Diamond Producers Association (DPA) in association with Lakmé Fashion Week announced the winners of The Real Cut, a platform which will bring together emerging diamond jewellery designers from iconic jewellery brands to define the trends of the future while drawing on their inspiration from natural diamonds.
Shazia Motiwala of A.S. Motiwala, Bhavana Jhakia of Om Jewellers, Rupam Singhal of Orra, Akshita Garg of Chiripal Jewellers, C. Raghu of Kirtilals, and Rajeshwary Singh of Senco, emerged as the final winners of the programme.
The Real Cut will give these winners an opportunity to showcase their work at Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2019 with designer labels Rara Avis by Sonal Verma, Verandah by Anjali Patel Mehta, and Saaksha & Kinni by Saaksha Bhat and Kinnari Kamat.
The six winners were handpicked by an esteemed panel of judges from diverse backgrounds of the jewellery and fashion fraternity in Mumbai on January 21st, 2019 at Amadeus, NCPA. The jury comprised DPA India managing director Richa Singh, fashion designer Monica Shah of Jade, Elle fashion editor Rahul Vijay, luxury brand consultant Nisha JamVwal, and IMG Reliance vice president and head of fashion Jaspreet Chandok.
The collaboration that features diamonds with only prêt wear collections will be a first-of-its-kind initiative in the country’s fashion circuit. The programme was open to diamond jewellery designers who associated with leading jewellery brands from across the country and have been in the business or are practising their craft for the past three to eight years. The Real Cut saw over 80 applications from talented jewellery designers across the country. The designers demonstrated a combination of innovative design and techniques to celebrate diamonds. They also were eloquently elaborate on the unique creative ideas and methods employed to conceptualise their original diamond jewellery collection.
Richa Singh said: “Diamonds are an integral part of Indian fashion enhancing every look, bridal or everyday prêt wear, so it made perfect sense for us to partner with Lakmé Fashion Week, which is the country’s leading fashion and lifestyle platform. I was excited by the diverse designs showcased by all the talented emerging diamond jewellery designers from across India.
“I look forward to seeing their trendsetting winning collections on the runway which will beautifully highlight the fit of everyday wear diamond jewellery with contemporary outfits. The Real Cut is a disruptive platform which will surely provide a starting point for these young Turks.”
Jaspreet Chandok added: “Lakmé Fashion Week is proud to have associated with the DPA to launch The Real Cut. We are sure that the winners are going to work together with the fashion designers to create a line which will reach out to wider audiences.”
Caption: (From left) Jaspreet Chandok of IMG Reliance, Monica Shah of Jade, brand consultant Nisha JamVal, Richa Singh of DPA and Rahul Vijay of Elle.