Pushing The Envelope

When ANAM PATEL couldn’t find the kind of jewellery that she wanted in stores, she decided to create them herself.

- Aliya Ladhabhoy 

Armed with a background in marketing and hospitality, Anam dived headlong into launching her own brand of fashion accessories, Anomaly by Anam, in 2016. Anam had no prior knowledge of the jewellery industry and started with a blank slate, using the method of trial and error to ensure that her vision turned into reality.

Anam’s jewels are bold and make a statement. She also considers the human body to be her canvas and jewellery as the muse. Apart from the usual chokers, rings and bracelets, Anam has designed body ornaments including a shin harness. While she feels the average Indian is not yet ready to experiment with new ornaments, she will continue to do her bit in pushing the boundaries to experiment with out-of-the-box jewellery.

Anam speaks to ALIYA LADHABHOY about ushering in a new era of contemporary jewellery.

When and why did you decide to launch your own jewellery brand? 

Tell us more about your Eureka moment. After working in a few different fields, I decided to finally do something of my own, something I’m passionate about and that I see myself doing in the long-run. For as long as I can remember, I have been in awe of all the different types of jewellery out there in the world, very different from what we were used to seeing in India. In fact, a lot of the times at home, I would take apart a few older pieces and create brand new pieces using those components. So I guess it was a combination of my passion and a gap in the market for the kind of pieces I wish were available, that led to the creation of my brainchild – Anomaly by Anam.

Initially, did you find it difficult to enter the jewellery industry? Was it hard to transform your designs from paper to finished product?