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sitanshi talati-parikh

sitanshi talati-parikh

Tag Archives: Sustainable Luxury

The Myth and Reality of Sustainable Diamonds

06 Thursday Jun 2019

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Fashion & Style, Publication: The Voice of Fashion, Sustainability

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De Beers Group, Diamond Foundry, Diamond Producers Association, Diamonds, Lab-grown or Man-made Diamonds, Mined Diamonds, Recycled Diamonds, Sustainability, Sustainable Luxury

Published: The Voice of Fashion, June 5, 2019, World Environment Day
Images courtesy DPA and Diamond Foundry.

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Exactly 20 years ago, Advertising Age (global media brand now called Ad Age) proclaimed the 1948 “Diamond Is Forever” De Beers (diamond mining company) advertisement as the slogan of the (last) century. This remains a testimony to the successful positioning of the diamond as a sparkling beacon of romantic love. But perhaps it is time to review the price we may be paying for it ecologically.

India is one of the largest markets globally in the purchase and manufacture of diamond jewellery, showing steady growth in popularity vis-à-vis traditional gold jewellery. And yet, there is a remarkable disinterest in the environmental effects of the diamond industry—perhaps due to lack of genuine information, inadequate media coverage and strong marketing by big diamond houses towards keeping the romance of diamonds alive.

The Impact of Diamond Mining

At the most basic level, traditional mining creates displacement of wildlife and vegetation. Often this leads to irreversible ecological damage, industrial and chemical waste, heavy water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of fossil fuels.

Globally, with the increasing popularity of ‘eco-friendly’ lab-grown diamonds, there has been a renewed interest in the sustainability of mining. Perhaps in response to that, on May 2, 2019, the Diamond Producers Association (DPA) released a commissioned report, ‘Total Clarity’, to evaluate the benefits of the mining industry. But can that be taken at face value? The DPA, formed in 2016, comprises seven companies including the De Beers Group, representing approximately 75per cent of the world’s rough diamond production.

Jean-Marc Lieberherr, the chief executive officer of the DPA admits, “On the environmental front, the impact is globally negative, like for any large-scale industrial activity. Today, 100per cent of the irreversible environmental costs associated with large-scale diamond mining by DPA members are linked to greenhouse gas emissions, which is equivalent to 160kg per polished carat.” The DPA report speaks of renewable energy, biodiversity programs, and land being reclaimed at the end of the mining cycle. But it is not as simple as putting the earth back into the ground—closure can take many years and several hundred million dollars.

Meanwhile, sustainability has to take environmental as well as socio-economic factors into consideration—after all, the $82 billion industry provides a livelihood for 10 million people worldwide (De Beers Group insight data 2017).

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Is Your Diamond Conflict-Free?

In a 2015 Time magazine (American weekly magazine) cover story, 34-year-old Max Rodriguez says, “I don’t want a symbol of our union to also be associated with chaos and controversy and pain.”

Diamonds bought or sourced from big brands like Forevermark and De Beers come through structured channels. But 20 per cent of world diamond production by volume (Diamond Development Initiative or DDI data), is from the Artisanal and Small Scale Mining (ASM) of diamonds, 90 per cent of which operates informally and with little oversight.

Besides the endemic environmental damage, miners face difficult and occasionally hazardous working conditions, lack of access to fair market prices, and the use of diamonds as potential “currency” to finance rebel armies (Total Clarity report).

Decades after the 2006 political war thriller, Blood Diamond, which described the grim connection between diamond mining and the financing of conflicts, most believe that diamond mining has come a long way with the Kimberley Process, an international diamond certification system set up in 2003. And yet, as reports suggest, not only is the Kimberly process riddled with loopholes, it also doesn’t guard against human-rights abuses, unfair labour practices or unsafe mining conditions.

Innovations to Create Accountability

De Beers, in partnership with the DDI (that works to effect change in the ASM sector) launched GemFair in a pilot program last year in Sierra Leone (West Africa). It includes a digital app to track diamonds recovered by artisanal miners through the supply chain. Ian Smillie, chair of the DDI and founding participant in the creation of the Kimberley Process says, “GemFair undertakes to make an offer on all diamonds produced by these groups at fair market prices. It has shortened the pipeline and created a strong traceability mechanism.”

