LETTER FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

HARRY WINSTON HAD FAMOUSLY CONCLUDED:

“People will stare. Make it worth their while.” Of course, he didn’t live to witness the near-apocalyptic world where shrinking human contact accords you about 30 seconds of time to make an impression. The idea is not so much to stand out but to be remembered. Here is where the ‘trendy fashion’ versus ‘personal style’ debate rests today. What was once considered a generational divide is now the only solution with no wrong or right answer. “Don’t be into trends. Don’t make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way to live.” The late lamented maverick designer Gianni Versace’s words still read like an epiphany today as the fashion world gravitates toward less-trend-more-traction. Versace’s enigmatic sister Donatella Versace, who took over the brand after his murder, abides by a similar conviction. In the next couple of pages of this issue, she holds forth on her personal style, why it’s time to get dressed up again, and how to do it best, finding a middle ground between the comfort-focussed minimalists and the dress-up maximalists. If Audrey Hepburn clung to her cropped pants and ballet flats, and Jackie O immortalised oversize sunglasses, your signature could be as simple as a personalised piece of jewellery. For Spice’s fashion special, we bring you three wildly different jewellery collections from three designers that redefine the art of adornment. Evocative, haunting, with an otherworldly take on luxury, these designs have shaken the formality out of jewellery to give it swagger, attitude and a style identity. Audacious enough to choose style over the old orthodoxies of form, these uncommon visions of beauty don’t just transcend borders but embrace a paradigm where borders don’t exist. While some pieces translate art canvasses into a collection of wearable objets d’art that blur borders between jewellery and fine art, others are bejewelled beasts, crafted in mixed metals and unique stones, sporting mobile phones, little Birkin bags, studded shoes and whimsical jackets, all expressing an opulent declaration of freedom and style. Other pieces represent more brutalist shapes with surreal currents—an ancient glyph, an astral symbol, elsewhere a nod to science fiction. Predictability may be the main casualty here but Mrinalini Kumari, a New York-based fashion designer explores some preferences that may endure. Instead of extravagant couture, she roots for a design sensibility that is slow, sustainable, and hand-made. Here is where she makes a case for Indian crafts and its craftsmen. “India’s textiles, textures and embroideries will be the real hero in these troubled times,” she claims. Having worked with over 260 American brands such as Giorgio Armani, Etro, Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Marchesa, and Oscar De La Renta and created designs for pop icons like Beyonce and Michael Jackson, she probably knows a thing or two about couture. Clearly, bespoke is still in fashion. Belt up for this new customised series of buckles called the R18 Superdriver from inventor and designer, Roland Iten, where clients can incorporate the design of their supercar into the hood of the buckle. The first few pieces of this collection have been customised for Bugatti Chiron owners, but using the same high-performance chassis, and within the same 3.4mm thickness of the hood, he can create any supercar a client might desire—new or vintage. After the utilitarian uniform of lockdown loungewear, it’s time to claim your signature style for when we collectively re-emerge into a post-Covid world.