Madras Finds began five years ago as a simple discovery platform on Instagram. The founder, Nivedita Ganeshram, wanted to spotlight artists and brands from the city who were doing something thoughtful and different. What started as sharing, slowly turned into an organically growing community, and pop ups felt like the most natural way to bring that community into a shared physical space.
Their first event saw over 2,000 walk-ins, and their most recent two day pop up had more than 5,000 visitors, including many tourists. From the beginning, Madras Finds has been design led. Each event featured thoughtfully created merchandise, often met with genuine surprise, especially at how many people, even from within India, knew so little about the depth and diversity of South Indian culture. There is still a tendency to see the South as one homogeneous idea, and they noticed a clear gap in brands that spoke about the region with nuance.
Their merchandise consistently sold out, not because it was loud or novelty driven, but because it fit seamlessly into everyday life while carrying a story. The manja pai [yellow bag; a daily Tamil household staple] from their very first pop up sold out entirely, reaffirming something they had always believed, storytelling, when done honestly, creates connection and curiosity.
What is your relationship with Madras and how does it seep into your products?
Growing up in Madras, I fell deeply in love with the city, its pace, its people, its culture. I’ve always been drawn to art, food, stories, and the small, often overlooked details of everyday life. My design intuition comes from this habit of noticing, of finding beauty in the mundane. Every design we create is personal. Training in Bharatanatyam from the age of four introduced me early to storytelling as a form of structure and expression. Stories became central to how I understood meaning, emotion, and craft. I’m deeply proud of where I come from. Having spent a considerable part of my life travelling and living abroad, I felt a growing desire to share my heritage more meaningfully with the world.
What is your design process and sensibility?
It began with a simple question, how does a way of living stay present as the world moves on?
Our references come from markets, rituals, kitchens, and coastlines across South India. Sometimes culture appears through a familiar motif, other times it emerges in subtler ways, through material, proportion, or use. We don’t design for trends. We’re interested in taking objects from the past and reimagining them for today, as well as recognising everyday forms that can carry culture naturally, deeply rooted, yet made for contemporary life. The South has an extraordinary depth to offer, its textiles, crafts, food, languages, and mythology, and we have only begun to explore it. Culture evolves, and our work is about allowing it to do so naturally, through everyday objects that people actually live with.
How does your brand redefine South India for the world?
South India is still underexplored in the lifestyle and design space. When it is represented, it’s often done in a very literal or costume-like way, something that doesn’t always sit seamlessly within modern homes or global contexts. We want to work at that intersection. Madras Finds isn’t about nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. Although we’re called Madras Finds, Madras isn’t a boundary, it’s the beginning of our exploration into the South. Our aim is to present a way of living through everyday objects, flavours, and stories, with a South Indian lens. We are for the culturally curious, anyone who wants to learn, observe, and carry a piece of this culture into their own lives, wherever they are in the world.
A design or product that is especially close to your heart?
The kolam filter coffee davara set is especially close to my heart. It’s the piece that started many conversations. The kolam pattern was taken from my grandmother’s 80-year-old kolam book, which makes it deeply personal. We sold over 5,000 pieces last year. On the surface, it’s a simple, everyday object. But everything, from its weight to the craftsmanship, is designed to last a lifetime, unlike most brass available today. Even the packaging is layered, with each element handmade. Growing up in a Tamizh household, filter coffee sat at the centre of everyday life and memory, so creating this felt instinctive. The filter kaapi chocolate bar is another favourite, we sold 500 bars over just two days at one of our events.
What are you working on now, what’s next?
We’re currently working on our next set of launches, alongside a considered pivot into a more design-led lifestyle and product brand. In the long term, the goal is to build Madras Finds into a lifestyle brand that takes the South Indian way of living to the world. From food and furniture to skincare and textiles, there’s an entire universe waiting to be explored.
We’re intentional about how we grow. That means creating slowly with originality, while ensuring each product has a clear story and purpose. We’re also spending time learning about the way of life in other South Indian states, which will inform our upcoming work. Community has always been at the heart of Madras Finds, and we’re exploring meaningful collaborations that build on that spirit.
Words Neeraja Srinivasan
Date 9.1.2026