And after several years of trial and error, last month the DDI formally launched an innovative certification system, the Maendeleo Diamond Standards.

The Alternative To Mined Diamonds

Last year in November, a manmade diamond ring by San-Francisco (the US)-based Diamond Foundry and co-designed by Sir Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer, was auctioned for $461,250 at Sotheby’s (New-York-based auction house).

Screen Shot 2019-06-06 at 5.56.16 PMDiamond Foundry ring

The industry and the consumers may be polarised on manmade versus mined diamonds, but technology offers a choice. A diamond can be made in a lab, by replicating the same conditions that it takes to make a diamond over many years below the earth’s surface (HPTP—high pressure, high temperature) or by chemical vapour deposition (CVD). Today, it is possible to easily create a Type IIA diamond, which is like the ‘Koh-i-Noor’ (one of the largest cut diamonds in the world)—rare among mined diamonds.

A lab-grown diamond also needs to be responsible for labour practices and particularly, high levels of energy consumption, due to the extreme temperatures required to produce a diamond. Diamond Foundry, for instance, has been certified carbon neutral and their zero net carbon footprint includes their employees commuting to work.

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Bringing a Diamond Back

Recycling diamonds makes a diamond’s journey last longer by resetting a stone in a modern design. Rough Polished (analytics firm) reports that an estimated $1 trillion worth of ‘used diamonds’ are locked away in private hands. The diamond industry, by virtue of the marketed emotions attached, thwarts the potential recycling of diamonds.

“Many of today’s younger consumers aren’t only open to alternatives, they are willing to pay a premium for products that have a low environmental impact or are socially responsible,” states a Morgan Stanley 2016 research report.

Lieberherr points out, “We are not perfect, no industry is—but we are working to be better.” As in most cases, blaming an industry is not the answer; rather it is in holding the stakeholders accountable. And as a consumer, demanding specifics to make informed decisions. After all, the critical step, as in all sustainability conversations, is to create a truly transparent supply chain.

 

Sustainable Indian Weddings. Really?

11 Saturday May 2019

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Publication: The Voice of Fashion, Sustainability

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Eco-friendly, Indian Weddings, Opinion, Sustainability, Sustainable Luxury, The Voice of Fashion

Published: The Voice of Fashion, May 9, 2019, Opinion piece

More than 10 million weddings take place in India each year, but how many of them would ever be eco-friendly?

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Have you ever heard of a muted desi (local) celebration? Or, the words: “I am getting married, but it’s not really a big deal.” That’s not the way India rolls. The grand cinema of weddings is a metaphor for life. It tells the world that this is so big, that it cannot, will not, and should not fail. In this ode to matrimony lies the foreplay of the bride and bridegroom. They are made to feel so special—nothing is bigger than them at this moment, nothing can trump this card. Certainly not environmental concerns.

The Indian wedding market is estimated at approximately ₹33,000 crores, the world’s second-largest, after the US market; while growing at an estimated 20 per cent a year, the Hindu Business Line reported in 2017. The same article reports that an average Indian spends an estimated one-fifth of their wealth accumulated in a lifetime on weddings.

Weddings are largely—like most luxury purchases—what you want to communicate to the world about yourself. And as the Amazon Prime series Made in Heaven (2019) suggests, weddings are a societal farce, a suggestive discourse on tradition and morality that lends itself to deep hypocrisy. As the video documenter of these weddings, Kabir Basrai (played by Shashank Arora), asks in the show—why is this the biggest moment of a woman’s life? As if everything she is and has done leads up to this point? It’s who you are, as a person, sure, but particularly, it is your standing in society. Royal, regal, rich and very unsustainable.

