India Mahdavi

Mahdavi's design of Sketch

Shortly before opening her studio in 2000, Mahdavi worked with restaurateur Jonathan Morr on Townhouse, Miami in 1999. A white slate with bright accent colors, the hotel serves as a backdrop to a “endless summer” retreat. This first hotel by Mahdavi explored what would later become her thesis; rich, bold colors to extend beyond the trends of time. Following Townhouse Miami, Mahdavi designed a series of restaurants and bars including the Condesa DF Hotel of Mexico City, At the Connaught in London, and Le Germain in Paris. Best known for its 5 meter tall resin silhouette of a woman, Le Germain’s brasserie was accompanied by a 30 person private cinema, both exploring the material possibilities to give identity to the spaces.[9] Whimsical spaces such as Le Germain are no stranger to Mahdavi. Her design work also includes the design of the famous Laduree restaurant in three locations: Los Angeles, Tokyo, and Geneva. Each location indulges in a design and pastel color palette inspired by Marie Antoinette's style.

In 2014, Mahdavi was hired to design the Sketch Restaurant at the Gallery of London, a restaurant that goes through a redesign every two years. The restaurant has been dubbed the most shared restaurant in the world on Instagram by many, including India herself. Mahdavi called the space "an immersive installation of monochrome thought", and said that she wanted people to feel like they were in a film while in the space.[10] Wrapping the walls are 250 drawings by the artist David Shrigley.

Mahdavi has also dabbled in a variety of retail and residential designs. With the popularity of Sketch came opportunities to design retail spaces for both Tod's and RedValentino, both of which infused furniture pieces from her line. Her residential projects are much like her retail and hospitality designs, packed with color and playfulness.

Soon after founding her studio, Mahdavi began with an exploration into furniture pieces, and opened three showrooms along the Rue Las Casas in Paris, France. The first opening in 2003, and then two following in 2011 and 2020. These showrooms serve as windows into the spaces Mahdavi designs, both showcasing her furniture and different installations.. These furniture lines began in 2003, with a small sample of works, then grew and developed into another exploration, Petits Objets in 2011. Petits Objets includes many different pieces, both functional and decorative, and Mahdavi’s signature color palette that would be used in many of her designs.[11]

As Mahdavi became more of a household name, opportunities arose for her to collaborate with various designers, brands, and creators. In all of these projects, the signature rich colors and patterns of Mahdavi’s designs can be seen. One of her first collaborations was with JEM, a jewelry designer in 2011. Using architectural language she translated to a minute scale, Mahdavi worked with the “ethically minded” company to create a gold voided line.[12] Following this, India worked with several other brands to create ceramics, hardware, and tiles. Some notable projects include the Louis Vuitton Nomadic Objects, designs with Nespresso, and a 56 shade paint line with Meriguet-Carrère in 2019. In 2020, she worked with Longwy Enamels to outfit her iconic Bishop stools, originally produced in 2003, in haute couture flower versions. In other works like the 2015 Cogolin interior garden collection and the 2020 De Gournay wallpaper, it can be seen how Mahdavi’s work of colors and materials goes beyond what she has explored in her own lines, and that her style transcends into new explorations. Not only using these works to engage with new collaborators, but seeing each as a new design opportunity, different from what is conducted solely in her own studio.

Mahdavi's work is a mixture of elegance and cartoonish color. She credits her heritage, worldly upbringing and design study to her notable design style. "You can't pin it down to a specific influence or reference," said Yann Le Coadic, "...Every detail of a space India designs is thought out to the millimeter, and yet the overall impression is very uncontrived. India focuses on how a space will be lived and not what visual impression it will make."[13]

“I really think of myself like the French word metissage (meaning the cultural mix of society),” says India. “I am a pure product of the Middle East product –at least by blood – but I actually got to know my homeland much later.” To know where I belong very late in life made it more emotional for me. It was like ‘what did I miss out on’ and ‘how can I integrate these elements into my life today.’”[14]

Regarded as the “queen of color”, Mahdavi is most known for her playful palettes and unwavering use of color in her designs. Ralph Pucci, who has Mahdavi’s colorful furniture on display at the Ralph Pucci International Gallery says that her “work has humor, but it’s not 100 percent humor, which would make it kitsch. It has sophistication, but it’s not 100 percent sophistication, which would make it predictable. It’s this perfect balance that makes her work original.”[15]

Depiction of the Condesa de Mexico City.

One of Mahdavi’s most notable projects, Sketch at the Gallery of London, turned her into a social media sensation. Central to Mahdavi’s design was a velvety pink that adorned every corner of the space, including her own furniture piece featured, the ‘Charlotte’ armchair. In regards to the restaurant’s sensational recognition, Mahdavi said “I don’t want to sound like I’m boasting, but I changed the way people thought about pink.” [16] When asked about her legacy as a designer, Mahdavi replied “I will probably be remembered as someone who uses color as her own language. The language of freedom. And that is fine with me.[17]"

Looking for measurable impact of her work, it can be clearly found the social media success of her projects—especially the Sketch Gallery of London. True to Mahdavi’s previous works, the velvety pink space was packed with whimsy—its cool yet bright atmosphere drawing thousands of visitors just to snap the perfect picture with highly sought geotag.   In regards to the restaurant’s sensational recognition, Mahdavi said “I don’t want to sound like I’m boasting, but I changed the way people thought about pink.”[16]