American Design Icon Kelly Wearstler’s First-Ever Indian Collaboration Is Here | AD India
1 Video View·Jul 13, 2026
Kelly Wearstler’s foray into India is the result of a three-way collaboration between collectible design gallery aequō; artisans specialising in carpentry, enamel work and metal casting; and her eponymous design practice.
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Video Summary
AI GeneratedKelly Wearstler collaborates with Echo Gallery in Mumbai to create a soulful and enigmatic collection. By blending traditional Indian craftsmanship with contemporary design, the project celebrates the synergy between artisans and designers, resulting in sculptural pieces that bridge the gap between historical heritage and modern home aesthetics.
If I had to describe the collection,
I would say it is soulful and enigmatic.
Mumbai is so unbelievably dynamic.
The sound, the color, the people, the creativity.
I've completely fallen in love.
Hi AD, it's Kelly Wurstler and I'm in Mumbai
and I'm shooting the cover of AD at the Echo Gallery.
We were in Paris and we were showing at Bat Paris.
It was our first time showing there and Kelly came by the booth.
She was very intrigued by what she saw.
So I was like, why don't you come and we can do something together.
And I think that booth served almost as a material library
to push the conversation further.
Echo is such an unbelievable partner and gallery
that we're so aligned on creativity and everything is in the hand,
it's in the maker.
I love that Echo has really brought the artisans to the forefront
because they are 50% of the equation.
This collaboration is quite special because we've been investigating
the materiality between three different workshops
but they are all around us in Mumbai
and we've been working with those workshops for years now.
Enameling, I've always been so intrigued with it.
I collect these dishes, these enamel dishes from the 70s,
these really beautiful plates and also jewelry.
And there's like a permanence to the brass that is used
and all of the color and the nuance of the enamel
and then placed in this incredible dichotomy with the brass is just stunning.
Normally we work with one material and one craft at a time
but this was the first time we've assembled it together
and I look forward to doing more of it I think.
It's really truly rewarding to see the final result.
As a studio we love timber
and Echo was very open to experimenting with another material
and we wanted to have something that was a little more fluid
and these pieces are really sculptural, really functional
and this tension between the metal and the wood is really quite dynamic.
We're a country of the handmade.
Every locality, every area has some form of craft.
Learning from everything that they've done,
learning all their traditions, taking all of that knowledge
with deep respect and just making it more relevant
for today's home, today's eyes, today's feeling.
Contemporary craftsmanship to me is about innovation.
It's about celebrating the past and bringing it to the future.
Contemporary Craftsmanship