Design student creates jewellery for Aisha

Nitya Arora caught the eye of Rhea Kapoor, producer of Sonam Kapoor-starrer Aisha, and had her neckpieces included in the film’s wardrobe.

She’s still a student at Parsons, The New School For Design, but jewellery designer Nitya Arora has already made the fashion world sit up and take notice.

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With a label titled Valliyan, the young designer from Mumbai caught the eye of Rhea Kapoor, producer of Sonam Kapoor-starrer Aisha, and had her neckpieces included in the film’s wardrobe. “I knew Rhea when we were younger, and we met once again at a fashion event about a year and a half ago.

When she saw my stuff, she told me that she was going to produce a movie and would like to use my jewellery in it,” Arora recalls. Her next meeting was with the film’s stylist, Pernia Qureshi, who fell in love with Arora’s quirky statement jewellery. “I took an entire suitcase of stuff for her to see and she asked me to leave all of it behind to be used in the movie’s wardrobe.

After she described the three characters to me, I created some pieces especially for the film, to match some other stuff I thought would work for each character.” While Arora’s course at Parsons doesn’t give her time to mass-produce her Aisha collection, you might just find those pieces in stores soon. “I’ll be coming back to India soon, so let’s see then,” she says.

While she’s less than enthusiastic about the Indian response to her signature style, she’s excited about the rave reviews she’s getting internationally.

She reveals, “People abroad are crazy about Indian jewellery, and are always surprised to see my work because it’s not traditional. A friend of mine works at Saks Fifth Avenue, an iconic departmental store, and she wants to stock my pieces once I finish college.

Unfortunately in India, people are willing to shell out Rs 50,000 for a Marni necklace, but will hesitate to spend Rs 5,000 if the label belongs to a local designer.”

Valliyan by Nitya Arora retails for Rs 2,000 onwards at Ensemble, Opp Lion Gate Kala Ghoda.
Call 22872882.