FASHION

From interior designer to jewellery designer, Sussanne Khan wears many hats

By Saloni Dhruv

13 February, 2023

Khan talks about her inspiration behind her first capsule collection of jewellery

Sussanne Khan is a name you would usually associate with as an interior designer. What makes the association more obvious is that she has collaborated most recently with realtors like the Lodha Group and Yoo One for luxury residential projects as well as with Sternhagen for a new range of ceramic kitchen sinks. You may also recollect  The Charcoal Project, where she partnered with fellow interior designer Gauri Khan to create a space for both interiors and fashion under one roof in Mumbai. Jewellery designing is not something you would find on her impressive resume, the multi-hyphenate Khan is here to prove everyone wrong.

At the recently held Ajio Luxe Weekend, Khan unveiled her first jewellery collection, in collaboration with Ateet and Pavitra Gandhi of Pure Facets. For this capsule collection, Khan tapped into her obsession with the secret symbolic language that was used by the Vikings and converted it into wearable art pieces that are offbeat and modern in their designs.

fashion

Sussanne Khan unveiled her first jewellery collection, in collaboration with Ateet and Pavitra Gandhi (pictured here) of Pure Facets

We caught up with Khan on her big day to give us a low-down on her debut collection Bind Runes, the unexpected collaboration and her transition from an interior designer to a jewellery designer.

You teamed up with Pure Facets for your first jewellery collection. How did this collaboration come about?

Ateet and Pavitra have a very established manufacturing company that helps other designers all over the world. But incidentally, they had never done a collection of their own. When they came to me with the thought of a collaboration, I agreed right away.  I already had a concept in mind, which we immediately started working on.

Honestly speaking, I couldn’t have asked for better partners; they are like family to me. There is a lot of trust and commitment between us. They gave me creative freedom to turn a concept into a form of wearable art. 

You drew inspiration from a very unique place in history. Can you tell us about that?

I have a keen interest in languages, specifically Bind Runes that were used during the Viking Age. It is said that the Vikings used these symbols as a form of communication to bring luck, protection and empowerment to hunters or travellers. I found this to be very interesting and thought why not turn it into some kind of an art form?

The shapes and the symbols that we’ve used in the collection have meaning to it. For example, we have a pair of earrings that are symbolic of the night moon, which is for people who are attracted to the magic and the mystery of the night. We’ve incorporated different shapes that have different meanings to them.

"We’ve used enamels with pearls, we’ve mixed leather with diamonds. We’ve used natural pearls and techniques like enamelling. Our approach for this was to build a capsule collection that is more gender fluid"

"It is said that the Vikings used these symbols as a form of communication to bring luck, protection and empowerment to hunters or travellers. I found this to be very interesting and thought why not turn it into some kind of an art form?"

There is a lot of mix and match of materials used in this collection. Was it a conscious decision to play with different materials?

From the start I had a very clear idea of how I wanted the collection to be, which is very offbeat yet modern. I wanted to be wearable for multiple occasions and for a wider audience. We’ve used enamels with pearls, we’ve mixed leather with diamonds. We’ve used natural pearls and techniques like enamelling. Our approach for this was to build a capsule collection that is more gender fluid. All the pieces are three-dimensional, meaning that every side, especially of the geometric rings, are of different colours. So you can stack them up and wear it in multiple different ways.

As an interior designer, how has this transition towards designing jewellery been for you?

I consider myself to be a multi-taker so I wasn’t jumping into a completely new territory. I believe my forte has been colour stories, form and mixing of geometry, and I’ve tried to combine all of these together, whether it’s with interiors and furniture or now with jewellery. Although designing jewellery and interiors are creatively in sync when it comes to making products through shapes, I did have a process of learning while creating this collection. I realised how delicate and intricate one has to be with jewellery. It was a huge absorbing process for me, but I have enjoyed working on this.

What has been the most challenging for you when working on this collection?

Time has been the most challenging bit about creating this collection. We started working on it just last year in September. For me, the inspiration and the idea was very clear but the timeline for us to create this and showcase it for the first time at Ajio Luxe Weekend was a short window. This is our first drop. Some of the more detailed and intricate pieces are still not ready. But we are hoping to release those soon too.

fashion

Khan wanted the collection to be offbeat yet modern. "I wanted to be wearable for multiple occasions and for a wider audience," she says

What’s next in store for you?

We’d really like to take this collection all over the world. We are proud that it’s made in India but has an international look to it. ‘Made in India’ jewellery does not have to always be traditional. This collection is very modern and has a global appeal.

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