Asian Paints' Soft Décor Collection 2023 aces the minimalist luxury aesthetic

Home is where the heart is. For most, it is our earliest school and grounds of faith, where love and comfort reside in abundance, a place and people that we come back to. Curating its spaces thus becomes a necessity, to ensure the haven we return to attests to our tastes and aesthetics. When it comes to an ‘integrated’ experience that celebrates the feeling of being home, Asian Paints (AP), India’s leading and Asia’s second largest paint company has been ‘Adorning Indian Homes Since 1942’—the company is also present in the ‘Home Improvement and Decor segment,’ offering bath and kitchen products, as well as lighting, furnishings, and furniture designs in its expansive portfolio, across a wide range of safe and supervised painting and interior design services.

I was invited to the exclusive unveiling of their Beautiful Homes Studio, their first uber luxury retail showcase in Tamil Nadu’s capital, Chennai, and their newest, and exquisite ‘Soft Décor Collection 2023’, thoughtfully curated at the Taj Coromandel. From Himalayan-inspired wallpapers adorned with abstract mountains and snow leopards to mushroom-infested forecast stories, and their debut into smart window coverings, the initial walkthrough of their latest collection unveiled surprising elements, a dollop of inspiration that can upraise and embellish your dream sanctuary, completely spoilt for choice.

Helping design homes filled with warmth and grandeur, AP—already renowned as pioneers in the paint and décor segment—is known to source quality products across multiple décor categories from floor coverings, lighting, furniture, draperies, and rugs. Asian Paints also upheld their love for detail and creative expressions through new designs conceived by a multi-disciplinary team of designers, crafting designs that complement modern-day living spaces.  

“(We have) established (ourselves) as the epitome of enhancing customer experiences and transforming spaces into warm and tastefully designed homes. In 2016, the brand made the foray into the home décor segment with Beautiful Homes stores, marking the beginning of a transformative journey in India’s décor landscape. Over the years, Asian Paints has evolved, harnessing their deep understanding of home aesthetics, and spearheading a revolutionary growth in the realm of home décor. The culmination of this remarkable progress is reflected in the launch of Beautiful Homes Studio, a testament to Asian Paints’ commitment to elevating the consumer experience in luxury décor. Taking this a step ahead and solidifying Asian Paints’ position as a trailblazer in redefining luxury furnishings is its 2023 Soft Décor collection, the new collection comprises fabrics, wallpapers, bedding, rugs and more, (and is) dedicated to enhancing the customer experience and taking it to the next level,” the Indian brand elaborates.

Elevating Luxury Décor with the Beautiful Homes Studio

The new Beautiful Homes Studio in Chennai, as well as the launch of the ‘Soft Décor Collection 2023,’ is a testament to the growth story of Asian Paints, establishing it once again, as an ‘integrated’ player in the home décor vertical. The 1,579.35 sqm studio spread across six lavish levels (including a sprawling ground floor and a terrace café) was designed as a milestone in the brand’s retail journey, underscored by an objective to ‘revolutionise luxury furniture and furnishings shopping in India,’ by offering incredible and unique furniture, lighting, and furnishings, with myriad customisation possibilities. “Every product is thoughtfully designed to offer functionality and enhance the home's aesthetics. As a result, each masterpiece tells a compelling story that sparks conversations,” relays Asian Paints.

The luxury designs are made from durable materials, featuring the finest European wood, Italian leather, and high-quality European finishes, to articulate the ‘dream home’ to life for customers. The Studio also revealed stunning collaborations with European luxury brands for story-laden wallpapers. Asian Paints also made its foray into the window coverings category by launching a premium collection of blinds. “The collection also marks Asian Paints’ entry into the world of blinds with Royale Window Coverings. This includes over 600 designs in window blinds, shades and shutters that will redefine the aesthetics of any space. This offering will go live by September 2023,” shares Asian Paints.

The interior design of the retail showroom is articulated in a luxurious material palette of fluted sandstone, terrazzo, and quartz, and its spatial configuration and product displays designed as a ‘homage to the local design vocabulary while maintaining a contemporary demeanour.’ Along with the new ‘Soft Décor 2023 collection,’ the exhibited product designs offered an exclusive and diverse portfolio of furniture pieces that fit bespoke home interiors. “Every piece by Asian Paints contributes to aesthetics aligned with functionality yet visually distinct,” they continue.

