Luxury is changing from a status symbol to a style symbol says international designer Suchitra Dalal

It’s a common saying that ‘A woman has her emotions attached to jewels’.
And thus, to create world class designers in the field of jeweller and make them experienced and knowledgeable designers, the Jewellery Design and Technology Institute (JDTI), Sector 35, Chandigarh introduced a workshop on advanced jewellery designing techniques and international trends, giving young designers an opportunity to learn from international designer Suchitra Dalal.
Suchitra, an alumnus of NIFT was here in the city to conduct a workshop on advanced jewellery designing techniques and international trends.
Suchitra has worked with leading international brands like Cartier, Mont Blanc, Vecheron, Dunhill, Costantin, Van Cleef and Arpels.Currently working with French high-end luxury brand Chloe.
“I hope to encourage budding designers and introduce them to international trends in design. There is a lot of information that I want to share with students, making them aware of new techniques of design trends,” says Suchitra.
“Luxury marketing is still a developing concept in India, with many European brands looking towards India, studying the culture and customizing according to Indian demands and also incorporating elements like Indian embroidery,’’ Suchitra mentions how design is still a new concept in India, just three decades old, while for Europe, it dates back to centuries.” Suchitra hopes to return to India after gaining some more international exposure.”I want to be more involved in design education and feel responsible to make people aware.
The workshop covers the concept of luxury, international luxury brands in fashion and jewellery, tools of luxury and sketching and colouring techniques for designs. While the buying power of Indians has increased, Suchitra feels that there is still a long way to go, “Something fashionable in Paris still takes about six months to a year to reach India. Luxury is changing from a status symbol to a style symbol.”
"If we slash the prices to make them affordable, the product would not stand true to the term 'luxury brand', meant only for the niche class”, explains Suchitra.
The prospects of luxury brands in India, she says, "The country does have a good number of elite, the reason these really expensive brands have a thriving business here." No surprises to see several leading brands opening up their retail stores in India. Also, the brands are extensively studying the unexplored Indian markets." As for the brands, she is a part of, "The focus is on the affluent north India, the people of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, as the spending capacity is maximum here."
Well, there is another reason for the leading international brands to target India, "Fashion in India has always been about the right clothes, minus the accessories, which were never important. It is only in recent times, that top designers started recognizing accessories as a separate important fashion genre."
Ritu Malik, CEO, JDTI says, “There are exceptional career opportunities in jewellery trade and with proper training and experience; there is no limit to what you can achieve.”
The three-day workshop ended on August 20 and included discussions on customer design preference and international fashion and styling.