Neo-punk jewellery gets a touch of Indian grandeur
Summary
In a country that loves traditional jewellery, indie designers are giving a twist to the neo-punk style and crafting statement pieces like nail talons and teeth grillz
Hyderabad-based jewellery designer Kavya Potluri, 31, remembers a childhood spent tagging along with her mother as she went jewellery shopping. “She was a passionate jewellery collector and she’d regularly pick up these beautiful pieces. Even as a child I mostly remember thinking to myself that ‘the piece is good but it could have been better’."
Potluri, an alumni of Raffles Design Institute, Singapore, and the Gemological Institute of America, started her eponymous label in November 2020. The intent right from the start, she says, was to make jewellery her way without conforming to trends or traditional templates. “I kept an open mind about what I wanted to do, but I have evolved along the way. My thought process is that I don’t want to create based on what society expects from me. Instead, it’s when I work free from expectations that I have the most fun," says Potluri.
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That free-flowing attitude reflects in Potluri’s extravagant pieces made by melding silver, brass and copper. Whether it’s her intricately detailed headpieces, filigreed nail talons, ear cuffs or whimsical sunglasses, Potluri’s designs have graced magazines, music videos and fashion shows; her head and hair bun ornaments and hand harness were part of Miss Universe India 2023 contestant Divita Rai’s national costume. She’s also sought out by brides looking for statement-making jewellery. “I have NRI brides making Zoom calls to discuss what they want," says Potluri, whose creations range from ₹3,280 for rings to ₹4-5 lakh for custom wedding jewellery.
At a time when everyone is more or less wearing curated looks prescribed by social media algorithms, independent jewellery designers seem to be taking the lead in creating pieces that are maximalist and individualistic. In a country that’s traditionally conservative in its jewellery preferences, they are crafting a visual identity that spells neo-punk with a touch of Indian grandeur. Their prevailing motto: stand out instead of blending in.
If Potluri is about creating bold iterations of traditional jewellery, Mumbai-based Shrikesh Choksi, 30, is all about adapting traditional jewellery techniques to adorn—get this—teeth grillz. Choksi’s label, Frostbite Lab, which he started in July 2024, is India’s first and currently the only maker of teeth grillz. Described simply as “jewellery for the teeth", grillz are removable dental caps made mainly from silver, gold or platinum. Based on customer preference, the metallic caps can also be adorned with diamonds, precious stones or other stylish motifs. Ask him what inspired him to start a label focused on an almost non-existent jewellery category in the country, and he says, “It’s a bit embarrassing and my friends still laugh at me but it all started because I had a vivid dream where I saw (American rapper) A$AP Rocky wearing teeth grillz."
As the only custom grillz maker in the country, it gives Choksi unfettered liberty to be as creative as he can while making these accoutrements. “Every tooth is different and is like a canvas that offers you endless design possibilities. Some people want stone setting on the grillz, some want enamel work in colours and then there are some who want laser engraving," says Choksi, who charges ₹4,500 upwards for his designs.
As labels led mainly by 30-somethings, the jewellery collections exude an aura reminiscent of the punk fashion era of the 1970s. A movement whose origins are largely attributed to the likes of music band Sex Pistols and late fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, punk fashion, and its offshoot, punk jewellery, gave the youth of the time the licence to defy social norms. Its distinctive DIY aesthetic and motifs like razor blades, skulls and spikes were bold, non-conformist. Over the years, punk’s rebellious aesthetic may have evolved from one of brashness to edgy high fashion but what remains consistent is the attitude to experiment, bend rules and be singular.
MATERIAL EXPERIMENTS
The DIY aesthetic is sharply pronounced in the collections of the brand NO NA MÉ. Founded by Smruti Mathisekaran in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, in 2020, the label’s jewellery is all sharp angles and straight lines. Or as Mathisekaran, 35, describes it, “bold, geometrical and modular". While creating unconventional jewellery was her vision from the start, the brand’s DIY leaning was the result of some logical thinking. NO NA MÉ is bootstrapped and “I had very little money when I was working on my first collection," she says. “That’s when I learnt that you need to have a minimum order quantity (MOQ) to approach a vendor to get a design made. Also, soldering the parts tends to be expensive. I decided to go modular and create jewellery out of a nuts and bolts system that’s easy to assemble and dismantle," says Mathisekaran, who works with a barebones team of three-four members.
This design thinking is visible in the collection, A Bar, A Circle, A Detour, where the wearer can create a hair accessory with a DIY kit comprising a 24-carat gold-plated brass bar, two medium-sized buttons and a leather strap. As an outlier brand, the initial years were difficult. “When I did my first pop-up there were people who wondered if it was stationery," she recalls. But through pop-ups and their Instagram page, the label is making a dent.
Another jewellery brand that’s just as experimental is Delhi-based Econock. With sustainability as their core philosophy, the brand that started off making bags out of discarded leather has now expanded to jewellery. Their current collections, Solstice and Crafted Gaia, are made from leather and metal and feature an assortment of pieces like ear cuffs, earrings, necklaces and corsets. “Our aesthetic is ‘global warming ready’," says Gouri Rawat, co-founder of the brand. “The whole brand stands on the foundation of upcycling, so everything that you see on our website is made out of waste materials." As an accessory designer who has worked with jewellery brands in the US and India, Rawat says they wanted to create something that was “rooted in tradition and handcraftedness and yet spoke high fashion language." Econock’s jewellery is made to order and is priced between ₹2,000-7,000.
Besides all of them being bootstrapped, a common thread that ties these designers is that they single-handedly run the show with the help of a small team. “Ideally, I’d prefer focusing on designing but right now, I am handling the business aspect of the job and social media too," says Potluri, who has 10 artisans working for her.
The conversation eventually boils down to the most basic question: is the Indian customer experimental enough to spend his or her earnings on their creations? “Everyone’s exposed to different trends across the world. Youngsters especially are more knowledgeable than before and so are more open-minded to try new things," says Choksi.
There’s a quiet revolution happening, concurs Aleem T. Siddiqui, 37, a luxury communications specialist from Delhi. An avowed fan of Savage X Fenty by Rihanna and Outhouse, Siddiqui says, “People are experimenting with industrial shapes, raw metal textures and concept pieces with confidence. It’s becoming less about shock value and more about personal expression. India’s jewellery scene is evolving slowly and it’s exciting to watch."
