About the Founder
When Lakbir Mahajan dreams, it's usually in texes, deniers and bolts. Of fabric, that is! What started out in the 90s, simply enough, as helping her college mates identify and uniquely embellish the right fabrics for their wedding trousseaus, has blossomed into an all-enveloping love to transform and showcase fabric that is the talking point of an interiors design scheme. From adorning Indian brides to adorning drapes and home furnishings, Lakbir's love of fabric has found a new direction and expression.
Moving to Japan in 2005 was the turning point in her design journey. Home was a floor in a modern high-rise ensconced in glass on all sides, amid a complex that was part offices and part residences. Aside from tackling the obvious issue of privacy, Lakbir set out to soften the edges that came from inhabiting a space that challenged her to make it look as inviting on the outside looking in as on the inside looking out! Fabric, in all its hues and textures and familiar comfort, came to her rescue. Working with a small budget and a big imagination, Lakbir swathed her apartment in floor to ceiling love and, in so doing, realized that curtains were her calling!
Another international move in 2008, this time back to India, had her indulge in her newfound calling in a very intimate way. Watching artisans skilled in needlecraft and custom textile embroidery - some who'd been in the business for generations - from such close quarters and seeing them breathe life into her designs is something that will never get old for her. The silent cadence of the needle, as it weaves its intricate and ornate pattern on reams of fabric that, then, form part of the whole design story of a space, has Lakbir completely under its spell!
Following a stint to complete her education in interior design from Parsons, New York, Lakbir Formally established her design practice in early 2015. What's so striking about Lakbir's body of work is that while, at once, it awes and stimulates, it does so without sacrificing functionality and comfort! It commands a presence without making a noise! The warp and weft of Lakbir’s design goals start with giving the dressing of windows and doors their rightful due, as elements that are integral to defining and enhancing the mood of a space.
Also, very important to her is to enable artisans skilled in needlecraft, hand worked embroidery, and custom textile work find their rightful place under the sun. Most have learned their skill, very young, by watching and working with an elder in the family and continue to make it their lifework despite the lack of accolades and monetary rewards.
With every design collection, present and future, Lakbir aims to be the torchbearer of their immense, unsung talent by committing a percentage of her earnings toward their upliftment. In presenting her newest collection of drapes, she also hopes to shift entrenched perceptions about art, artist, and space in the coming together of swag, heft, elegance and drama on a chromatic canvas that goes from floor to ceiling!