Moving beyond couture

The fabric is not the sole canvas for fashion designers. Several of them are now expressing their creative instincts and sensibility in jewellery. Sabyasachi Mukherji and Tarun Tahiliani have their own jewellery lines, which bear their distinct style signature. And recently Anju Modi too launched her own jewellery line.

Designer Sabyasachi Mukherji is known for his revamping of traditional Indian outfits and blending it with his individualistic vision of glamour. His jewellery line too exhibits this closeness with tradition. His Heritage Jewellery collection is a collection of bejeweled pieces in traditional styles from Tiruvananthpuram, Lucknow and Jaipur. The collection includes traditional pieces like bajubands (armlet) and men’s jewellery.

Anju Modi recently launched her jewellery line Antarmahal in collaboration with Vishal Jewels. For Modi, no dressing is complete without jewellery. “It completes every look and complements the costumes. When a woman buys a new outfit, she definitely goes looking for matching jewellery and what better than getting all under one roof,” says Modi, whose collection includes necklaces, chokers, rings and earrings, ear cuffs.

Her design style is reflected in her jewellery as there is a heavy use of flower and leaf motifs along with a smart use of pastel enamels.

Entire look by Tarun Tahiliani

It’s no surprise that designers collaborating with jewellers is slowly becoming a trend. Prakshi Sharma, Creative Head and designer, Prakshi Fine Jewellery, believes it to be a necessity. “Fine jewellery is, as a rule, presented on suede cushions in brightly lit vitrines to be appreciated and admired, but giving the onlooker a sense of how it might appear when worn acts as a bonus. The growing fanfare around catwalk collections is offering jewellers a fresh way of connecting with the public. Such is the immediacy of the internet that we can watch catwalk shows live online and, within minutes, are able to zoom in on the details — be it a shoe, a necklace or an earring. This gives us an instant picture of how a jewel might be worn.”

But for a collaboration to prosper the two brands need to match their aesthetics, says Modi, adding, “In a collaboration, partners give each other inspiration and enhance each other’s designs. Thus, a constant need to have a dialogue.”

Entire look by Anju Modi

For Sharma, keeping in mind the design aesthetics of the two parties is really essential. “Jewellery being an accessory must match the garments. Modelling expensive jewellery with fashion presents its own problems for reasons of practicality and security. These must certainly be taken care of as well.”