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| Edited By: Vidya Prabhu |Source: |Updated: Nov 19, 2013, 11:17 PM IST
Furniture designer Gunjan Gupta hopes to set a new trend with her gold and silver wrapped pieces!
Oh yes, you read it right. While gold and silver threads are not really unheard of, pure gold and silver wrapped furniture definitely seems to be the first of its kind. But furniture designer Gunjan Gupta — who has already won critical acclaim for her previous collections and is now set to showcase her gold and silver wrapped furniture — maintains that it isn’t really the case.
“Gold or silver wrapping is hardly new; it has been around since ancient times. So I have delved into the ancient technique of throne decoration; only I have combined contemporary design with traditional skills,” she emphasises, adding that the resulting furniture is a ‘new genre’ in itself.
Maithili Ahluwalia agrees and perhaps that explains why this shrewd entrepreneur is only too happy to let Gunjan showcase her work at her store Bungalow 8. “I actually heard of Gunjan from an international curator friend of mine, Janice Blackburn. Naturally, I was curious and when I ended up meeting Gunjan, I knew that I have a winner,” notes Maithili.
She also feels that Gunjan is one of the few furniture designers in India who have actually brought something new to the table (no pun intended). “There aren’t many who have an intellectual approach towards making furniture but Gunjan has done just that by taking elements from history,” she elaborates. Is the Indian market ready for such furniture? “Why not? At a time when Italian furniture — despite being so expensive — is so popular, the gold wrapped variety should have its share of takers,” retorts Maithili.
Gunjan, on her part, concurs when she says that her work has price-points that match those of its imported counterparts.
What, however, is certainly surprising is the fact that for a person who has participated in international shows like 100% design in the UK, International Contemporary Furniture Fair in NY and also won the British Council’s International Young Design Entrepreneur of the year award, this is but Gunjan’s first ever showing in India.
“I have just started out, my company is a year old and all this while I have been busy showing my works at galleries in Europe. But I’m excited about this show,” she signs off with a smile.
