Memory Makers

Your products, India-inspired and made in India, have a contemporary vocabulary. What has been the philosophy behind the brand?

The philosophy is India, but our product design focus is on speaking about what happens in the marketplaces. Currently, we have our Tiipoi factory in Bangalore, but our makers are spread across the country from Moradabad, Saharanpur, Agra, Firozabad and Bangalore. We want to talk about design features that have not been developed by a single designer, but through a collective memory of people. For me, most definitely, the designs are shaped by memory and most of what you see in local shops in India today. The Loha bowl for example, how the lid sits flush on the bowl, is taken from a very classic design of bowl and lid sets that you find at homes in India. By reinterpreting these classic forms I hope to give these design features a new context and a new audience. The name of our design studio is about a hybridity of culture, something that was lost in translation and left behind, but now occupies some kind of space in our minds.

What will you be showcasing at London Design Festival?

We are presenting our new collection, “Tiipoi in Colour” at Design Junction for LDF. Our products include a new range of powder-coated tableware and our first-ever collection of textiles. Our stall is being presented by our long-term collaborator Foxall studio, who will create an interactive installation called Remote Controlled Smoke, which will be designed as a kind of Indian TV shop, a mix of high tech and DIY to convey the energy of the brand, and of India.