Haven’t heard of Amrapali? Well, it’s the brand has been worn by everyone from Bipasha Basu to Beyonce. Then again, if you haven’t heard of them you may just have the misfortune of the tag, ‘fashionably backward.’ Started in the late 1970s by two history students with a vision, the company has now expanded from its humble beginning in Jaipur to cities across the country, including stores in London and New York.
So, when husband-wife CEO duo, Tarang and Aakanksha Arora arrived in Chennai for a preview of their collection ‘India Adorned’ at Amethyst in Royapettah, one simply had to drop by and say hello. Given that the collection has been put together especially for Kaivalam, a World Craft Summit in the city that goes on up to October 10, Tarang reveals, “We’ve focused purely on ethnic pieces.” He elaborates, “Some of these jewels are about 200 years old and have been taken from the private collection of my dad and uncle (founders of Amrapali).”
Others are more recent, but he promises, despite their modern making techniques – they will reflect Indian tradition all the same. The centre piece is an exquisite necklace of emeralds and diamonds, a piece recently worn by actor Narghis Fakri of Rockstar fame. Asked about weird custom requests from celebrity clientele, the luxe jewellery CEO doesn’t need a moment to pause. He responds immediately, “I’d say that we can sometimes be pretty crazy with our designs – celeb requests or not.” He gets down to specifics: “Why just this August, we took a choker (necklace) and transformed it into arm accessory for Abhay Deol at IIJW (India International Jewellery Week).”
As for breathing in some inspiration from Chennai on this trip, Tarang admits, “We may not have the time with all that’s going on for this event.” However, he adds, “I love the way that Chennai is so vibrant as a metropolitan and yet holds on to all of its grass root traditions.” So is it primarily their ethnic design novelty what draws Hollyood’s A-listers? It turns out, there’s a much larger picture to look at. Says this CEO who shuttles between a home base of London and Jaipur for their distribution, “Fifty years ago, Indian jewellery was nowhere on the world map.” But fast forward and today, he adds, “Not only are foreigners seeking ethnic designs, so are international designers.” The jewel man cites the likes of Belgian-American fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg who’s last collection featured trouser attached anklets!
As for Amrapali’s next big showcase, their 1,000-odd skilled artisans have their hands full sculpting the brand’s winter collection. “I think blue is definitely the colour of the season,” reveals Tarang. He goes on, “So think of saphhires, aqua marine tones, iolites...” In other words, India’s fashionistas can look forward to a blue Christmas this year, except just to accessorise with. But perhaps the most exciting of all is the company’s recently launched collection, ‘India Enchanted’ alongside fashion guru, Manish Arora. “This happened just last month at the Paris Fashion Week,” Tarang says excitedly. “It’s funky, loads of enamel and colour – we just can’t wait for it to be launched in India.”. Which city exactly, is still in question. But he does tell us “it should hit stores in about a month-and-a-half”.
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