We are in Alibag on a warm afternoon, at a carpentry workshop surrounded by lush greens on all four sides. Kelly Wearstler is in animated conversation with Jeevaram—the owner, who comes from a generational suthar (carpenter) family—over his suggestion to use a more sophisticated hinge for one of her cabinets. Rather, she’s in conversation with Jeevaram’s son, who is playing the role of translator, given the linguistic gap. A five-minute proposition, supported by visual demonstrations on a product sample, and Wearstler is convinced on the hinge. She promptly moves on to the next order of business, and it is made clear that despite their language barrier, they communicate perfectly. In a remote Maharashtrian workshop, some 15,000 kilometres from her home in Los Angeles, Wearstler appears to be right at home.
This is the American designer’s first trip to the subcontinent, though her connection to India was forged a couple of years ago, when she met Florence Louisy, the creative director, and Tarini Jindal Handa, the founder, of aequō in Paris. Since its launch in 2022, aequō has been a champion of contemporary craft in the country, through collaborations with both Indian and international designers, realised by the gallery’s extensive network of artisans. “We connected with Kelly and there was this natural feeling that, at some point, doing something together could be genuinely exciting. Nothing formal, just a shared curiosity,” Louisy says. “The second time we met was in Miami, and that is really when things started to take shape. Kelly told us she wanted to explore colour and texture in a very expressive, almost physical way, something with presence and energy.”
The gallery approaches collaboration in a very particular way. “When we create this cultural matchmaking between a designer and a workshop, the designer must begin by understanding the context of the atelier—its rhythm, its tools, what can be pushed and what must be respected,” Louisy explains. “Our role is first to transmit our fascination for a craft and give the designer that same excitement. We create the right encounter between a designer’s world and the world of a workshop. Once the project begins, we guide the process, and make sure the designer and the artisan stay aligned.”
For Wearstler, this special methodology hit all the right notes. Over the past 30 years, the multi-hyphenate has built one of the most recognisable luxury interior and product design practices, securing her a spot in the coveted American AD100 Hall of Fame. She has released five books and one fashion line, and is the first interior designer to be part of the MasterClass series. Her newest venture, a curatorial platform called Side Hustle, is a manifestation of her collaborative nature, and her widely-read Substack, WearstlerWorld has become a popular window into her modus operandi. Through it all, her brand is consistent. The Wearstler visual code is colourful, material-driven and wholly seductive.
Her creative alliance with aequō spans 15 collectibles across two lines. The designer says, “When I met Florence and Tarini, it felt like meeting kindred spirits. Their commitment to elevating India’s artisans on a global stage immediately resonated with me.” The first collection, Lahar, is a 12-piece collection of design accessories and furniture. A sinuous vector motif cast in a bronze-aluminium alloy forms the frame of the objects, fitted with enamel panels. “I’ve always been intrigued by enamelling,” Wearstler adds. “I collect enamelled dishes and jewellery, and I’m drawn to the colour, variation and permanence of bronze paired with the nuance of enamel.” She adds, “Because the pieces are dynamic and timeless, we wanted the colour to be a secondary sensibility—bone, a deep green, ebony and a beautiful soft grey.”
The second line, Tarang, a curved wood collection of two chairs and a bench, is crafted in reclaimed burnt teak wood with patinated cast bronze rims. “There’s a beautiful movement and soul in the timber, and the shape is fluid, giving the pieces a quiet, sculptural presence.”
The collections were created in partnership with workshops across Mumbai and Alibag that are part of aequō's rare roster of craftspeople across India. In the tapering lanes of Mumbai’s Kumbharwada metal industry area, Prakash Sawant takes us through the process of metal casting. He has worked with aequō on several projects, but this is among his larger commissions. At Sanjay Patil’s 40-year-old enamel workshop in Alibag, the walls are lined with decorative plates and other samples. Colourful enamel squares, that will find their way onto Wearstler’s pieces, are laid out on the table. Twenty minutes away, Jeevaram’s space, home to 250 artisans, feels like a repository of the finest woodwork. Wearstler’s astute conversations with the master artisan offer an insight into how hands-on she is. With a genuine reverence for craftsmanship, she refers to this as a three-way collaboration—between her studio, the gallery and the artisans. “The skill these artists have is incredible,” she says. “Even the first samples had such mastery. We refined details, of course, but the execution was exceptional from the very beginning.”
While we may wax lyrical about India’s craft potential, the sentiment is empty until the craftspeople are recognised as collaborators as opposed to being invisible hands. Jindal Handa puts it best when she says, “We do not want to just be nostalgic about craftsmanship as heritage. We want to collaborate and innovate with artisans. The designer, the artisan and the gallery—without one of them, this is not possible. It’s in the coming together of all creative energies, without any hierarchies, that a thing of beauty is born.”
Production: Harshita Nayyar
Stylist: Priyanka Kapadia
Hair: Umang Thapa
Make-up: Kritika Gill
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