The Journey of Design | India Chapter
Designed by Weylandts. Crafted in India.
In between broken chairs and cups of chai, vessels with rich and lasting histories decorate an unpolished warehouse. A place where duality lives. For Weylandts, travel is about finding the beauty in the dilapidated, innovation in tradition, and freedom in surrendering to experience. It’s about stepping into environments that challenge, confront, and inspire.
Chris and Anna Weylandt have gone to and returned from India many times in the history of Weylandts. With longstanding suppliers of over a decade, the craftspeople and artisans have become a part of our visual language. They have cemented their fingerprints in the natural stone from quarries in Rajasthan, their stories are carried through antiques that are preserved and repurposed.
Our latest collection, launching soon, is an expression of these relationships and a dedication to the process. Designed by Weylandts and crafted in India, these pieces are the product of not only months of research and development but decades of knowledge, skill, and learning. And along the way, a chai or two.
“The romance of India is that it doesn’t really change. There is a love for keeping the tradition and culture alive and not modernising” – Chris Weylandt
In Moradabad, the air is thick with heat and metallic rhythm. Bicycle-lined streets give way to foundries where molten metal is poured into hand-built sand moulds. A process that dates back thousands of years, where no two forms are ever the same. Here, we work with suppliers and make sure that process is embedded into the product. Textures, marks of the method, imperfections are all baked into our pieces to celebrate their journeys.
Each mould is shaped from clay, sand, and water. Built by hand, broken by hand, and rebuilt again. The process is slow, physical, and deeply human. It is in this repetition, this pressure, this patience, that form begins to take shape. Chris muses, “In that space, you are so removed from your normal life. When you are present, you are free from limits.”
Across cities, the journey unfolds in fragments. Chai stops at roadside stalls that have stood for generations. Long drives filled with conversation, adjustment, and reflection. Brainstorms where ideas are tested, rejected, and reworked in real time.
In Jaipur, stone yards stretch endlessly. Slabs of marble, each with their own story, are selected not for uniformity, but for character. Different finishes are explored and tested to reveal the innate markings of these ancient stones.
“The journey of the product and the amount of effort that goes into making these pieces sets us apart. We are passionate about finishes, obsessed with detail, and dedicated to craft.” — Chris Weylandt
What emerges is more than product. It is a collection of moments, of places, and of hands that have shaped each surface.
