In addition to Mumbai being India’s biggest city, it also has the most prevalent architecture and design community in the country. This year, the city will throw its arms open to the global design scene and invite in a world-class celebration of design from 6th to 9th November.

This inaugural event will bring together international and local talent. Founded by a trio of event producers and design specialists, the curators have partnered with the UK’s longest-running independent events organiser, Montgomery Group, to present leading brands, manufacturers and designers, with Mumbai as their vibrant backdrop.

With 60 years combined experience, Design Mumbai founders Ian Rudge, Michael Dylan and Piyush Suri all hail from backgrounds renowned for delivering successful events across the globe. Ian Rudge has previously crafted several influential international design events, including co-founding the UK’s most successful design event, 100% Design. Launching over 30 live event brands that are now staged annually, Michael Dynan is well-known in the design events scene, having also co-founded Design Shanghai. Piyush Suri’s experience spans beyond just event curation; he is a brand-owner himself, designer, and TV presenter for the BBC and Channel 4, as well as being actively involved in shaping industry events.

The founders have created Design Mumbai as an event that aims to “showcase both established and emerging talent from all interior product sectors globally, across furniture, lighting, materials, kitchens and bathrooms, workplace, wall and floor coverings, and outdoor living,” they say. The event is very much about providing the design community from near and far an opportunity to view international showcases and engage with rising local design talent as well.

Design Mumbai was born out of a recognition that there is an extraordinary appetite for design in India. The resulting event offers a highly curated portfolio of contemporary designers, networking opportunities, and exposure to the latest and most innovative new products. “Design Mumbai will be an industry tool to rival leading international trade events,” share the founders, noting how they are expecting a high volume of attendees over the four-day event.

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“Design Mumbai is a new platform that can broadcast the design wealth of this extraordinary subcontinent,” states UK-based designer, Tom Dixon, adding that “India’s creativity, natural capital, vast reservoir of skills and technology, and rich history should be more widely recognised and celebrated.”

Co-founder of one of the event exhibitors, Loco Design, is Parminder Pal Singh. He shares how Loco Design have “found a perfect alliance in Design Mumbai, being an ambitious event that comes at the right time for India’s fast-paced, maturing market.”

Several other leading brands share Parmindar’s sentiments, particularly local designers such as AndBlack Design, AKFD Studio, and INKA. “These local studios form a core component of the exhibitors,” share the founders of Design Mumbai, while also being “complemented by a range of celebrated international brands,” which include Zaha Hadid Studio, Poltrona Frau, de Sede VitrA, and Michael Young.

Together, these local and international designers will form an exciting and rich tapestry of contemporary design to be experienced by not only local Mumbaikers, but design-enthused people from all over India, and also industry professionals from across the world. The four-day trade event will be held in Jio World Garden in the heart of Mumbai, running 6-9th November, 2024.

Design Mumbai is supported by the Montgomery Group, who are renowned for their successful curation of over 50 events across 15 countries, including Art Central in Hong Kong, Art SG in Singapore, Photo New York, and the highly regarded India Art Fair in Delhi, which has run for 15 years.

Design Mumbai
design-mumbai.com

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