With over three decades of experience in the field of jewellery designing, Poonam Soni is a name to reckon with. The Mumbai-based jeweller who has made waves both in India and internationally, Soni keeps raising the benchmark for excellence over and over again. Her latest collection of trademarked jewellery – Animal Farm Revived – is an ode to George Orwell’s bestselling satire Animal Farm written in 1945. The designer chatted with TMM about her newest collection, her fondness for art and working with her daughter Kriti.
What was the inspiration behind the new collection Animal Farm Revived? Is Animal Farm one of your favourite books?
All my collections have been inspirations from art, architecture or history. They have been based on artistic aesthetics in keeping with the moods of the time. Animal Farm is a very famous satire of George Orwell which I had read in college. Inspired by the differences and unhappiness amongst the animals who rebel against autocracy in Orwell’s bestselling book, the animal pendants in our collection are happy, liberated from submission, and giving a strong message of hope and equality. Their zest for life is visible in each piece. Each quirky animal is dressed flamboyantly as humans in tuxedos, hats, buckled belts, designer backpacks – and depicted playing golf, riding a tricycle, etc – generally living a life of freedom, recreation and leisure.
Tell us about the stones, you have used in the collection and the design part of it.
Each piece of luxury adorning the animals had to be very real in a minuscule space like the LVMH bag pack, the iPhone, vintage hat or the Derby shoes. To make the pieces unique, we used textures in colours, stones, enamel washes, carved pipes, European Crystals, precious rubies, leather cords and cloth bows.
Tell us about the collaboration with your daughter Kriti. How did she add value to your designs?
Kriti’s representations and illustrations on paper are brilliant as she is a trained designer from teachers from the UK. She gives wings to my vision and we have a great tuning – it’s like I think and she understands. It’s a beautiful soul connection. So, the collection of the animals in the mood sets was contributed by her with references and designs which added on to create this epic collection.
Art is something that heavily inspires your collections as well. How do you look at art and how does it inspire you?
Art is a weakness with me and my house and stores are adorned with walls of art. I feel colours are a representation of a vibrant life mood and I extend this to my jewellery. Many a times, I am described as a jewellery artist. Clients who like vivid colours in stones, art and enamels come to our brand. So, I encapsulated miniature art in my jewelled collections. The first time I told Laxman Shreshtha to make paintings in 1 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inch canvas, he was taken aback, but our collection, ‘Monochromes’ went global and won many accolades.
You have over 30 years of experience in jewellery designing and have won accolades all over. There have been many milestone collections on the way as well. But what do you consider a turning point for you and how do look back upon it now?
My turning point was the Falcon, which I created as a brooch for the Royal Auction by Prince Albert and Sheikh al Nahyan at Abu Dhabi. In fact, this brooch sautoir has become a kind of logo for my 
brand. This auction took us for a global tour and had selected designers from all countries, I was invited from India. It truly established me on a global scale.
Three decades of designing jewellery – how do you keep yourself inspired and on top of the game and trends?
I don’t work at keeping myself on top of the game. This passion for design and jewellery flows in my system and this is what keeps me vibrant. Design and aesthetics are a part of my life – it’s in my environment, in my style of dressing and pulses in my life. Talking about the trends, I imbibe the mood of my environment naturally and create styles of jewellery. A designer is one who innovates and not follows the trends.
What are your personal choices when it comes to wearing jewellery?
My personal choices are very diverse depending on the occasion and mood. I can dress very vibrant and statement with fusion dressing or go very chic and stylish with big diamonds and emeralds in a classic look. I also like cocktail rings and big size bracelets or stack bracelets. Sometimes, I go for long sautoir pendants with just studs in the ear. My favourite colour in jewellery is green Columbian emerald and blood-red ruby.
With summers on in full swing, can you suggest a few simple tips for women to wear and take care of their jewellery?
Summers generally is the time to wear breezy hoops, brooches on shirts and rings on the first finger do very well. Non-fussy jewellery would be apt in cool colours like white gold. Pearls are super uber.
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