Featuring Q & A with Bunakara owner/designer Joana Aranha and company architect Marta Aranha.

All photographs courtesy of Bunakara.

For each installment of “Brand Focus,” we highlight one of the amazing manufacturers and their products offered here at Dwelling & Design. This month, we are excited to tell you all about Bunakara, a hot new company set to take the design world by storm with its current collection of home furnishings. Inspired by knowledge, traditions and emotions of the past — combined with present inspiration and their own unique vision – they produce pieces that can’t be found anywhere else.

In fact, “not be found” has become a tagline for the company, and motivation for creating their one-of-a-kind products. Look closely at some of the pieces (shhhh it’s a secret… unzip one of their pillow cases and look inside!) and discover thoughtful messages or other “hidden” details. Other signature characteristics include — brass ferules on table legs, Flower of India beaded rose (think “charm bracelet”), and single paint-dipped furniture legs.

Joana Aranha has literally turned the tables in the furniture design realm, and offered-up her own solutions by creating items she couldn’t find anywhere else. And this über creative, memorable and mysteriously-fun product line is the triumphant result!

Dwelling & Design reached out to Bunakara for more information and insight into their creative process. We were fortunate enough to receive a Q & A session with Joana Aranha and her sister Marta, the Bunakara company architect. Let’s get into the conversation.

How long has Bunakara been in business? 

The conception of the collections took place throughout 2014. Joana’s wonderful  ideas were first designed and water-colored  creating the visual expression of Bunakara’s collection. Technical drawings and the execution of the prototypes was the next step and production followed.

In January 2015 we revealed it at the Atlanta’s Mart and the response was really good. So we went in April to High Point which confirmed the enthusiastic welcome clients gave to the brand.

We would say that 2016 is the launching year of Bunakara. 

Where do you get your inspiration for the designs?

Joana Aranha, heart of Bunakara and head of creation, always goes back as far possible in search for inspirational elements in a dialog between her cosmopolitan soul and her artisan essence. Although Joana has her roots in Europe, a land of history that inspires her creations, it is in India that she celebrates heritage and nourishes savoir-faire to create the objects she does not find anywhere else.

What is your favorite product and why?

It is very difficult for Joana to pick one product since the whole collection reflects what she really loves. If only you could see her when she holds the fabrics…. And the extremely keen eye for proportion when it comes to the furniture.

But since Joana has to choose, on textiles her favorite is the Patchwork story because of the incredible mix of velvet, linen, cotton, buttons and embroideries. A patchwork of a story, the mix of old techniques.

Regarding Furniture the piece that Joana can’t resist is the two stripe chair with the back covered with fabric. It’s an Icon, the chair that is completely unexpected, that surprises the client. Actually this one was the first creation of Bunakara, maybe that’s why there is a special connection.

Tell me about the red flower and why it’s included in every piece?

It is the iconic signature detail, a tiny beaded red rose with a fabric-wrapped stem. Inspire by a red flower Joana once cupped in her hands in New Delhi, represents the soul of Bunakara, the “beginning of everything”. The flower of India insignia hangs from all the Bunakara pieces.

Thanks so much to Joana and Marta for providing us with more details about Bunakara!

 We invite you to stop by the Dwelling & Design showroom to see all of the new Bunakara pieces we recently received… you really have to see them for yourselves! What do you think about this exciting new product line? Please leave your comments below!

 Cheers,

D&D

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For additional questions or inquiries, call 410.822.2211 or email info@dwellinganddesign.com.  Find store directions here.