IIJW 2010 – Indian designers show off jewels on catwalk
MUMBAI, India, August 18, 2010 – Leading Indian designers showed off their latest precious jewels in dazzling catwalks at India International Jewellery Week (IIJW), fusing fashion with jewellery – and showbiz glamour.
Award-winning Mumbai-based designer and goldsmith Laksh Pahuja with model presenting his show-stopping “Amazon Beauty” piece, at IIJW 2010
Award-winning Mumbai-based designer and goldsmith Laksh Pahuja presented his show-stopping “Amazon Beauty” piece, depicting dolphins, which a model wore on her shoulder. It took six months to make.
Laksh Pahuja draws his inspiration from nature.
“There is a message in all the pieces I do. This one is about the dolphins that are slaughtered in the Amazon in Brazil,” he told a news conference after models staged a catwalk show of his latest creations in the Grand Hyatt hotel in Mumbai.
IIJW, which runs from August 15-19 at the Grand Hyatt, is India’s first Jewellery Week. It is an initiative to showcase top of the line jewellery of India in terms of design, innovation, craftsmanship and technology.
The five-day event features 34 shows which bring together top jewellery designers from India on one platform.
Model shows off jewellery from Kolkata-based Kripalani & Sons
IIJW overlaps with the India International Jewellery Show (IIJS), India’s flagship jewellery trade show, expected to attract around 30,000 trade visitors, which takes place from August 19-23.
Other prominent designers at the show included Kolkata-based Kripalani & Sons and Surana, both of which brought a touch of showbiz glamour to their catwalk events.
Bollywood beauty Vaishali was one of the models presenting the precious jewels of Nirmal and Naresh Kripalani.
“The jewellery is beautiful and enhances my beauty even more,” said Vaishali, who has taken a break from films.
Mr Kripalani and Bollywood actress Vaishali at IIJW 2010
Nirmal and Naresh said, “We, the two brothers Nirmal and Naresh, inherited this family business and have kept the core belief of not compromising the quality and creating contemporary designs for today’s women.”
Celebrity singer Sonu Nigam was mobbed by the media when he arrived late after battling through a Mumbai traffic jam to support his sister Nikita, who modelled a show-stopping piece for Surana.
Surana jewellery dates back more than 100 years. The company is well known for its expertise in shaping diamonds.
A number of notable figures in the international jewellery trade attended the IIJW catwalk shows, including Vasant Mehta, Chairman of India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC); Domenico Girardi, formerly General Manager of Vicenza Fair; Cristina Salvi, a senior international marketing executive of Vicenza Fair; and Davide Zybert, who heads upmarket Italian jeweller Zydo.
The strong presence of Italian representatives underscored their interest in India as a potential key market for high-end Italian fine jewellery brands, taking into account the growth in Indians’ incomes and their cultural affinity for jewellery and gold.
