Why Farrago?
We’ve taken design, from its traditional and ancient roots, to the modern home.
Our artisanal process has refined both the beauty of the craft and it's humanitarian impact, so that every piece tells its story. Each piece immaculately refined, polished, and customized for a seamless transition to the modern home without losing the historical significance of its composition.
Designing furniture is just our bi-product of telling stories. Our design process and our native artisans have already done the work of instilling each unique narrative through customization, form, material, and texture.
Our pieces are no longer just a coffee table, or a lamp, they are the compiled parts of history and the human touch.
OUR VALUES
The story
Since 2003, Farrago has merged past and present by fusing exquisite materials and traditional crafts with contemporary design. Founded in New York City by Reeta Gyamlani with Arthur and Rita Ermelino, Farrago’s home décor collection features mesmerizing inlays, natural minerals and sculpted metals.
Originally from Bombay/Mumbai, India, Reeta moved to New York City to earn her Master’s in Furniture Design and Design Management at Pratt Institute after obtaining her B.A. in Interior Design and Economics in India. In classic New York style, she found kindred spirits and family in her landlord Arthur Ermelino and his wife Rita who shared a passion for quality craftsmanship and design. That bond led Reeta to invite the Ermelinos to embark on her journey to create Farrago.
The 1982 famine of Rajasthan, left both its people and its animals to starvation. Tourism dropped dramatically, and the government was forced to turn to its citizens to repurpose what the calamity had left behind... the bones from camels, goats, and the like.
Buttons, walking sticks, jewelry, door handles, all were being made out of bone.
Reeta, being a designer, saw the beauty these materials brought with them and their potential to create timeless objects for the home.
Reeta has been producing with the same Rajasthani family of craftspeople for the last two decades. This particular family has passed down the traditional craft of inlayed furniture for five generations, having been exclusively commissioned to create pieces for numerous royal palaces in India. Now through Farrago, they bring their time-honored craft into the modern world with newly interpreted, customized pieces.
Sadly, the Farrago family lost Arthur in 2009 to liver cancer but his fierce, uncompromising eye for design and integrity live on in every Farrago creation.