HITEX Exhibition Centre was abuzz as design enthusiasts flocked to partake in Design Democracy 2025. Held from September 5 to 7, the third edition assembled over 120 luxury brands, 80+ speakers, and curated installations by industry vanguards.
Design Democracy Co-Founders Pallika Sreewastav, Arjun Rathi, and Shailja Patwari.
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Design Democracy
Co-founders Pallika Sreewastav, Shailja Patwari, and Arjun Rathi’s unified vision has captivated an estimated audience of over 15,000 visitors. “Design Democracy is proof that when passion finds purpose, magic happens,” says Sreewastav. Rathi draws upon the city’s mien: “Hyderabad’s energy has always resonated with me. This platform enables us to bring a collaborative vision to a larger community.” While Patwari adds, “To us, it is not just a festival, it’s a statement about where Indian design is headed. As soon as one edition concludes, we set the groundwork for the next.”
Design enthusiasts graced Hyderabad to relish Design Democracy’s third edition.
| Photo Credit:
YNotUs
Here are some remarkable finds from the event that celebrated cross-disciplinary showcases traversing furniture, lighting, material innovation, and craft:
Ashni: Bengaluru
Ashni’s creations meld nature-centric inspiration and luxe design sensibilities.
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Ashni
Founder Priti Mehta’s aim in 2014 was simple: to demonstrate that exceptional design and ecological responsibility can coexist — beautifully even. At the design showcase, we witness a moodily lit booth, Ashni’s creations levitating dreamily. Crafted in rich textures of banana fibre, raw silk, handcrafted washi papers, sustainably-sourced bamboo, and reclaimed wood, the luminaires feel sentient.
Priti Mehta
| Photo Credit:
Ashni
“We chose this palette of materials for their natural textures, inherent translucence, and organic elegance. Pieces like Vyoma, Amara Bliss, Midori, and Aurea are inspired by floral life forms, in various stages, some blooming and some modest, bud-like,” says Mehta.
Banana fibre, washi paper, and raw silk form Ashni’s core arsenal of materials.
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Ashni
Her team champions ethical craftsmanship, offering handmade pieces by skilled artisans from the country’s remote regions. Mehta’s impetus transforms lighting into personal, poetic experiences that illuminate spaces.
From ₹4,500 onwards
Jamun Tree: Kolkata
Jamun Tree’s curation mirrors a trail through eras and cultures.
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Team Jamun Tree
The collecting practice at Jamun Tree, which began in 2018, dwells at the intersection of heirloom memory, soul, and lore. They stir this cauldron of inspiration at Design Democracy’s showcase — their booth creating an immersive journey akin to stepping through time itself: ornate mirrors, artisanal crosses, carved busts, and credenzas in tow. An eclectic curation of colonial-era furniture and objects of interest pepper the display, conceived by co-founders Sweta and Anurag Tewari, narrating stories that paint scenes of an era bygone.
Sweta Tewari.
| Photo Credit:
Team Jamun Tree
“Jamun Tree was founded by the second generation of dealers within our family, marking an entry into the retail landscape after being synonymous with antiquing for numerous decades,” shares Sweta. The collection brings pieces of British, Dutch, and Portuguese origin under one roof, alongside notable Hindu and Islamic descent pieces that reflect the homeland’s rich tapestry of heritage.
Jamun Tree’s curation mirrors a trail through eras and cultures.
| Photo Credit:
Team Jamun Tree
From ₹30,000 onwards
Itihaus: Hyderabad
A vividly detailed Vishnu sculpture from Ithaus’ curation.
| Photo Credit:
Clique Studio
Suman Kakumani’s endeavour’s name is a blend of the Hindi word ‘Itihaas’, which translates to ‘history’, and the German word ‘Haus’, meaning ‘home’. Initiated in 2024, Kakumani’s collective focuses on curating unique offerings that commemorate India’s heritage and craft.
Weaving the worlds of Indian lore, mythology, and artisanship, the curator’s vision features the works of Priyanka Aelay, Bhaskar Rao, Kandi Narsimlu, and other artists, alongside sculptural offerings that employ novel mother-of-pearl and straw inlay techniques.
Suman Kakumani.
| Photo Credit:
Clique Studio
“We hope that our patrons find pieces that can become objects of legacy and history within their homes. Art and collectibles bear the ability to speak with us when they truly belong in our spaces,” Kakumani expresses.
From ₹72,000 onwards
Taro Collective: Bengaluru and Milan
An assortment of products from the Kadam Collection.
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Soup by Falka
A creative calling’s wellspring transcends borders — Bengaluru and Milan-based Taro Collective is proof. Co-founded in 2022 by Shikha Rentala, Marco Grimandi, and Federico Fraternale, the studio balances environmental interaction while harmonising Italian aesthetics and Indian production. Their Kadam Collection comprises chairs, consoles, storage units, and a bookshelf, all rooted in nomadic exploration — a fitting representation of the trio’s ethos. “Kadam is a foldable, easy-to-move collection that is painstakingly engineered and light in construction,” says Grimandi. Rentala adds, “The collection reflects who we are based on humans’ intrinsic need for change and an existence laced with variety.”
Marco Grimandi, Shikha Rentala, and Federico Fraternale.
| Photo Credit:
Casa Carigar
Fraternale illuminates the inspiration driving the collection’s genesis: the iconic Tripolina chair. “Oak and stainless steel form the core materials. Things around us appear to have a stationary existence every few feet. We dream up elements that feel alive in one’s space,” he notes.
An assortment of products from the Kadam Collection.
| Photo Credit:
Soup by Falka
From ₹30,000 onwards
Tabula Rasa: Kolkata
The Terra Credenza by Tabula Rasa.
| Photo Credit:
Kamakshi Pasari
Founder Nithika Agarwal’s vision manifests as sculptural creations where structure emulates story. With its beginnings dating back to 2015, Nithika, alongside her daughter Annanya Agarwal, has celebrated honest materiality and hand-finished surfaces and forms that feel primal yet precise. Their capsule this edition melds rhythm, ritual, and resilience articulated as monoliths, tiered geometry, and inlay craft. Tabula Rasa’s core materiality has a palette of natural stones, brass, and mahogany hardwood that creates keystone objects.
Nithika Agarwal
| Photo Credit:
Tabula Rasa
Annanya Agarwal
| Photo Credit:
Tabula Rasa
“They are sculptural enough to pose as conversation-starters and extremely functional, making them a joy to live with! “We draw from Indian craft lineage and architectural rhythm, and the result is timeless pieces that feel like they belong in any ambience,” says Nithika.
From ₹85,000 onwards
Takshni Art Collective: New Delhi
Language and art find common ground in Takshni’s Muladhaar Collection.
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Takshni Art Collective
Richa Uppal’s labour of love, Takshni Art Collective opened its doors in 2019, creating a design platform that explores craft, culture, and community. Uppal’s efforts focus on the preservation of traditional knowledge, imagined through the lens of slow-making processes, regional crafts, and thoughtful materiality.
Takshni’s offerings explore the intersection between artisanal prowess, storytelling, and rooted materiality.
| Photo Credit:
Takshni Art Collective
With their latest collection, Muladhaar, the team explores languages as living archives of civilisations. Uppal says, “When a language fades, an entire philosophy is lost. The installations curated as a part of Muladhaar highlight these languages as vibrant forces that shape human connection.”
Richa Uppal
| Photo Credit:
Takshni Art Collective
Uppal’s work thrives on collaborative pulses, its reach uniting artisans, performers, and designers to create spaces where memory and material breathe in unison.
From ₹24,000 onwards
The writer is an architect and design specialist.
