curation by Asian Paints offered an idea of what Indian design can expect in the year ahead.‘Pastoral’ was a celebration of heritage, focusing on materials and traditions shaped over time, while ‘Solarpunk’ highlighted regeneration, resilience and a balance between nature and technology. The ColourNext pavilion balanced overstimulation with mindful presence in ‘IRL’, designed to spark conversations, by creating thoughtfully grounded environments, while ‘Daydream’, was an ode to fever dreams with playful forms, creating environments that feel comfortable, using transparency and gentle layering.

Gen-Next designers

An initiative to create a platform for Gen-Next designers, this pavilion was a look at how rooted Indian design branches out, finding new expression in modern aesthetics. “We created an open call for people to submit their projects and shortlisted six studios. A lot of them are very young, but they’re reviving shapes and forms traditionally,” explains Bains. “The response to our collection, especially the interactive wall, was exceptional. We met incredible people, explored exciting partnership opportunities, and walked away with fresh ideas for our upcoming collections,” says Parth Parikh, founder of Design Clinic India.

Blow Bench by Pasana

The chosen six studios celebrated Indian artisans using heritage craft with a contemporary syntax. Three studios from Ahmedabad: Umber Furniture Co. (co-founded by Niti Sehgal and Nandakumar S.S.) invoked intuitive design with traditional craftsmanship; the Hero Chair by Amolakh (founded by Amolakh, managed by grandson Maneesh Kumar Jangid) explored structural efficiency and extreme 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 celebrate tactile richness of hand processes. Indore-based Spero Furniture, founded by Madhuri Rao, explored furniture as dialogue between alloy and wood grains and New Delhi-based Orikrit, co-founded by Deepti and Ayush Jain, reinterpreted folding through contemporary objects and lighting.

Worthy mentions

Jaipur Rugs in collaboration with Princess Pea.

For Sharan Apparao, creative director, Apparao Galleries, three studios stood out. She explains, “Beyond Designs (velvet chateau), Nivasa (sophisticated vignettes) and Within (marble dust wall installation, traditionally built objet d’art) really shone with their maximalist presentation in a contemporary way. From woven walls, beautifully framed images, and expert finishing, they were impressive. Both art and accessories got good attention. I particularly liked Kohelika Kohli’s booth, while Jaipur Rugs are really outdoing themselves (collaboration rugs with Princess Pea).”

The Petty Chair

Elsewhere, all eyes were on The Petty Chair (made by the Wallmakers in collaboration with Neytt Extraweave), fashioned from recycled PET bottle yarn, with a single length of the carpet repeatedly folded and stitched to form a self-standing ergonomically designed seat.

Mr. B dining chairs by Rooshad Shroff

Studio Metallurgy

The molten-inspired chairs of metallurgy, sculptural stone furniture by Pasana, embroidered cabinets and Mr. B dining chairs by Rooshad Shroff (cashmere upholstered chairs with walnut wood and cast brass ellipsoid features) and Radhika Sanghvi’s inspired sculptural illumination, Faulty Lines, were just some of the materially diverse examples of the theme, ‘Design Syncretism’.

Magma Console by Pasana

Bains concludes, “The whole idea is to read the pulse of the industry. What we see right now is designers born in India, but with global influences, bringing back rooted craft. We have different cultural practices from across the country, coming together as well. It’s contemporary design, a new wave.”

The freelance writer is based in Chennai.