Jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali has expanded her repertoire by launching Farah Khan World, aimed at the Indian wedding and gifting space. An extension of herself, the collection is quite stunning
By: Suman Tarafdar
Posted on: August 16, 2018
For admirers of Indian jewellery, Farah Khan Ali needs no introduction. As one of India’s leading jewellery designer, she has been the jeweller of choice since she launched her own brand, Farah Khan Fine Jewellery, in 2004. Now she is taking her journey significantly forward with the launch of Farah Khan World, a platform that will address the Indian wedding and gifting sector.
“Farah Khan World is a natural extension of my fine jewellery brand,” she says. “As a public figure and an influencer, many would ask me about my lifestyle choices. That led me to wanting to create more lifestyle products that people could buy into.”
Ms. Khan Ali, daughter of actor-filmmaker Sanjay Khan and interior designer Zarine Khan, has always been into design, and did a course in Gemology at the renowned Gemological Institute of America in Santa Monica, California.
She realized that there was a huge gap in the gifting sector, especially in the wedding market, because there was a lack of innovative gifting which came with great packaging and branding. “Besides I had so many ideas and thoughts in design that I could not include them all in jewellery, so decided that getting into various other products was something I should explore,” she says.
She says the focus of Farah Khan World is going to be the wedding and gifting sector with articles that are unique, like jewellery products, and especially created keeping the brand’s design identity and monogram in mind. “I believe in detailing so the packaging would be exceptional as well which has been especially created for each and every product.”
The range of products initially will be crockery, tableware, scented soy wax candles, incense sticks and incense holders, scarves and bejeweled scarf accessories, stationery that would range from wedding cards to personal stationary and other similar products. Future plans include exploring the home section that would range from artifacts to bed linen and towels. “Being a fit person, I would like to also eventually get into the fitness world as well as the beauty line of makeup, perfumes, eyewear and more,” she elaborates.
One-stop weddings
Farah Khan World aims to help the Indian bride to design her wedding experience. “From wedding cards to gift hampers and the actual wedding, we would like to be the one stop destination for everything. From jewellery to the décor to the menu, to the themes, and her gifting options, we can help the Indian bride design her wedding and make her special day a truly glamourous, memorable moment in time,” she says.
The new range is a reflection of the brand’s inspirations in design and includes bird and bejeweled motifs as well as her signature motif ‘Ayaat’ which represents the four pillars of the brand. “I would say that my designs are eye catching, unique and make a style statement. They are pieces that will go down generations and become priceless in time.”
The Farah Khan World is made up of four design inspiration pillars - Nature, Architecture, Love and Ethics. Ms. Khan Ali says, “Since I am inspired largely through nature and architecture, most of my designs in jewellery are reminiscent of that. Love forms the basis of all I do as I live to design. Lastly, Ethics forms the core of who I am, because everything I do, I do right, including sourcing ethically.”
The highlight of the collection was the signature wall plate “Bijoux a Plumes” that took 300 hours to create. “The peacock in the design was hand painted and each stone was detailed intricately to make it look like it is. The scented candles represent the special people in my life as well as the times that have taken my breath away. The stationery is a natural extension of my love for design, and the bejeweled and bird scarves are something I would wear myself because I am such a scarf person. One can do so much with scarves,” she elaborates.
Such a long journey
Ms. Khan Ali, who grew up with Bollywood stars as her friends, completes 25 years of her design journey this year. The road has brought her much success, especially after she launched Farah Khan Fine Jewellery. She recollects many of her more memorable moments. “The first special moment was in 2006 when I got nine prominent actors, professionals such as Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Zayed Khan, Arjun Rampal, Karan Johar, Kunal Kapoor, and my husband Aqeel to walk the ramp for me. That was a special moment because it was the first time so many well-known personalities had come together to walk for any brand at that time.”
Another memorable moment was when Beyonce wore the crown Ms. Khan Ali designed for Nadja Swarovski’s Runway Rocks. “It got featured on the cover of her music album. Another cherished memory was being featured on the cover of the Forbes Marquee magazine with my sisters Simone and Sussanne as the design doyens of the industry. There are many, many more such memories and I am truly grateful for them.”
Ms. Khan Ali has also been witness to the changes in jewellery trends. Jewellery buying in India has seen a vast change since 1993, she points out. “Today it is no more considered only an investment and the customer is willing to give it a style and a fashion value as well. Even though it is still bought as a commodity and not an accessory like garments, people are more accepting of the fact that there is a cost attached to making the piece and that no two pieces cost the same.” The design aesthetics have changed, people are looking at getting more stone-based jewellery instead of just gold, and are open to experimentation in design over traditional jewellery.
“I see Farah Khan World spread across the world,” she says. In the works is a franchising model for across India and the world. With a brand like hers, the world beckons.
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