According to a 2016 story published by Fashion United, a UK-based fashion industry network site, as per industry estimates, in the top 15 Indian cities people usually spend between two to 20 million rupees for three to five days of extensive celebrations, from mehendi, sangeet, haldi, baraat and pheras to bidai. The immense cost to the environment to generate the orchestra of the grand wedding, including but not limited to the intricate invitations, wasted food, elaborate décor including fountains, stages and mandaps, services flown down from various parts of the world, heavy use of non-biodegradable products including plastic (think of the many barely-consumed bottles of water) and fabric (synthetic and otherwise) drown sense and sensibility.

A great start would be for Indian parents to forget the number of weddings they may have attended and curate a guest list comprising a select few, while simultaneously restricting the affair to a single event. And in a fell sweep, reducing the burden of ‘the biggest party they would ever throw’.

If a host would dare to change the mindset that organic is not skimping on the finery, then sourcing local, bio-degradable elements or going au naturel and keeping it minimalistic would be de rigueur. Couples in America have been reported to be open to second-hand garments and opting for no-paper-or-plastic and zero-waste catering. For the invitations, choosing recycled or seed paper, or sending e-vites. Perhaps one could give up gold-silver-and-bone-china gifts in favour of an eco-friendly registry (or accept donations to a charitable or sustainable organisation) and mindful favours.

The Fashion United article also suggested that the average clothing budget for an Indian wedding is $375,500 (₹26,257,197) and up to 80per cent of a designer’s business comes from bridal couture. In 2017 The Economic Times, a business daily, reported that weddings could save costs by renting outfits and jewellery. The most ethical and sustainable option for jewellery is vintage or heirloom, even if redesigned and updated in style. After all, ethically-made jewellery from lab-grown diamonds and recycled metal are better alternatives than new jewels, which bear the burden of mining.

Perhaps wearing a sari that is not brand new to even your own offspring’s wedding would make a statement—that the environment and their future on this planet matter.

While the lack of knowledge about the heavy carbon footprint of celebrations plays a role in choices being made, one could argue that in India particularly, the environment would not be a factor in the decisions. Also, as suggested by Viswanathan Raghunathan in Games Indians Play: Why We Are the Way We Are, socially, Indians are not primed to think about the greater good versus the private need. Savings, loans and investments are considered for education, marriage and health, and among certain income groups, marriage trumps all the others. If only marriage could be evaluated as a meaningful relationship with a person and the environment we live in—low-key, natural and organic, subtle and meaningful, like life and love should be—perhaps we could visualise an eco-friendly wedding in India. Until then, the industry just grows in the most unsustainable fashion.

The Warp & The Weft

20 Wednesday Feb 2019

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Fashion & Style, Features & Trends, Publication: Taj Magazine, Sustainability

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Embroidery, Gautam Vazirani, Handloom, India, Natural Dyes, Northeast India, Shefalee Vasudev, Sustainability, Sustainable Fashion, Sustainable Luxury, Taj Magazine, Weaving

Published: Taj Magazine, Volume 2, 2018-19

India’s once vibrant and sustainable textile ecosystem may have receded with the drifts of social, economic and political change. A new vigour brought about by a revivified contemporary aesthetic may yet turn the tide, says Sitanshi Talati-Parikh.

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The rich texture of thousands of years of Indian culture seeps in like a natural, yet permanent dye in its fabric and woven traditions. It is a symbolic thread that connects the nation in its diversity; perhaps a striking case where tradition marks culture, where craft describes history and where colours speak of the passage of time —of lives lived and memories created.

Weaves, threadwork and textile decoration, among other indigenous crafts spin yarns —even if coloured with the emotions of the artisans — describing the local life. Influenced deeply by the local socio-economic-political environment, but also linked to moments of celebration, like festivals and weddings. The craft, in some cases, has been a rite of passage: a woman decorates her own trousseau that becomes a part of the dowry she takes with her when she gets married.

While over centuries, communities have survived because of their traditional crafts, these have faced erosion in many ways. As Gautam Vazirani, strategist and curator — sustainable fashion at IMG Reliance/ Lakmé Fashion Week, points out, “Many of our local techniques have changed in the last few decades in terms of authenticity of practice, either at the raw material level or in the original process, or in the woven design approach. Only true craft connoisseurs and historians can highlight the state of many languishing crafts today.”

