BENGALURU: As much as The Oscars is about the best-made movies, it’s also the best place to catch the trendiest outfits. This year, bold statement pieces made their mark at the Academy Awards, especially with Call Me By Your Name actor Timothée Chalamet wearing a sparkly Louis Vuitton suit with a large, diamond-encrusted panther head necklace. This, once again, has brought to the spotlight gender-fluid jewellery.
In namma ooru, fashionistas are exploring this possibility for everyday wear. Industrial design student Vir Joseph Naidu feels that jewellery is a great way to express one’s personality. “My mom and I share a lot of jewellery and I’ve never received any flak for wearing it. In fact, my friends come over and ask for some of the rings or other jewellery items that I possess,” he says.
Most stores have the jewellery offerings in the women’s section which can steer away the men. “Thankfully, there are some fast-fashion brands that have now started creating unisex jewellery, so it’s easier to go out there and purchase or get them online,” adds Naidu.
Style curator Bia Sandhu Taneja finds more men taking to gender-fluid jewellery now. “It’s strange that Indians find men wearing jewellery bizarre because if you look back in history, royal men loved their jewels. They wore it with elan. Somewhere along the line, it started to become women’s accessories,” she says, adding that recently a groom was keen to sport jewellery on his wedding day. “I’ve been noticing many others rocking the trend once again,” adds Sandhu.
Bhavya Ramesh, who has an eponymous label, has always been about creating jewellery sans barriers. “There are characteristics I do consider while working on them, but I create pieces that anyone can embrace,” she says, adding, “There is a sense of acceptance when it comes to this generation which is why we’re able to bring back the style that has somewhere been forgotten. Bengaluru is forward-thinking and accepting of the people with different styles.” Her pieces range between Rs 3,000 and Rs 15,000.
Large jewellery brands too are now exploring gender-fluid jewellery. In fact, the demand for it is steadily on the rise in India, believes Shyamala Ramanan, business head at Mia by Tanishq. “Gender fluidity goes beyond just pieces of jewellery and is today becoming a movement, whose expression is often aided by fashion as a device. We offer several non-binary pieces that are either size agnostic or can be ordered in a wide range of sizes to cater to everybody,” she explains, adding that the brand has seen 25 and 40-year-old customers purchasing (prices starting at Rs 4,000) the pieces.