Anupriya Sahu, Founder of the furniture brand Alankaram, isn't just designing chairs or tables. She's crafting stories rooted in Indian identity yet forward-thinking in form. And it all began long before factories, showrooms, or the accolades. It began with an architect's quiet determination to do something that felt more personal.
She noticed a gap in the Indian market, well-crafted furniture that felt distinctly Indian but carried a modern soul. Determined to fill it, Sahu stepped into an industry largely dominated by men, machines, and convention.
Starting a furniture brand from scratch was no easy feat. Doing so as a woman in a field heavy with physical labour and male-centric networks was even tougher. But she rolled up her sleeves, walked into the workshops, and immersed herself in the details, from tools and machinery to the grain and texture of wood. Slowly, her vision took form. Real form.
Today, Alankaram stands tall as a 200,000-square-foot facility where design meets precision and craft meets care. Yet it's not the scale that's most impressive; it's the people inside. A large part of her workforce comprises women, not in supporting roles but on the factory floor, operating machines, sanding teak, and assembling complex joinery. That shift didn't happen by chance. It happened because Sahu made it happen, one hire and one training session at a time.
Her work has quietly found its way into celebrity homes, luxury hotels, corporate boardrooms, and intimate living spaces across the country. But for Anupriya, it's never been about status. "It doesn't matter whose house the chair is in," she says. What matters is whether someone sits down and notices the curve, the texture, the thought."
Beyond the workshop, she's also a mother to twins. “When I began working with wood years ago, I never imagined how much it would shape not only my career, but my voice. Furniture, for me, has never been just about design, it has always been about people. About heritage. About stories carved into something solid and lasting. Together, I hope we can continue to bring Indian craftsmanship to the forefront not just through beautiful pieces, but through the lives we touch and the spaces we help transform.”
