Desi danglers in an urban mould

Chennai loves to experiment, says ace jewellery designer Suhani Pittie. When she launched a collection themed on zippers (yes, zips!), the most number of pieces were sold in the South, she says excitedly. Based out of Hyderabad, the woman whose earrings were sported by Sonam Kapoor at Cannes, was recently in the city to showcase her latest collection, ‘Child of Eden’.

To drive home the point, Pittie recalls an incident that happened after she opened her collection to the public, “I had a woman come in and pick up a bold pair of earrings –  it was a large cone that went all the way down to the shoulder, but the top part was a parrot,” she explains with a knowing smile.

“Women here like some edginess in their jewellery, but they also like it to be essentially Indian,” she says and adds, “They like the gold finish and the precious appeal, but they also pick stuff that they can wear with both their western and Indian clothes.” Pittie further adds that her collection is the perfect representation of a modern Indian woman. “There is a lot of innocence in it, but it also has a strong appeal,” she explains. “It’s like the modern Indian woman — we stick to our values, yet we’re courageous about moving into the future.”

The ‘Child of Eden’ line-up is a copper-based collection with gold plating with 150 pieces  on display. “The theme comes from the fact that when we were young, we were innocent, naive and in love with everything — everything was almost magical,” says Pittie. The collection also has a revival of sorts of two important Indian crafts – bidri (Karnataka) and filigree (Odisha). “Well, it’s sort of a modern take on it.” says Pittie, who started a gemology school when she was 20. “All of our jewellery has an Indian DNA, but the styling is always modern and offbeat. So, it’s a mix of rural and urban, modern and new.”

Showing off the bow around her neck, Pittie says that nobody can tell a woman how to pick her jewellery. “It’s really who you are and what you’re feeling at that moment,” she explains. Pointing at her neckpiece, she adds, “I’m strong and yet, I can be vulnerable. Jewellery really is about who you are.”

Suhani Pittie’s ‘Child of Eden’ is on display at Evoluzione, Khader Nawaz Khan Road. For details, call 28333627.