Heritage as Asset Class

The commercialisation of Indian craft isn't a trend unique to luxury décor. As luxury brands across the world seek out Indian craftsmanship, are homegrown brands waking up to its potential?

- — By Meera Pyarelal —

There is a quiet shift happening in the world of luxury interiors, one that doesn't announce itself loudly but instead unfolds like a well-woven tapestry. It is the emergence of heritage not as nostalgia but as an asset. Of craft not as décor but as identity. And of history not as memory but as modern currency.

In this evolving landscape, Indian craft is being recast subtly, gracefully and deliberately. No longer confined to cultural exhibitions or wrapped in the language of preservation alone, age-old art forms are stepping into homes across the world, speaking fluently the language of contemporary luxury. The evolution is not radical but resolute. With every Pichwai panel framed on a minimalist wall, every console inlaid with the fineness of Bidriware, and every handloom silk stretched across a bespoke armchair, a quiet redefinition is underway.

Reinterpretation of the past

Design, after all, has always drawn from memory. But today’s most sophisticated interiors seek not replication of the past, but a reinterpretation of it. Craft is no longer a footnote. It is the headline. And nowhere is this transformation more evident than in the work of design-led studios who understand the nuanced relationship between culture and commerce.