India Mahdavi

Since opening her studio in 2000, architect and interior designer India Mahdavi has been internationally recognised for her many multi-faceted projects, which explore the fields of architecture, interior design, scenography, furniture, and object design.

The Queen of Colour

India Mahdavi is known for creating unique environments, combining a modern sense of comfort and elegance with colour and humour. While she describes herself as a “polyglot and polychrome”, India Mahdavi is often referred to as ‘the Queen of Colour’. Her unique design vocabulary is unmistakably joyful, cosmopolitan and elegant all at once.

— Colours are the consequences of my memory, of my heritage: my Iranian and Egyptian origins, growing up in the United States in the 60s and living in the South of France. It is a language that I have come to use fluently. As I see it, colours have conversations. They argue and reconcile.

The Marble vase by India Mahdavi.

India Mahdavi and Svenskt Tenn

India Mahdavi’s studio, boutique, showroom, and project room; located on Rue las Cases in Paris, is a place that celebrates a free sense of expression.

— In order to design a space, I analyse its constraints, its needs and its context. I listen to it. I often compare spaces to people and always offer solutions that echo the energy the space inspires. That is how my studio operates: the human aspect prevails.

India Mahdavi has always admired architect and designer Josef Frank, the fact that Svenskt Tenn was founded by a woman, Estrid Ericson, and that the company is now owned by the Kjell and Märta Beijer foundation. She has used Josef Frank’s fabrics and patterns in many projects over the years, aiming to recreate the joyful feeling which permeates his work. In 2022, she curated the exhibition “Frankly Yours – India Mahdavi” in the store at Strandvägen 5 in Stockholm. In conjunction to which, she also designed a series of objects for Svenskt Tenn.

“Colours are the consequences of my memory, of my heritage: my Iranian and Egyptian origins, growing up in the United States in the 60s and living in the South of France.”

India Mahdavi

India Mahdavi created the Peanut plate in pewter as a tribute to Svenskt Tenn’s founder Estrid Ericson.

A piece of jewellery on the table.