HYDERABAD: From lights made with milk cans and glass bangles, to colourful chairs woven out of waste cloth - Sahil & Sarthak is all about innovative yet sustainable design solutions. Started by Sahil Bagga (35) and Sarthak Sengupta (35), the brand offers tables with legs made from waste wood, cup-like wall pockets crafted by Manipur’s Longpi artisans, tea light holders inspired by Indian monuments and pin tuck lamps handcrafted in brass and copper.
Unusual innovations
Launched five years ago, the brand has made it to design festivals like London’s Alchemy Festival (2011), Frankfurt’s Ambiente Fair (2012) and the Milan Design Week (2011 & 2012). They have also grabbed awards like the Elle Decor International Design Award (2011) and India Design Forum Award (2013) for their Katran collection, featuring contemporary furniture made from leftover cloth from cloth mills. Sarthak Sengupta explains, “The Katran collection narrates the story of recycling and revival. The villagers who weave these chairs are traditional khatiya weavers. Since those rope cots are out of fashion now, we revived their skills to get something functional made, that would fit perfectly in a home in Milan or New Delhi.”
Similarly, their milk can lights were born after they found artisans specialised in making milk cans but who had to stop producing them after the advent of plastic bottles. The idea of bangle lamps, though, came from Sahil Bagga’s mother. “Sahil’s mother used to hang her glass bangles on clothes hangers to prevent them from breaking. We decided to turn her idea into a light, and to make it more interesting, we twisted the hangers to replicate the arches of monuments,” says Sengupta.
Big projects
Sengupta (from a product design background) and Bagga (from an applied art background) had met at Politecnico di Milano, in 2006, where they were pursuing their Product Service System Design Masters course. On finding similar design ideologies while being mentored by architect/designer Giulio Cappellini, they returned to India to open their studio in New Delhi. They have created products for several luxury ventures like the Neemrana Fort Palace, Rajasthan, NDTV Good Homes, CBI headquarter, and homes in Commonwealth Games Village and the affluent Meera Bagh area in New Delhi. They also customise chairs and other furniture from their Katran collection to suit the colour palette of a room. The brand recently participated in Craftepreneur – the exhibition by Crafts Council of India.
Priced from RS 1,500 to RS 25,000.
Details: sahilsarthak.com