Trends and furniture: Orange Tree and Swoon Editions unveil design partnership
In this photo essay from Orange Tree in Hyderabad, we showcase a range of interior products along with designer insights.
Launched in 2014, PhotoSparks is a weekly feature from YourStory, with photographs that celebrate the spirit of creativity and innovation. In the earlier 910 posts, we featured an art festival, cartoon gallery. world music festival, telecom expo, millets fair, climate change expo, wildlife conference, startup festival, Diwali rangoli, and jazz festival.
Founded in 1998 by Vinay Kumar Jain, Jodhpur-based Basant has become a leading manufacturer and designer of furniture for global brands. Its domestic retail arm, Orange Tree, was launched by Gaurav Jain in 2014 (see Part I and Part II of our earlier photo essays on their showroom and factory in Jodhpur).
At its Hyderabad showroom this week, Orange Tree unveiled its partnership with furniture brand, Swoon Editions. The UK-based company targets audiences who would describe themselves as “bold, brave, and daring.”
Founded in 2012, its ‘statement designs’ are meant to be noticed and complimented. From brass-clad upstands to fluted doors, its products are made in small batches. The company partners with family-run factories overseas as well, in Poland, China, India, and Vietnam.
The brand was co-founded by Debbie Williamson, who spoke at a panel discussion during the Hyderabad launch. The panel included Gaurav Jain, architect Shivani Shah Jayasinha, and Swoon’s design head Sam Greig.
The collaboration brings to the market a curated collection of 30 furniture pieces, Greig explained. Storytelling is an important part of this positioning and narrative.
The panelists explained how design cuts across languages, but can also be culture-specific. International collaborations in design can thus lead to an interesting blend of global and local appeal.
Swoon Editions offers a range of styles and thematic collections, such as industrial, Scandinavian, art deco, and contemporary. “But we encourage our customers to mix and match items,” Williamson suggested.
“We embrace boldness as well as practicality to make our products desirable by customers. We combine tradition, modernity and sustainability,” Jain said.
The company blends machine manufacturing with human craft in its products. “Human synergy transcends passports. We also expose educators and students to our design practices,” he added.
Jayasinha addressed some notable design trends. For example, materials like resin and acrylic are being fused into hybrid designs for décor products.
“Classics are being redefined. In a world becoming smaller, faster and more global, people still have an attachment to their own culture,” she observed.
The panelists listed events where design collaborations can be showcased. For example, the annual London Design Festival offer opportunities for global partnerships in the creative industry.
Travel opens up the vision for designers, manufacturers and consumers, panel moderator Murtaza Ali Khan summed up.
Now what have you done today to pause in your busy schedule and harness your creative side for a better world?
(L to R) Shivani Shah Jayasinha, Gaurav Jain, Murtaza Ali Khan, Debbie Williamson, Sam Greig
(All photographs taken by Madanmohan Rao on location at Orange Tree Hyderabad.)