Shefalee Vasudev, the editor of The Voice of Fashion, a digital destination that explores the intersection of fashion and culture, finds that while there are crafts slipping away from us for varied reasons, perhaps not everything needs to be sustained simply because it once existed. She says, “It has to be seen what can be produced, created and have a sense of utilitarian as well as aesthetic value in the contemporary arts and crafts scenario and then sustained or revived.”

The Changing Colours of Dyes

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Until the late 19th century, the art of natural dyeing—using natural sources like plants, insects or shellfish—thrived in the Indian subcontinent. Indigo (derived from the indigofera flowering plant) lends itself to the fantastical peacock-plume tones of the country. In the 19th century, Bengal was the world’s main source of indigo. The advent of aniline dyes in 1856 by British scientist William Henry Perkin, and their spread to colonial countries, led to post-independence India no longer retaining its tradition of natural dyes with the exception of a few rural communities.

Revival movements in the 1970s by social reformer and freedom fighter Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and in the 1990s by activist and advocate for craft and natural dyes, Ruby Ghuznavi, initiated the change. But the discovery in 2009 by Dr Himadri Debnath, deputy director of the Botanical Survey of India in Kolkata, of a unique 15-volume set (with 3,500 samples) of Specimens of Fabrics Dyed with Indian Dyes, compiled by British Victorian dyer Thomas Wardle, and believed to have been lost, was pathbreaking to understanding the rich history of natural dyes in India.

Today, conscious designers are willing to pick up the mantle once more. Kolkata-based Maku has brought back the splendour of natural indigo, and brands like Delhi-based 11.11/eleven eleven and Ahmedabad-based Soham Dave only use natural dyes; while Colours of Nature (Auroville) collaborated with Levi’s to launch the first truly organic 511 jeans made with organic indigo dye and local cotton yarn in 2013.

The Art of Fabric Decoration

In contemporary times, industrialised, machine-made versions have largely replaced India’s traditional, rich and varied embroidery forms. The art was popular during the Mughal empire, and Indian floral motifs have influenced British embroidery, including the popular paisley shawls. Colonial demand subsequently led to mass-production and reduction of the handcrafted process which could take months.

Not restricted to garments, forms of embroidery appear on wallhangings, home furnishings, fashion accessories and textiles. Mostly inspired by nature and local life, prints and thread-work would create patterns in vibrant colours often embellished with zari (precious gold or silver thread-work) or varak (precious gold or silver foiling). Genuine varak printing on fabric is very rare today and reportedly there are only two artisans in Jaipur who still practice the art.

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As handmade items are reclaimed as new embodiments of luxury, and local runways are reviving many of the handcrafted techniques, many of these old decorative textile styles have been lost forever—like the Tanjore paintings on fabric using precious materials, which have inspired many offshoots but are no longer available in their original form. The Kodali Karuppura saris, created in a small town in Tamil Nadu, mainly for the Thanjavur nobility, have, Vasudev points out, completely vanished. The hand-painted and naturally-dyed textile flourished under the patronage of the Maratha rulers of Tanjore—today, a few samples can be seen in museums in India and abroad.

While designers like Kolkata-based Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Mumbai-based Anita Dongre have taken up the mantle of India’s embroidery tradition—Dongre has found a way to contemporarise it with brocade dresses and traditional embroidery on western silhouettes—the local craft has also found glamour on international runways. Belgian couturier Dries van Noten has had an embroidery workshop in Kolkata since 1987, while brands like Valentino, Gucci, Givenchy, Balmain, Ralph Lauren and Christian Dior, among many others, work with Mumbai-based trade embroidery companies to this day.

