Galleria 2004

Niharika Khan:
Starting up: After completing her college education in Mumbai, Niharika suddenly took off for Seattle to work in the corporate world in public relations, under the democratic legislator for the city of Seattle. There she realized that that wasn’t her calling either. She then went on to pursue her childhood passion for jewellery and started off by working at a bead shop and later taking silver-smithing classes in the evenings. “What you basically call a karigar,” she jokes. On her return she joined Titan as their Head of Design. “But I think I was a bit too bohemian, what with my blue-hair and body piercings!” she exclaims. By then she knew it was time to start her own jewelry line, and began by exhibiting select pieces at Hidden Harmony (now known as Grasshopper) in Bangalore. Soon, her inherent passion catapulted into the big time and today she retails at Evolution in Chennai, besides running her own store Purple Porcupine in Mumbai.

Career highlights: Launching her brand label Akirahin (her name spelt backwards) in 1997 and seeing the growth of her store Purple Porcupine into a complete design house has been a big high for her. “Just moving to Mumbai itself was a huge step,” she adds. “And yes, literally seeing my line evolve - where it started out with just friends buying it and today, I take customized orders for movies and weddings.”

Signature look: Contemporary silver with a twist, and sometimes, with embedded stones. Price range: Anything between Rs. 400 to 12,000.

Key clients: Shahrukh Khan, Karan Johar, Manish Malhotra, Suresh Bhojwani, Suneeta Rao and Bipasha Basu to name a few. Season’s must-haves: She advocates that one must go for pieces that suit one’s personality. “Make sure that you have atleast one piece that you’re totally in love with!”

Personal favourites: A mother-of-pearl pendant that she designed for her mother as a birthday present. “It has a very interesting art nouveau design.”

Timeless buy: A jasper pendant that a friend especially cut for her. “It has a lovely stark contemporary finish to it.”

Golden words: “Colgate powder cleans silver really nicely. And, always keep your silver jewellery in an airtight box so it doesn’t get oxidised.”

- Farhad J. Dadyburjor