It’s time to deck up your Christmas tree, whip up some egg nog, munch on gingerbread and listen to your favourite carols. It’s also a time when you need to buy gifts for friends and family, even colleagues, which can be a difficult task for some. But jewellery designer Radhika Agrawal is here to address all your gift-buying woes with her latest designs in collaboration with Colourscape, titled The Holiday Collection.
The collection is inspired by her travels in Europe over the last few years. “I visited Belgium last year, and Switzerland the year before that. These places are absolutely enchanting during Christmas time. I’ve always wanted to transform these elements of Christmas into my work. This year, I made sure that I did something around it,” says the designer, adding, “Even as a child, I was always fascinated with Christmas. I can sum up that the inspiration behind this collection comes from my childhood combined with all my travels through Europe during Christmas.”
She has come out with a capsule collection with six pieces of baubles and charms. “Though I wanted this collection to reflect my signature style of work, I also wanted to add a touch of colour to it. So I worked along with my friend Swasti Bhartia of Colourscape, which mostly works with textiles, to make the collection a combination of bling and tassels. The textiles represent the colours of Christmas,” says she.
Most jewellery and fashion designers tend to focus on festivals like Diwali or Dussera and release their collections in time for the same. Hardly anyone makes special collections for Christmas in India. Talking about taking the initiative to launch a special holiday collection, Agrawal says, “I know Christmas is not as big as Diwali or Dussera in Indian households, but people are aware of the concept of the festival and like to celebrate it by putting up Christmas trees and giving gifts to each other. I always want to try something new and not get stuck in the same rut as most designers do.”
Most offices organise fun activities during Christmas time. One of them is the Secret Santa game where employees or team members write their names on chits, shuffle it and pick. They have to buy a gift for the person whose name they pick out and keep it a secret. On the day of exchanging gifts, they secretly deliver the gift to the person and see if the receiver can guess who their Secret Santa was. For such gifts, where you might not know a person well enough to buy them something personal, the baubles and charms from The Holiday Collection make a perfect fit.
“We have not used any direct Christmas motifs like the Santa figure, the Christmas Tree shape or the stockings. We have stuck to shapes like stars, spirals and snowflakes, which can be used even after the holiday season is over. We kept this in mind also because we know that not everyone is a big fan of Christmas or not everyone celebrates it too,” says she, adding, “Each multipurpose piece from the collection can be used to hang up on the tree, or as a charm on anything from your bag to your jacket, or as a key ring. You can use these baubles and charms in various ways.”
The packaging is gift-worthy too. “All the pieces are packed in a muslin cloth bag, which is then put into a beautiful box. The box is grey and emerald, which also gives off a Christmassy vibe, and our logo is embossed in gold for that touch of bling,” she Agrawal concludes.