The gara style of embroidery on traditional Parsi saris had been losing popularity and been replaced by machine-made versions—due in part to the diminishing Parsi community and the painstaking process—until there was a renewed interest in the form, along with its use on accessories and the modernizing efforts by designers like Ashdeen Lilaowala. Even as insurgency hit the supply of local craft, Srinagarand-Delhi-based Kashmir Loom by Asaf Ali and Jenny Housego has, successfully contemporized their traditional handwork on cashmere shawls, by incorporating global colours and designs with the age-old techniques, in what they state is, “Preserving heritage while fostering its progress.”

The art of Kalamkari (drawing with a pen) includes stories and mythological tales told on fabric using natural dyes. Kolkata-based designer, Divya Sheth, brings back nature-inspired kalamkari work on her runway pieces.

Sheth says of the experience, “I have had the chance to witness the joy and ease with which the artisans create their masterpieces. The ladies start painting once they complete their daily chores.”

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Handloom Tales

With minister of textiles, Smriti Irani, throwing her support behind Indian handlooms, and the shutterbugs catching the likes of Indian cinema veterans Kangana Ranaut, Sonam Kapoor and Vidya Balan in handloom saris, one accepts that the loom is in focus again and this time, not with the elements that defined the ‘Khadi’ look.

The charkha, or the handloom spinning wheel has a strong symbolic element: while it suggests economic empowerment, it is also an element of the country’s freedom struggle representing self-sufficiency, as well as unity and alliance—it forms the crux between an ecosystem of farmers, weavers, distributors, and consumers.

Among the nomads of Ladakh or in the hills of Kashmir, life and the act of weaving are deeply linked. For instance, in Ladakh, the woven cloth is linked to the birth of a child, where the warp (representing the man) and the weft (the woman) in harmony lead to the creation of new life. And yet, there is a long way to go for the new lease of life of the handloom garment.

Today, Indian artisans are facing a tremendous challenge from the advent of the power loom and machine-made garments. For instance, much of the famous Kota Doria textile in Kota, Rajasthan, is being woven without the real sari (that was a signature material) and the fabric itself is being made in power loom and not in the traditional handloom (for commercial reasons). However, as Vazirani points out, Craftmark’s initiative with Kota Women Weavers is in the process of reviving traditional weaving techniques with genuine materials.

Tribal textiles have been impacted, and consequently the local economy. Vazirani, who has worked extensively in the north-eastern region of India, points out that there has been a shift to acrylic yarns and fabric for weaving instead of cotton, silk and wool yarns, with a mutation of woven designs due to changes in cultural, economic and environmental conditions.

Vasudev brings up techniques that may be lost, like the painstaking Dakmanda weave of the Garo tribe in Meghalaya. Even as the industry in the North East has the highest concentration of handlooms in the country—over 53 percent of looms and more than 50 percent of the weavers live in this region—it is fraught with challenges including poor supply chain management.

Vazirani says, “There is a good opportunity to address the challenges and find sustainable solutions through the Action Plan on North-East India Report—an initiative in partnership with the United Nations in India and IMG Reliance—for the mainstream industry.” And as handloom hits the runway, one may also credit the persistent and long-standing efforts of conscious designers.

For instance, designers like New Delhi-based Rajesh Pratap Singh revert to the old traditional techniques—setting up the loom to make the garment and weaving it from the start. In fact, when Singh’s looms are empty, he uses it to make saris to ensure sustainability not only of craft and thread but also of the iconic garment. Designers like Delhi-based David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore of label Abraham & Thakore and Rahul Misra; as well as labels like Bodice, which won the 2017/18 International Woolmark prize for womenswear, and Raw Mango are among the many designers adopting handmade textiles and handcrafted garments. Misra’s motto is clear on his website: “My objective is to create jobs which help people in their own villages, I take work to them rather than calling them to work for me. If villages are stronger you will have a stronger country, a stronger nation, and a stronger world.”

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The Frugality of Fashion

An intrinsic part of indigenous craft used to be the considered use of materials. Cyclical production was a part of the natural ethos of the communities, as what was made was in direct relation to demand. In India, such thrift is not new: saris and dupattas are used in the manner in which they come off the loom, while designs like ponchos and kalidar clothes are constructed keeping the wastage of fabric to a minimum.

