A significant aspect of Doshi Levien’s design practice has been built through thoughtful exchanges between a modernist design vocabulary and traditional Indian artisanal techniques. The studio’s Raag collection for CC-Tapis continues this approach. The six handwoven rugs evolved from meticulous sketches where drawing is treated as a practice in itself – a place for ideas to develop over years before manifesting as finished pieces. For Raag, Nipa Doshi returned to the vertical bands of colour that she first sketched in 2022, assembled from the studio’s extensive Colour Library of bespoke tones mixed and developed over time. These slender strips recall the vivid edges of Indian textiles, where the border is integral to the construction of the fabric.

The final compositions emerged from playfully moving, overlaying and aligning these bands on a blank grid. The grid provided the essential framework within which the studio could then improvise – a relationship they liken to the melodic raag structures of Indian classical music. By emphasising the grid, the fundamental structure of woven textiles, and making it visible in the rugs, Raag situates itself within a lineage of modernist artists, while still remaining rooted in Indian weaving traditions.