Surat-based designer Priyanka Shah is building furniture that looks like it walked out of a storybook

If Shah is Alice, her workspace is her wonderland, with a shrine for her sitars, a selection of handcrafted metal chairs and a conference table with upward-facing cubbyholes. She believes in thinking through making, but what about when she isn’t doing either of those things? “Then I’m soaking up golden hour,” she grins, pointing to her desk and stool, both handcrafted from paper pulp. “I spend most of my free time here playing the sitar or reading in the library upstairs,” she adds, gesturing upwards to a glass-roofed mezzanine—or what she likes to call “my treehouse”. Never mind that she’s getting married and moving to Amsterdam in a few months. “This move is a way to expand into new geographies,” she says. “As for this studio, it’s taken on a life of its own.” Behind her, a fantasy carousel begins to turn, winking in agreement.

This story featuring Priyanka Shah appears in Vogue India’s July-August 2025 issue, now on stands. Subscribe here.

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