Josmo

How challenging has it been to stick to your design ethos all this while the world changes so rapidly?
It’s been quite easy and exhilarating to be honest. Our factory has adapted and adopted best practices, along with some exciting news machines and softwares that have made the act of designing and making quite enjoyable. 

Our design ethos has always been to find a way to blend the hand and the machine, whilst leaning on nature for inspiration. I don’t think the changing times will ever be able to impact that for the worse.

What according to you makes a good design?
After years of fine-tuning I’ve discovered that the best design comes from deep listening- to the people we make with, the people we make for, and the culture we all coexist within. And it at this intersection I believe great design is born.

Since we are talking for the first time, can you tell us how you made your mark in a place like Goa that is not known to have the best resources since it is a small town? Your factory is known to have state-of-the-art facilities.
My relationship with Goa started on a very personal front. I moved my base from Mumbai to Goa for a better quality of life and to be more around nature.While my base moved, my way of working didn’t!  I came to a new space with the same determination and ambition that I had in the city. It was easier for me to do big things here. I had been visiting Goa for over 20 years ever since I was 4 years old, so the space was familiar to me. What helped me a lot from a reassurance point of view was that my father had a big business in goa that continues to thrive. I leaned on that a lot for moral support when times got tough. Goa has been a tough place to expand the business and grow my design and factory teams. It’s a very challenging place to get things done, and most basic things cost more than usual or don’t even exist at times. If i didn’t have the team I have , and the aggressive culture of constantly driving for excellence , I wouldn’t have ever been in the position I am today. 

You’ve come home now, what inspired the move to come to Bombay and how different or similar is it from your Goa space?
I think it was time for a home coming. I’ve been looking for the right space ever since I left. While my heart was in Goa, my head has always been in Mumbai. It’s the place where my dreams took form, and our patrons, friends and biggest believes still are. I knew I didn’t want a space in yet-another crowded complex of retail stores. It had to be an independent space, connecting the north to the south of Mumbai- a place that was perfectly set in the middle, unavoidably convenient and had breathing room to grow and thrive. We found the perfect spot- and things started rolling into motion almost immediately.

It’s been close to a year since I decided to expand a store to Mumbai and we have come full circle. The Mumbai store, as you’ll see when you visit - has a completely different vibe than that of Goa. For starters- it’s half the size of our Goa space, making it more intimate as an experience. Since space was tight- every decision was very calculated and thoughtful executed - refining things to fine detail, just the way I like them. The mumbai store has a plush, formal vibe, catering to Mumbai and Alibag requirements, whereas Goa’s curation is slightly more relaxed and informal. I’m very confident Mumbai will be recieved well and with much gusto.

From sketches to products, can you talk about your design process?
Care for context and culture underpins everything we do, and this philosophy is put into daily practice in how we work together. Architects , designs, craftsmen and material specialists work in sync at every stage- from conceptualisation to manufacturing, allowing for furniture that feels as functional as it looks beautiful.

By asking the same question ‘who is this for, and how will it speak to them personally?’ we leave room to arrive at different answers , and it is at this intersection that we believe great design is born. The aim is always to make the spaces that people live in a celebration of who they are.

There is a technique and approach that Josmo is known for, can you talk a little about it and how it was inspired and makes your practice unique?
At Josmo, we bend but never break the fundamentals of great design. Every piece of furniture or home decor we make is born out of a rigorous process that follows the heart, respects the hand , and elevates the eye.

How easy/difficult is it for you to find the balance between functionality and aesthetics?
First make it work, then make it right. Finally, make it beautiful! At Josmo , utility and beauty is not a zero sum game. It is a delicate dance between 2 ideals , that thrive when brought together.