And yet, today, approximately 120 billion square metres of fabric end up as waste in India, China and Bangladesh alone, not including garment rejections during quality checks. Knowing this, Delhi-based Kriti Tula of label Doodlage says she upcycles up to 600 kilograms of waste fabric every month. Designers like Karishma Shahani Khan, the founder of Pune-based label Ka-Sha, in her ‘Heart to Haat’ ideology works with her own scrap and that of industry friends’ material in footwear, stuffed toys, embroidery, patchwork, macramé and bags.

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The State of Workers

While sustainability in terms of keeping craft and knowledge and enterprise alive is important—we are constantly reminded of Mahatma Gandhi’s words: “There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness.” A year-long research project called the Garment Worker Diaries that included field study in Bengaluru, India, reported on the sorry state of the garment workers; mostly women.

Long hours, being forced to do more work than their allotted quota, lower pay and verbal abuse were unveiled in the report. In 2013, the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh—which housed five garment factories supplying global brands—saw the death of 1138 people while 2500 were injured, which should be a sufficient wake-up call for the fashion industry.

Today, designers are reportedly making attempts to work directly with cooperatives, like Mumbai-based brand Kishmish with NGO Kala Swaraj and designer Samant Chauhan for the cause of master weavers in his native Bhagalpur, in Bihar. Reportedly, Gaurang Shah works with over 700 weavers across India and The Goodloom by GOCOOP enables a direct connection between handloom cooperatives and artisans. There is a growing, if nascent, push towards better labour and environmental standards and more transparent supply chains, with the advent of global organizations like Fashion Revolution in India.

Demand and Supply

Vasudev points out that the general awareness of what sustainability in fashion means is very poor, and it slants merely towards that which is organic and natural. She believes that to say India is realigning itself towards sustainability would be a premature remark because the masses are not aligned with it. “The sustainability manifestos are lost; they have to be brought together and pushed in a contemporary format and I do not see that happening very much, even as the sustainability argument is staggered with clued-in fashion designers and manufacturers,” says Vasudev.

While it hasn’t reached mainstream consumption, consciousness is growing among a certain audience, as awareness continues to increase. Niche retailers like Paper Boat Collective in Goa, Toile in Mumbai and pan-India brands like Good Earth Sustain and Nicobar make attempts in individual ways to be mindful— in choice of products, materials and packaging. The Auroville market in Pondicherry supports a sustainable ethic—supply and demand work in tandem with mindfully crafted goods versus mass-produced ones.

And so, we may hope that more people begin to lean towards what Vazirani strives for: “An awakening and appreciation of the wealth we have in our country in terms of our artisans and the beautiful textiles that they are capable of weaving without any luxury facilities or formal education. An understanding of who we are, when we say Indian fashion, and establishing our own independent sense of style. It is feeling of pride in wearing the Khadi shirt, or the handwoven Indigo-dyed dress, or the Dabu hand-printed saree instead of a Western high-street outfit. Nowhere in the world can we get access to the luxury of genuine handmade as we still do in India.”

We can also work toward a socially conscious and sustainable fashion ethic so that Indian fashion undergoes a shift towards what Vazirani calls a “fashion consciousness—where what you wear makes a commitment to a higher ideal beyond its hanger value or glamour.”

Link to PDF of the story. The Warp and the Weft – Taj Magazine 2019

Christie’s: The Modern Connoisseur, The Art of the Sari

02 Sunday Dec 2018

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Brand Watch, Fashion & Style, Interviews: Luxury Brands, Sustainability

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Anavila, Christies, Linen, Sari, Sonal Singh, Sustainability, Sustainable Fashion, Sustainable Luxury

Event: Christie’s India evening discussion on The Modern Connoisseur: The Art of the Sari
November 27, 2018, at Christie’s Mumbai

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I had the opportunity to share the stage with Mumbai-based conscious designer Anavila Misra who has risen to rapid popularity over her linen saris (among other linen garments). She uses a mix of natural dyes, undyed fabric and AZO-free chemical dyes. The linen fabric is hand-woven and made by local artisans.

