Jewellery brands are recognising the power of collaborating with fashion and design labels. Recent collection launches in India endorse the power of collaborative design.
Brand collaborations have been the buzz word in the fashion industry for some time now with top international and domestic brands seeking to bring a fresh perspective with the amalgamation of different design aesthetics.
In April, jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali unveiled Scherezade, a collection of luxury bathroom fittings for Sternhagen. The collaboration enabled Khan Ali to expand her design boundaries into the home segment. The highlight of the Sternhagen x Farah Khan collection is a diamond-studded faucet, totalling 8.62 carats, crafted silver bearing the Aayat monogram.
More recently, Sangeeta Boochra, a Jaipur-based brand known for its heritage silver jewels, collaborated with fashion designer Payal Singhal to bring out Zaiwar, a collection that blends vintage elegance with modern style.
The 50-piece capsule line inspired by the Mughal era features contemporary, everyday jewels accented with kundan, silver and inlay work.
Fresh Perspective
What made Sangeeta Boochra, a brand that has been in existence since 1987 reach out to Payal Singhal? A desire to create heritage jewels with a fresh lens.
“One of the main reasons to bring in Payal Singhal to co-design the collection is that she is an acclaimed clothing designer and comes with lots of energy and style. We combined our jewellery designing expertise and manufacturing capabilities with her strengths to design a collection that blends the old and the new for a modern woman,” shared Abhineet Boochra, Co-Founder, Sangeeta Booochra.
Singhal has endorsed the power of collaboration for a long time, launching footwear and tech accessories with her statement #PS graphics. Talking about her latest partnership, she noted, “Collaborative work is always better. Two heads are better than one. It brings in change of perspective and the outcome is always interesting.
“Each party brings their own experience, sensibilities, perspective and sense of colour to the table. I was completely raw in designing jewellery, but I brought in my signature aesthetics to the collection,” shared Singhal.
“During the Mughal Era, gold inlay work was specifically done on gemstones like margaz or emeralds. We have tried to achieve the same gold quality and finish with silver, handcrafted by master craftsmen and gold artisans based in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh,” shared Riteek Boochra, Director at Sangeeta Boochra. The collection was assembled in their factory in Jaipur.
A new jewellery movement
Harnessing the power of collaboration is Aulerth, a new platform that bridges the gap between jewellery that is couture-inspired and consciously made. Their aim is to work with India’s pool of creative talent to create sustainable jewellery using recycled industrial metal scrap and man-made stones.
Aulerth officially launched in March 2022 with collections co-designed by JJ Valaya, Suneet Verma and Tribe Amrapali. The brand raised seed funding of $1.1million from investors, including ace designer Tarun Tahiliani.
Vivek Ramabhadran, founder and CEO at Aulerth and former Vice President, Asia-South at Swarovski, opted for a hybrid business model that is based on collaborations with Indian designers.
“We have amazing creative talent in the country. I had the good fortune of being exposed to and even working with some of them during my time with Swarovksi. My vision is to create a system where it becomes easy for our brands to be known globally as opposed to just our craftsmanship. This is why the construct of Aulerth as a platform is based on collaboration. It could have been a mono brand, but I felt it would be more exciting if we work an ecosystem … the value that we create is much more. It helps tell the designer’s story, scaling their business while building our own,” explained Ramabhadran.
A step towards sustainability
The other two founding principles of Aulerth is to create jewellery that caters to the needs of the millennials – long, lasting costume jewellery that is practical, smart and has a strong narrative that helps form an instant connection. Another important angle is sustainability.
“Fundamentally, we have anchored our thoughts of preciousness to materials. Gold is very destructive – it has a huge mining footprint and generates toxic waste, not to mention that mining leads to deforestation which harms the environment. I want to showcase a narrative where something is precious because of the design, craftsmanship, and what it stands for rather than just the material used. This change in mindset won’t happen overnight but I find it an uplifting pursuit to play a role in the shift,” added Ramabhadran.
The brand is also conscious about how jewellery is used. “Research showed that a typical client wears a piece of jewellery 7-10 times and then it just lies in their cupboard. Either they get bored of it or that it doesn’t match their clothes. We decided to offer the option of giving it a new life. We will give customers 40%- 60% of the value of the jewellery which they can redeem for a new piece. The old one will be restored and resold with disclosure.
“We have to create value from products that are already there. We need to maximise the longevity of everything we produce and ensure this through high quality finishing and gold plating,” Ramabhadran remarked.
Jewellery beyond borders
Another underlying factor in both collaborations is the potential to create products that appeal to a global audience – and this need intensified during the pandemic with more people becoming comfortable with online shopping.
Singhal noted that there is a shift towards borderless fashion and the collection is designed to have an international appeal.
Aulerth has received a good sales response since its launch and the early adopters of the brand are NRIs. “Folks abroad who value design and craftsmanship find our collections eye-opening. It is Indian in essence but on par with global standards. Most of the buyers are NRIs shopping for weddings. Either they have come to India to shop for their trousseau, or they are having a destination wedding, or a bride who will move abroad post her wedding,” shared Ramabhadran.
Collaborations help expand brand horizons. Abhineet Boochra noted that their last tie-up with media influencer Santoshi Shetty was a success and is in re-production. “The Anantaya collection was sold out even before it launched. We are still getting orders for it,” shared Boochra. Reorders are a fine measure of success!