Preview: Suhani Pittie’s LFW Winter Festive 2016 Collection | Verve Magazine
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Fashion
August 22, 2016

Preview: Suhani Pittie’s LFW Winter Festive 2016 Collection

Text by Tanisha Choudhury

The designer’s latest line of jewellery shines a light on the harsh realities of the refugee crisis

Ace jewellery designer Suhani Pittie’s upcoming collection for Lakme Fashion Week Winter Festive 2016 is her attempt to give voice to the plight of the refugees. The moving poem ‘Home’ by Warsan Shire perfectly sets the mood:

“No one leaves home until home is a sweaty voice in your ear
saying –
leave,
run away from me now
I don’t know what I’ve become
but I know that anywhere
is safer than here”

— ‘Home’, Warsan Shire

Suhani Pittie discusses the difficult process of designing the pieces and the power of jewellery:

What was the inspiration for this collection? What was on your mood board?
“I’m not going to use the word inspiration here. It’s more like being moved by a crisis that’s so large and so perennial in our history and so parallel to our lives that we don’t even notice it. It’s to wonder ‘what if her story was my story’? I don’t work with mood boards. I just work with my own feeling and mood. I connect to myself inwardly.”

You have mentioned the poem ‘Home’ by Warsan Shire as one of the influences. How did  you translate things as hard-hitting as the poem and the plight of refugees into jewellery?
“It’s achingly tough and I hope I have managed to do justice. There are a range of emotions being shown, from being bound in what you used to call home to being struck by powerful destruction and disillusionment. This has not been easy, but then, neither is their story.”

Do you think jewellery always has to be beautiful in the traditional sense of the word? Or do you think it can be used for more?
“Jewellery can be a very powerful dialogue. Every work of creativity that’s honest to the creator can be a dialogue.”

What are some of the techniques used in the collection that reflect the theme?
“Over 20 techniques have been employed and they all connect to the theme. For example, there is fire scaling, which is a layer of intentional oxidation. Then, there’s opus interrasile that is a scraped metal technique.” 

The collection note further mentions, “the meandering figure of recycled copper shares different manifestations of someone’s life that has undergone many phases. Other materials used in the collection include recycled chipped wood, recycled perspex, self-dyed fabric and synthetic pearls.”

Take a look at what went into the making of her collection:

Here is a sneak peek of her exquisite jewellery:

(Click on any image to view in larger gallery.)

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