Indian Designers in International Markets — A Global Footprint

Ar Shobhan Kothari believes that Indian designers are now poised for growth and equipped, better than ever before, to battle it out in previously insuperable international markets.

- Ar Shobhan Kothari

For Indian designers to diversify and flourish, there is no time more providential than the present. Raging pandemic aside, the country’s burgeoning economic growth has put us on the global design map as a hardy force to be reckoned with. Case in point, the Salone del Mobile in Milan, which now welcomes hundreds of Indian designers every year, as opposed to just 10-15 in the early 2000s.

Indian designers are now poised for growth and equipped, better than ever before, to battle it out in previously insuperable international markets. While the First World countries struggle with a saturation of talent and projects, single-minded focus on civic buildings and have limited developers, we are churning our way through a passel of varied projects, breaking down and reinterpreting complex cultural contexts and expertly navigating through a design language that combines global and local influences.

As with any industry, design fields have seen both organic and inorganic growth over the last few years. But when consolidations come into play, through mergers, acquisitions and collaborations, developments become that much more structured and harmonious. On one end of the spectrum, we have a blossoming start-up culture and SMEs that have mushroomed in every corner of the country. On the other, we’re positioned at number three in the world, in the list of countries with the highest number of billionaires in 2021. Put these two together, and you have the story of India Inc.