“Our first ‘Beautiful Homes Studio’ in Chennai will take our brands' retail offerings into a completely novel dimension of luxury categories and store styling. It enables a seamless fusion of digital innovation and visual delight to foster meaningful customer engagement, disrupting the landscape of home décor retailing in India and creating a paradigm shift towards ultra-luxe experience in decor retail. Stepping beyond the expected, our ‘Soft Décor Collection 2023’ this year aces the minimalist luxury aesthetic, offering bespoke colour palettes and exclusive products in collaboration with leading names in the home decor industry. The 2023 collection displayed across 10000 square ft. includes individual exhibit zones for Ador, Pure-Royale, Wallpapers, Sabyasachi, Bedding, and Rugs—showcasing a world of ideas to up the glam quotient of your sanctuary. We planned both our premium launches around World Interiors Day on 27th May and embraced the theme of design and beauty into every facet of both the set-ups,” stated Amit Syngle, the Managing Director and CEO of Asian Paints Ltd.

The 2023 Soft Décor Collection Launch

The extensive unveiling of the ‘2023 Soft Décor Collection’ took place at a refined ensemble exhibition at the Taj Coromandel in Chennai, where the impressive display spanned 929 sqm of space, replete with massive displays of ‘forecast stories,’ the ‘Colour of the Year’ (Silver Escapade) and myriad décor elements arranged as a spatial oasis.

According to Asian Paints, the diverse and eclectic range of the ‘2023 Soft Décor Collection’ represented “an essence of luxury, encompassing a wide selection of exquisite fabrics, wallpapers, bedding, and rug designs. Asian Paints has curated a collaboration with highly coveted Indian and international brands across various typologies, ensuring a sensorial experience that seamlessly blends opulence with uncompromising comfort.”  

The brand's soft décor journey began in 2021 in collaboration with furnishing retailers, with four distinguished brands—Sabyasachi for Nilaya, The Pure Concept for Nilaya, PURE–Royale, and Ador—with 250 active collections and an all-embracing portfolio of nearly 10,000 SKUs. Asian Paints has firmly positioned itself as one of the foremost leaders in furnishing fabrics. The new décor collection builds upon this legacy, introducing a range of fabrics, wallpapers, bedding, rugs, and innovative category launches, embodying ‘the essence of luxury.’

The new launch introduces an impressive line-up of 58 new collections in furnishings fabric across Ador, PURE-Royale and Nilaya—Ador features 36+ new books across varied segments including sheers, self-textured plain draperies, leatherettes and more. PURE-Royale showcased over 15 new books across innovative velvets, high-end embroidery, linen plains, and other exquisite options. Meanwhile, Pure Concept for Nilaya unveiled a luxurious ensemble of 5+ books for the winter of 2023. Adding to the excitement was a ground-breaking category in fabric coatings named SmartCare NanoProtek, a nanotechnology-based coating for water and stain repellence. “Asian Paints has also offered exclusive collaborations for wallpapers with sought-after international brands such as the Sanderson Design Group, GPJ & Baker, 1838, and more,” the brand relays.

Redefining luxury furnishings, the extensive array included an opulent assortment of bedsheets and bedding sets—among these, AP introduced a limited-edition ‘Wedding/Bridal Gifting’ range, specially curated for the 2023 wedding season. Building upon its exclusive collaboration with Jaipur Rugs, Asian Paints unveiled a range of premium Nilaya collections, featuring a diverse range of SKUs. This includes entries into new segments, such as hand-knotted, jute, and hand loom rugs, available in key large format sizes.

“With this collection, we have tried to bring something minimally luxurious, exquisite and of course, different. We have expanded our entire fabrics range with 56 new collections across our uber luxury and premium branches. There are some new kinds of clothes which we have kind of engineering, whether it is from the point of view of linens, jacquards, self-embroidered, cloths which have come in, where the innovation is in terms of design and the patterns in terms of what we have been able to weave and kind of get into that extent. Along with that, we have our extended wallpaper range, for which we collaborated with three big brands,” shared Syngle, addressing the open discussion at their Chennai showroom.

In a candid conversation with STIR at the Beautiful Homes Studio in Chennai, Amit Syngle expounded on the launch of AP’s Soft Décor Collection 2023, and the importance of a comprehensive décor player elevating the Indian décor landscape.

Jincy Iype: I am sure you get this question a lot—how does an established paint company disperse into the home design and décor sector?

Amit Syngle: Since we have always been in the home space, this was an inherent extension. We felt that going forward, when we look at the whole home, from its surfaces to spaces, and elements, rather than just concentrating on surfaces, we wanted to naturally align ourselves to creating the dream home in a cohesive manner. This transition from the share of surface to the share of spaces gave us a clear angle of wanting to be part of the home décor journey for the customer throughout, right from the point of view of first home renovations, second or third homes, and basically covering all typologies. So, this was a complimentary sector and industry that gave us wings to get closer to the customer, not just through paint, but also all categories that make a home, and obviously, make them refined and beautiful.

Jincy: So, it was a natural evolution for you.

Amit: Certainly.

Jincy: How is the Beautiful Homes Studio showroom designed and how does it elevate the designs that AP keeps launching?