At the invite of Sonal Singh, head of Christie’s India, I led a conversation with Anavila, talking about the sari as a modern garment and linen as a fabric. Tracing the history of the garment, to its modern space today, Anavila spoke about its relevance and its evolution.

We touched upon topics that included:

  • The fabric of India—is it subtler today? In colour, embroidery and aesthetic?
  • The story behind Anavila’s love affair with linen.
  • How has linen changed the perception of fall and drape? Technically and symbolically with respect to silhouettes.
  • Is the modern Indian garment or textile more sustainable? What does that mean?
  • The significance of the sari in India and how we may bring the sari back to daily use from occasion-led wear.

Video coming soon. Watch this space.

Man-made diamonds—soon in a store near you

01 Saturday Dec 2018

Posted by sitanshi talati-parikh in Fashion & Style, Publication: Mint Lounge, Sustainability

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ALTR Created Diamonds, De Beers Group, Diamond Foundry, Diamonds, Lab-grown or Man-made Diamonds, Mined Diamonds, Sustainability, Sustainable Fashion, Sustainable Luxury, Tanishq Jewellery

Published: Mint Lounge, Saturday, December 1 edition

Created diamonds may lack the story and romance of mined ones, but they are sustainable

Screen Shot 2018-12-02 at 10.52.58 AMThe (Red) Diamond by the Diamond Foundry

On 5 December, The (Red) Diamond, a man-made all-diamond ring with no metal, will be auctioned by Sotheby’s, expecting to raise between $150,000-250,000 (around ₹1-1.7 crore). While the solid sparkling block—which is expected to have an unprecedented 2,000-3,000 facets—has been created by the Diamond Foundry, a San Francisco-based start-up that counts actor Leonardo DiCaprio among its investors and is designed in part by Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer, it is the auction house which lends authenticity to the hitherto contested diamond form.

Retail man-made or lab-grown diamonds came into unprecedented focus in May, when the De Beers Group—the once-monopolistic diamond-exploration, mining, retail, trading and industrial manufacturing company—introduced the lab-grown diamond brand, Lightbox, in the market. In a path-breaking move for the tightly controlled industry, De Beers, the world’s largest miner, has begun selling “above-ground” diamonds at $800 a carat (mined diamonds can cost anywhere from $1,000-20,000 per carat).

The myth of rarity

Lightbox has positioned lab-grown diamonds to be a “not rare” counterpart to mined diamonds, suggesting on their website that these are a fun, accessible form of diamonds for “lighter moods and lighter moments”. “We’re prosecco, not Champagne; street-style, not red carpet; for friends, not fiancées,” said Sally Morrison, chief marketing officer for Lightbox, as reported by Luxury Society, at the jewellery industry’s leading annual trade event JCK Las Vegas in July. David Johnson, head of strategic communications for the De Beers group, emphasizes, “Lightbox will only be a relatively small business for De Beers Group, running adjacent to our core business in natural diamonds.” And yet, their press release earlier this year stated that De Beers had enabled the construction of a $94 million facility in Oregon, USA, which, when fully functional, will produce upwards of 500,000 rough carats of lab-grown diamonds a year.

De Beers, which pioneered the concept “real is rare”, has had the technology to make lab-created diamonds for three decades with their industrial manufacturing company Element Six. In fact, diamonds were first artificially created in the 1950s for industrial use by companies like General Electric. They have only recently become viable, through technology, to be used in fine jewellery. So what are lab-grown, man-made, created, cultured or above-ground diamonds? Intrinsically, they are exactly the same as a mined diamond. They are not fake—there is no chemical, visual or structural difference and they are both composed of incredibly pure crystal carbon as a single crystal. Depending on colour and size, it can take one-three months to create a lab-grown diamond, by simulating the conditions that it would take for a diamond to be formed naturally in earth. In fact, the July Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ruling, which dropped the word “natural” from the definition of a diamond, makes it impossible for them to be called anything other than a diamond anymore.

