Interview
Roshni Kavina – 'Following customs is a trend and embracing heritage is pride'

As part of our Indian Design in Focus series, we spoke with Roshni Kavina, National Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi India, whose work sits at the intersection of advertising, luxury branding, and cultural storytelling. Her perspective reflects a design approach shaped by identity, narrative, and the visual codes that influence how Indian luxury expresses itself today.

In our conversation, she discusses how luxury in India is being reshaped by craftsmanship, provenance, and a renewed pride in heritage; how consumers are embracing rituals, culture, and artisanal influences; how global fashion houses are drawing on Indian silhouettes, crafts, and prints; how AI, personalization, and immersive experiences are refining the way luxury brands communicate; and why a more accessible luxury market demands bold, experimental, and purpose-driven creativity.

She also shares some of her recent work that brings together experts and visionaries from different fields, including arts, craftsmanship, music and sports, to collaborate, create newness, and explore new horizons in their fields.

How do you see luxury brand design in India evolving—are there particular cultural or aesthetic elements that give it a distinctive identity compared to global counterparts?

Luxury today is defined more by product supremacy than brand supremacy. In India, luxury is rooted in rarity, craftsmanship, authenticity and provenance. Brands are increasingly embracing culture and heritage, layering them with unique modern expressions that resonate with the global Indian mindset.

Brands are increasingly embracing culture and heritage, layering them with unique modern expressions that resonate with the global Indian mindset.

This cultural combination empowers designers to create distinct brand worlds that draw from both the product’s craftsmanship as well as the consumer’s lifestyle to highlight that one moment where the product takes the center stage.  Everything provenance and warmth is in, leaving no room for everything austere and distant.

Are there Indian luxury brands whose design approach you particularly admire, whether for their storytelling, craftsmanship, or innovation?

Sabyasachi is by far the most visionary Indian fashion label on the global stage. His designs celebrate heritage craftsmanship while tapping into the growing pride and joy people feel in embracing Indianness.

Rooted in understanding the buyer’s mindset, his designs embrace tradition and modern luxury, allowing people enough room to express their personal style while showcasing their love for their roots.

What role do you think heritage and tradition play in shaping the design language of luxury brands in India today?

For the first time in many decades, India looks inward for inspiration. We are in a time where following customs is a trend and embracing heritage is pride. Inspired by factors like Bollywood dramas, traditional celebrity weddings and the Make in India movement; the India consumer has started seeing beauty in rituals, cultures and everything artisanal, taking pride in flaunting their Indianness whilst layering it with modern sensibilities.

For the first time in many decades, India looks inward for inspiration. We are in a time where following customs is a trend and embracing heritage is pride.

Luxury has always been a form of self-expression and now it has an added layer of identity. Indian designs and art have taken the global center stages, and fashion powerhouses like Gucci, Louis Vuitton, along with many others have turned to Indian silhouettes, crafts, weaves and prints. Indianness in luxury has taken on a new definition and Indian authenticity could not be more in vogue than it is now.

How are new technologies, such as AI or digital-first experiences, influencing the way Indian luxury brands express themselves?

AI has become an excellent tool for all of us, across industries, roles and skill sets. The focus of luxury brands, however, has been on enhancing experiences and harnessing data.  By hyper-targeting consumer journeys with personalized communication and creating immersive experiences, luxury brands are able to engage their audiences in a way that feels more intimate, meaningful and memorable.

Do you find that clients in the luxury sector are more open to bold and experimental design?

With more brands entering this segment, Luxury is far more accessible now. And with a wider consumer base, luxury brands need to be more memorable. Forced to be more conversational, personal and experiential, luxury brands are choosing to tell human stories of uniqueness, originality and purpose over product supremacy and exclusivity.

Every luxury brand must be a choice the consumer makes toward self-expression and not vain indulgence. This change has steered brands beyond their product portfolio towards purpose with a greater need for experimental creativity to be memorable.

Forced to be more conversational, personal and experiential, luxury brands are choosing to tell human stories of uniqueness, originality and purpose over product supremacy and exclusivity.

What advice would you give to young designers starting out in India today?

Don’t stop using your pencil. AI is great! Embrace it but keep your hand moving on paper. Original designs can come only from an original mind. Be curious, travel, study culture, absorb everything around you, let your senses guide your design, and most importantly, allow yourself to be free.

Can you tell us about a project or projects you’ve worked on that you are particularly proud of?

The Walkers List by Johnnie Walker is a celebration of the journeys of individuals who push boundaries, explore new paths, and keep walking. This ongoing campaign brings together experts and visionaries from different fields – music, arts, craftsmanship, and sports to collaborate, create newness, and explore new horizons in their fields.

Being in the alco-bev category, advertising in India is limited to brand extensions and content. This year, we had the opportunity to create a distinct design language and content that stands at the cusp of luxury, culture and progress for Johnnie Walker. Staying true to the brand’s DNA, ‘Keep Walking’, we engaged audiences through stories of excellence and inspiration.

Though only in its second month, the campaign is already growing into something iconic. It is very exciting as we have a lot more in the pipeline and a lot to be inspired and awed by. The journey has only just begun. All I can say is Keep Watching, Keep Walking!

Babar Afzal × Aprajita Toor | Paizār-e-Pashm

A reimagining of artisanal heritage, where traditional cashmere pashmina craftsmanship meets culturally inspired yet modern footwear designs:

Shilo Shiv Suleman × Colleena Shakti | Dhwani

An immersive art installation that brings together handcrafted metalwork and responsive movement to create a living expression of “keep walking”.

Virat Kohli x Saina Nehwal | The Walkers Jersey

A jersey designed to embody a commitment to elevating women’s sports and creating equal opportunities.

Quick Hits

Something symbolic of Indian architectural design that someone visiting for the first time should see:

No one can truly absorb India in just one visit. Every state has its own nuanced culture, cuisine and art. I recommend visiting Banaras (Varanasi) during Holi, the festival of colours. It is a mystical place where interaction with its people, customs and food is like no other. It is a land that embraces life, death, and everything in between and during Holi, Banaras bursts into an unforgettable spectacle of colour.

An Indian designer or artist you’d love to collaborate with or that you have been inspired by:

Born in Ahmedabad, a city in the state of Gujarat, I have been exposed to the Brutalist style of architecture since childhood. I have subconsciously used its singular and bold principles in my design. Its structural honesty, clear geometric forms, modularity and exposed materials inspire me to experiment with bold colours and integrate nature into its stark forms.

Manish and Malini Doshi, founders of the Saransh studio in Ahmedabad, deliver towards the impact of urban need and environmental sustainability through their Brutalist architectural expertise. It would be a dream come true to collaborate with them, learn and work with raw materials to build towards fusing structural starkness with its surroundings while adding a layer of contemporary self-expression.

My creative inspiration comes from the feeling that is India. Sensorial, colourful, ornamental, honest, historic, diverse and blatant.

Your go-to source for creative inspiration in India:

My creative inspiration comes from the feeling that is India. Sensorial, colourful, ornamental, honest, historic, diverse and blatant. As a designer, India has taught me that design cannot be restricted to how it looks. It has to deliver to multiple senses to be memorable. All one needs to do is look and absorb all that India has to offer, decipher information to one’s advantage, and you’ll see that every street, every person and every conversation sparks inspiration for something unique.