The carpet sits on the floor, hiding whatever is brushed underneath. Its aesthetic often goes unsung. But that’s only if you don’t have an artist in the house. Happily, Mishcat, a design studio located in Delhi’s Jungpura Extension, has Ishrat Sahgal showing the way. She is a 27-year-old interior designer who is passionate about carpets and believes they play a significant role in interior design. Provided, of course, that they’re imaginatively designed, gloriously coloured and feel like butter under your feet.
Which is exactly how one would describe the silk carpets that Sahgal creates for her brand Mishcat (which incidentally is one of her nicknames). What makes these carpets different from the ones being woven in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, or even Kashmir, is that these are made from the silk that goes into the creation of south Indian sarees.
How is it done? First, silk sarees yarn is collected from independent weavers across south India and put into the looms. The designs are a curated combination of Sahgal’s ideas and weavers’ suggestions. Once the weaving is over, the carpets are dyed, washed and faded for a wabi-sabi finish. Each carpet in the Loka series, which means ‘world’ in Sanskrit and is the name given to the recycled saree silk rug, takes two to three months to finish. No two rugs have the same colour or pattern. Bustling blues, deep purples and goblin greens come together in one rug; another has pinks and oranges playing neighbours. Each piece is like a curious rainbow on a surface that’s soft on the fingers and soothing to the mind.
Apart from Loka, Mishcat also sells rugs sourced from independent weavers and artisans from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The Chiara collection is a cocktail of wool and silk in Mishco pattern. The Amara line consists of hand-knotted wool rugs with contemporary ikat prints.
This isn’t Sahgal’s first stint in interior design. While studying interior architecture at Rhode Island School of Design, with a minor in Art History, Sahgal worked with New York-based designer Susan Gutfreund. “Our clients included art collectors, royal families and famous fashion designers. It meant delivering nothing less than the best,” she recalls.
On returning to India in 2013, Sahgal started doing interiors for homes and creating home products like blankets and throw pillows. How did rugs come into the picture? “I was surprised to find that there were only exorbitantly-priced rugs, which weren’t even appealing,” she says, adding that she hated recommending something to her clients that she wouldn’t use in her own home.
Mishcat began its journey with a pop-up at Olive in Qutub during Christmas 2014. Seeing how her products got people excited, Sahgal decided to set up her own store. She chose the current location because she wanted to steer clear of the image that a commercial walk-in stores has. “Also, I stay close by, which gives me an advantage to keeping things under control,” she says. Though rugs are what Mishcat has come to be best known for, the store also sells throws and floor cushions. Anyone can walk in if they’re looking to make a purchase, but if it’s Sahgal they’re looking for, they need to make an appointment. The young designer is currently busy working on a restaurant for ITC Chandigarh and couturier Rohit Bal’s upcoming store in Defence Colony.
Right now, the rugs are priced at `25,000 onwards and go up to `2.5 lakh depending on the size. (Incidentally, they are also available at Sarita Handa stores in Delhi and Mumbai, apart from the Mishcat studio.) But going forward, Sahgal plans to also introduce a mid-budget collection. “That, after all, is the main reason for setting up the store, to put carpets where they belong: in the heart of the living room for everything else to flower around them beautifully,” she says.
Next up is a taupe and fluorescent neoprene blend for carpets. Her ultimate aim is to make Mishcat a global one-stop shop for curated design with deep-rooted Indian craft sensibilities.