Amit: The BH Studio is aligned to the kind of give the customer a holistic journey, which is outstanding from the point of view of every space which the home has. The whole journey has evolved in a manner that encourages discovery for the customer, to pull them in and react strongly to every piece of décor showcased. The whole store is also designed such, that there is a digital part to it. One keeps on accumulating designs that they like in the store, and you are finally able to convert that at the end of the journey, giving them a chance to embellish the vision of the space with all the garnered options. You also get expert guidance from us, in terms of how a curated residential design can really come together.

Currently, Asian Paints would be one of the largest, 'integrated' luxury brands that is underscored by design excellence. – Amit Syngle, MD, and CEO of Asian Paints

Jincy: From floor coverings, wallpapers, lights, blinds, and a lot more that we discovered at the Soft Décor Collections 2023 launch, what significance does this new collection hold and how are you assessing your competitors in the industry?  

Amit: The Home Décor market has been fairly segmented till now, where there are independent players in each category. Now, we are clearly offering ourselves as one of the largest, 'integrated' décor players in terms of the market, where ‘integrated’ is the keyword. It is cohesive and accessible. In this regard, the BH Studio manifests the extent to which we envision getting all the categories under one roof, which today, I believe, has next to no competition. Because in most of these cases, we either have a collaboration or a manufacturing working for us, it gives us an edge, of having our own design sense, our own AP way of décor. No other brand is appropriating integrated décor to that extent as most of them only cater to solo categories. It also comes very close to what we imagined as Har Ghar Kucch Kehta Hai (Every home says something) in terms of overall corporate branding, to bring joy to people's lives.

Jincy: In the same context, what sets this collection apart and how would you describe its identity briefly?

Amit: I think the whole collection is exquisite, spelling quite luxury and thoughtful décor pieces, in tandem with celebrating Indian design.

Jincy: Wonderfully put. So, how do you envision the future of the soft décor design industry in India?

Amit: At AP, we feel that the whole industry is pretty ‘under-penetrated’ at the moment, because the per capita consumption in terms of what décor should have really been or risen at the rate it should have since people are unable to have confidence in terms of really visualising a far more frequent change in terms of their homes. The fact that there is a trusted brand, which possibly gives them the opportunity of doing up the entire space and takes the onus of not only visualisation but even execution. It makes us feel that this is a space which can really explode—we are focused on how design can be the leading thought.

Jincy: Who is your primary target audience as an end user, and who is your audience as an influencer?  

Amit: Overall, we are operating on two clear areas of segmentation—one is the mass premium segmentation, which we address through our Beautiful Home Stores—we have about 42 stores across the country now, and that's the largest segmentation in the purview of providing clients inspiration for homes. As far as the influencers are concerned, we are clearly appropriating towards architects and designers, offering something which is far different to the needs of the consumers. For a BH studio especially, we are perpetually looking at evolved yet young designers who are willing to experiment, and it is great to see how willing they are to see the ‘India story’ come alive. At the same time, we are also able to get their attention regarding what's really happening in the West and figure out what we can offer from an Indian story perspective.

We are focused on how design can be the leading thought. – Amit Syngle

Below are excerpts from the open discussion at the Beautiful Homes Studio in Chennai, where Amit Syngle expanded on his idea for AP’s new launch and the company’s future.

Why was Chennai chosen for this launch?

Amit: A lot of times, we start from Delhi or Mumbai, or one of the metro cities of India. We aspired for a change, where we thought we could make a far stronger mark in terms of doing something—Chennai carries a different sense of design and a very diverse type of zone. This is a city which is much more in confluence in terms of how it is moving up, ready for opportunities and growth, compared to cities like Delhi and Mumbai which have become in some sense, ‘saturated.’ Therefore, we thought it was a good location to make a mark, and it’s an experimental decision on our part too. It has to do with a long-term vision, to make our brand profitable and carve out a strong category for ourselves. We would, however, like to penetrate all the metros if we can. This year, we are looking at doing at least three to four more stores in India.

What kind of other, interesting collaborations can we look forward to from you?

Amit: Everything is going to be interesting! (laughs) Firstly, there's nothing which is insipid in this space because this is a space of creativity, of passion, of colour, vibrancy, and revolution. Even in our latest collection, where collaborated on wallpaper and rug designs, we also launched window coverings for the first time, what we commonly refer to as blinds, which may be seen as a small category, but we wanted to take it to the next level.

If you look at the per capita consumption of décor in India, it is something still very limited. Our vision is to empower and make people comfortable in terms of really investing in good and classy décor, easily and without much guidance with better execution. At Asian Paints, we uphold our work within three diverse yet intrinsic pillars—Creation, Curation, and Collaboration—that ultimately become stronger when it merges with the Customer. Those are crucial attributes for us because otherwise, these multi-categories have been fragmented across the board, as there is no one key player that is voicing it cohesively.