Situated in Northern India, Ekaya’s 120-year-old handloom atelier hails from a long lineage of master weavers. Renowned for its sought-after Banarsi textiles, the Shah family has upheld the intricate weaving techniques of Banaras for over four generations as one of India’s most esteemed textile ateliers. Under the current leadership of both Palak Shah and her father, Bharat Shah, the family workshop developed its signature collection, Ekaya, in 2012, aimed at preserving the centuries-old weaving techniques of Banaras and the family legacy through more globally appealing and modern designs. Equally revered by their peers and the fine textiles appreciators worldwide, the Shah family has slowly developed an extensive network of over 10,000 master weavers through generations, all contributing to the Ekaya’s rich heritage.

For the first time, the torch is being passed to a woman in the family, Palak Shah. Combining visionary leadership with a deep appreciation for her country’s cultural heritage and family legacy, Shah has brought new projects to the studio with international collaborations to shift the global perception of Indian handloom textiles. These recent initiatives seek to preserve the time-honored Banarsi techniques by developing new textile applications and expressions through the lenses of cross-disciplinary artists and designers, as exemplified by its latest collaboration with renowned New York-based architect and designer Suchi Reddy.

Initiated by the family-owned textile atelier’s fourth generation and first female leader Palak Shah, the capsule collection brings together two multicultural female entrepreneurs of Indian origin who have contributed to their respective industries with groundbreaking achievements, visionary leadership, and free spirits. Nine.5 is their homage to their country’s rich cultural heritage. Inviting master weavers to explore new techniques with modern and abstract patterns, Reddy expands Ekaya’s handloom silk textiles’ possible uses with a new palette of colors—ranging from rust and teal to rose and olive.

VIEW THE COLLECTION

Settee

Bench 01

Bench 02

Daybeds & Benches

Based in New York City, architect-designer Suchi Reddy founded Reddymade in 2002; a cross-disciplinary practice with international projects encompassing institutional and commercial environments, public art installations, adaptive reuse of historic buildings, and residential projects—ranging from single-family homes to micro-apartments and prefab architecture. Reddy’s work has garnered worldwide recognition for her in-depth research on the emotional and psychological impact of spaces, materials, textures and colors, as well as light. The firm approaches each project from Reddy’s rooted mantra that form should follow feeling. Born in Chennai, India, Reddy’s approach to design is deeply influenced by her cultural heritage and her research at the intersection of neuroscience and the arts.

With her forward thinking and integrated approach to design, Reddy has led design research projects for Google inc. and designed the company’s first retail concept and space, which opened in New York City in 2021.

Suchi Reddy is a respected professor, teaching at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, and Cooper Union’s Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture. Her academic contributions include serving as the 2022 Walton Critic at the Catholic University of America and the Plym Distinguished Professor at the University of Illinois School of Architecture, Champaign–Urbana in 2019. In these roles, she has focused on exploring contemporary architectural experience through the lens of neuroaesthetics, neurophenomenology, and sensory design.

Reddy’s work has been widely exhibited with commissions including museum installations for the National Building Museum and the Smithsonian National Museum in Washington D.C., as well as public art installations in New York City’s Time Square and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, among many others.