Textile Designer Kangan Arora on Her Creative Journey

The new avatar of Tent London and Super Brands, the 2016 London Design Fair brings together the largest selection of brands, creative people and country pavilions in one place. Through its duration, the host city becomes the epicenter for design, showcasing avant-garde work from some of the most creative minds across product, textiles and home décor. In the past, Indian design has had a very limited showing, but its first ever dedicated pavilion, This is India, curated by Spandana Gopal and Jimmy McDonald was an attempt to change that and bring the country’s emerging sensibility to a global stage.

Designed by Punjab-born Kangan Arora, the show was a reflection of her own distinctive aesthetic — a nod to her strong roots and a bold use of colour and abstraction that reference both East and West.

On Indian design…
“With a growing design sensibility in India, I believe Indian design has a wide audience both at home and abroad, the future is bright for emerging Indian design studios.”

The creative journey…
“I got to homeware via a rather convoluted route having studied fashion at NIFT. It was during my time in Gujarat that I fell in love with textiles and decided to study further at Central Saint Martins and specialise in printed textiles. My weekends as a student were spent working in the fabrics department at Heal’s, one of the most inspiring homeware stores in London. So the seed was sown!”

Future aspirations…
“Having ventured into installation and space design for this year’s fair, I’d like to continue down this path. I also want to keep up my product collaborations and perhaps design some furniture next. Watch this space!”

Giving back…
“I would like to support institutions like Kala Raksha that strive to preserve Indian craft, giving it a new context and a new market.”