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A Feeling for Opulence and A Hand for Craft

There are times when traveling ‘creatives’ host a dividing line between those that have experienced the eye widening sights, sounds and feelings of intimacy with India and those that have yet to travel there. Lucky of us yet to do our soul searching on the infamous subcontinent, we can look forward to a full dose of Indian inspiration.

Lizzie Fortunato, a twin sister jewelry collobrative was guided by a recent expedition to India to create the spring 2010 collection, Faded Grandeur. The pieces have a quality of washed away nostalgic beauty. Satin cording is elaborately knotted, fraying chiffon plays a backing to curious metal shapes and gold leaves are hand stitched and layered together on grosgrain collars.

Ropes braid and twirl around coloured beads and appear to have just fallen so. Embellished relics that suggest a forgotten golden age are placed among colours like tangerine, marigold and deep royal blue. The work is meticulously and strikingly hand crafted and wearing a necklace is a very close contender to an actual day spent on the beach in Goa.

House of Waris, the jewelry line headed by Waris Ahluwalia presents Omnia Vincit Amor. Traveling between Jaipur and New York, Waris works and learns the fine jewelry craft alongside highly skilled artisans who cut, carve, paint and enamel his delicate pieces. Opulent birds of flight are thoughtfully formed in gold and embellished with emeralds and diamonds. They are subtle on the page but absolutely stunning in and on person.

Collaborating with an array of designers, actors and other creative types with an affection for India running through their blood, Waris recently debuted the book, ‘To India with Love, from New York To Mumbai”, a valentine of a scrapbook paying tribute to the country through photographs, vignettes, stories and drawings. Proceeds from the book will benefit the Taj Public Service Welfare Trade.

Hopping over the pond, the Victoria and Albert Museum hosts the exhibit, ‘Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Courts’, which displays portraits, photographs and jewels of Indian princes during colonial times. The wears and jewels adorning the lavish maharajas are beyond ornamental and reminisce of a lost era of true extravagance.

By Anush Mirbegian