Phantom Hands is based in Bangalore, India and makes handcrafted, design-driven furniture. Its collections include re-editions of modernist classics from the 20th Century, as well as original objects created in collaboration with contemporary furniture and textile designers.
Phantom Hands started off in 2014 as a monthly catalog of curated vintage objects, a hobby project of its founders Deepak Srinath and Aparna Rao. In their quest to find past objects of quality craftsmanship, they stumbled onto design histories highlighting the cosmopolitan modernism that defined the early years of independent India. Their natural inclination was towards furniture with an aesthetic that was not ornate; in which simplicity, clean lines, proportions, and the logic of construction stood out. Predictably, they encountered modernist furniture made for the city of Chandigarh in the 1950s and their fascination with it sparked the idea of remaking them.
After much thought, and investigations into its authorship claims and copyright situation - a journey that took them from Chandigarh to Geneva, via Montreal and Paris - Aparna and Deepak took the plunge and set up a small workshop in Bangalore to make handcrafted furniture. The first collection of furniture from Phantom Hands,
Project Chandigarh, was launched in May 2015. Having started with three chair models, the collection has expanded to re-editions of several pieces of furniture that was originally designed for the city of Chandigarh under the guidance of Swiss architect Pierre Jeanneret.
Phantom Hands' design collaborations
Since 2017, Phantom Hands has collaborated with contemporary designers such as INODA+SVEJE, x + l, Derek Welsh, Padmaja Krishnan, Klemens Grund, Nityan Unnikrishnan, BIG-GAME, Felix Pfäffli and others to create collections of original design. These collections draw inspiration from the form and philosophy of Indian Modernism that originated in Chandigarh, and an exploration of the possibilities that traditional Indian craft offers. Phantom Hands is now a craft collective of nearly 100 artisans who specialise in carpentry, cane weaving, upholstery work, and wood finishing.