But they are not to be confused with substances like cubic zirconia, moissanite and Swarovski crystals, that are similar in appearance but differ completely in composition.

While mined and created diamonds are exactly the same, most consumers tend to believe what De Beers has conditioned us to consider—the rarity of a mined diamond, which is purely perception. A February 1982 article in The Atlantic, “Have you ever tried to sell a diamond?”, exposed the cartel-like control that De Beers has over demand and supply. With the heavy decline in diamond purchases in the early 20th century, De Beers, according to the article, devised a multi-fold global plan to increase demand via a carefully constructed perception of rarity (by controlling the supply), an illusion of price stability (by setting global standards) along with perpetuating the desirability of diamonds. In the 1940s, a well-orchestrated diamond advertising campaign—the iconic “A Diamond Is Forever”—literally saved the floundering diamond industry and popularized the sentiment that diamonds, with their assumed rarity and brilliance, are the true markers of romance.

With the influx of sparkling above-ground diamonds—which can be found mixed with and sold as mined diamonds—retailers in the US provide official, certified options of both diamonds to consumers. Will jewellers in other countries follow suit? Johnson insists, “Forevermark, a premium natural diamond brand, does not sell laboratory-grown diamond products, and will not do so in the future.” Large local retailers like Tanishq do not anticipate the market primed for change either. “I do not see man-made diamonds replacing mined diamonds,” says Sandeep Kulhalli, senior vice-president retail and marketing jewellery division, Tanishq. “They lack the story and romance, the mystery and rarity of diamonds that the industry has collectively and painstakingly built over 100 years.”

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Creating awareness

What may tip the scale in favour of man-made diamonds is that they are at least 30% cheaper—with further lower prices in the wholesale market. ALTR Created Diamonds, headed by the India-born-New-York-based Amish Shah, has been producing created diamond jewellery for US retailers—like the Warren Buffett-owned Borsheims and Helzberg. As they only grow type-II A diamonds (which are akin to the best-quality diamonds made of pure carbon, like the Kohinoor diamond), the gems boast an unparalleled sparkle. Moreover, with the size upgrade made possible by the pricing, they are finding favour in the international bridal (solitaire ring) market.

Companies like ALTR are betting on the “bigger and better” game. Shah believes that affordability of created diamonds is the main reason behind his retailers’ growing sales figures. He says, “The perception of the consumer has been built by years of exposure to mined diamonds. A created diamond is everything a diamond can be, but better.”

There’s also a question about sustainability. While mined-diamond companies argue about the fossil fuel consumption in producing above-ground diamonds, Diamond Foundry is a certified carbon neutral company, and Shah states that ALTR uses wind turbine energy and has provided jobs to more people as a result of the high demand. Mined diamonds may have withstood the stigma of unsustainable mining over decades, but consumers may no longer want to turn a blind eye to the potential risks of mined diamonds if there are other alternatives.

Shah is confident that consumer perception will change with awareness, particularly when they come in contact with a certified-created diamond, whereupon the illusion of difference vanishes. Kulhalli disagrees. “Consumers may set demand intensity, but retailers and manufacturers drive the supply and trends for precious jewellery with design-led offerings,” he says. “Change can only happen when large retailers take the gamble. Which retailer has the appetite to risk his current, thriving business to offer this option?”

Yet change may be around the corner as ALTR, which makes its diamonds in India, is geared up to enter the local market next year with its creations. Perhaps it will set the stage for thinking about luxury and investment as parallel paths. If you may not, in the future, be able to sell your diamonds at a profit, perhaps your version of the Kohinoor may be a better one to hold on to.

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How can you make a diamond?

HPHT (high pressure, high temperature): By subjecting a genuine diamond “seed” to extreme pressure and temperature, simulating the organic process and conditions in which they are created below the earth’s surface.

CVD (chemical vapour deposition): Similar to 3D-printing, where carbon is layered on top of a genuine diamond “seed” in a vacuum chamber. This is a popular form of diamond creation for colourless diamonds, and can consistently produce type-II A diamonds.

|  Filling the gaps between words.  |

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