Here at TECD, we revel in showcasing artists who push the limits of originality, dream big and venture to turn those dreams into reality! Today’s feature throws spotlight on a new-age jewelry brand that embraces more than just precious metals and thrives on the model of avant-garde. Our featured brand, believes in embracing the ephemeral quality of paper and has judiciously manipulated the so-called fragile material to create light-weight, vibrant, versatile, whimsical accessories with a boho-chic appeal. Introducing, “Girl Thinks” (GT) - a Gurgaon based jewelry brand that churns out fashion accessories with a distinct style! Characterized by combining paper, graphic designs and colorful beads/pom-pops, the term paper jewelry has a whole new meaning. Vivid pop art colors bring alive designs inspired by India – the lotus, pankha (handfan), mehendi inspired art, popular Indian Hindu deities and the traditional Madhubani art are just some of the core design muses that appear on these unique creations.
Girl Thinks is led by mother and daughter duo, Aparna and Ananya Vyas. Though they come from different professional backgrounds, anything creative has always been their common meeting ground. Aparna hails from a prominent art family in Lucknow and is an artist herself. Combining her passion for art and her need to share her knowledge, she takes great pleasure in teaching visual arts. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Ananya too graduated with a degree in Fine arts and a specialization in Advertising. I had the opportunity to have a one-on-one with Ananya and talk to her about her foray into the world of design and learn more about their company Girl Thinks.
TECD: Welcome to TECD Ananya! Delighted to talk to you about your creative venture Girl Thinks! Let’s start by asking you what does the name “Girl Thinks” actually symbolize?
Ananya: “We always wanted to have a name that was an interesting one. Something that made people stop and wonder what it could possibly mean. Well, we’re a team of two girls doing it all. The best team that could ever be. We’re a mother daughter duo and Girl Thinks is our little company where we love dreaming of all things beautiful and work our best to make them happen.”
TECD: Do share more about your journey into the world of jewelry design?
Ananya: “A few years back, a relative of ours was having an exhibition of her kurtas and sarees in Delhi and had asked my mother to keep a bunch of her handmade terracotta and paper earrings alongside her display of clothes. By the end of that one day exhibition we were completely sold out on all our paper earrings while we still had a lot of the terracotta ones left. We were beyond thrilled, it was a fun day and that was it. We did not see any reason to pursue it, until a few years later when I was working as an associate producer at an Internet based start-up and the work load was insane. Seeing me hustle so hard, it was my mother who suggested if I could do something of my own and put all that hard work for myself. Glad I took up on that suggestion and after endless sessions of scratching our heads in hope of finding an idea, we finally saw what had always been right in front of our eyes and it was the paper jewelry my mother did years back! That is how the idea fell in place and we couldn’t have had anything more unique to start off with!”
TECD: What according to you is the USP of your brand?
Ananya: “Girl Thinks is our innovative little take at making pieces of jewelry that are exquisite and fun at the same time, a refreshing break from the kind of jewelry we’re used to see every day. The medium being Paper of course gets people fascinated and makes us get noticed amongst the massive jewelry jungle that’s out there. But besides it all, what we truly believe sets us apart are the designs that people have been showering their love upon. Bold, India inspired pieces with a dash of quirk and lots of color is how we do it. Keeping it all handmade in times of things being mass produced, we are so proud to be making it all, one at a time which adds a special uniqueness to each piece and keeps us different.”
TECD: How different is it working with paper as a medium? What would you say are the advantages and challenges of working with paper from your experience?
Ananya: “We don’t consider Paper differently. It’s just like any other medium that comes with its own set of flexibility and challenges. What really makes the medium different is the way we’ve put it to use and we’re more than happy to be able to give it an innovative twist by making beautiful, long lasting jewelry and in the way invent a style that’s our very own. Advantages – Amazingly Light weight and hassle free. Jewelry that you can wear all day, every day. Disadvantages – Although we’ve made the jewelry moisture resistant, we still advise to keep it off water.”
TECD: I'm curious about what your creative process entails. Tell us more?
Ananya: “We don’t settle down to create our jewelry piece by piece, but rather by a vision as to how we want the entire collection to look and create a theme around it. We’re seeking inspiration all the time, pinning ideas on the internet to jotting them down in diaries and mobile apps. Over the time we’ve learned to find inspiration in little things around us and living in a country like India- you really don’t have to look far to find something interesting and give it your own unique twist. Since we are handcrafting every piece, we are sharp on details. Be it a certain color, the size of a bead or the weight of the jewelry, every aspect is well thought of and has hours of brainstorming sessions behind it with layers of detailing underneath. It’s such an incredible and satisfying experience to see an inspiration form into an idea and travel a long way to finally become a product that becomes a part of so many other lives.“
TECD: Who according to you is your ideal GT woman?
Ananya: “The ideal GT woman is someone who makes her own style rather than be trend follower. She loves color and a touch of culture to her personality. Bold and headstrong, she isn’t afraid to embrace something new and be different. But having said that all, we’d simply want every women to wear our jewelry!”
TECD: If you had to narrow it down to one memorable experience w.r.t. GT, what would that be?
Ananya: “When we look back to how we begun to how things are today, all we have in between are so many wonderful experiences. But the most precious one being of a day when I was travelling by the metro and a girl walked in wearing a pair of our Kathputli earrings! What a thrill that was, spotting someone flaunting our jewelry, it was just too much happiness to contain!”
TECD: What are your future plans for GT?
Ananya: "With our designs being the soul and strength of our company we are excited to be expanding into a range of other beautiful products, within this year, besides the jewelry, that will always remain an integral part.”
TECD: What is your success mantra as a small business owner?
Ananya :"It’s not that we’re a pro at this, but here are a few things that we’ve learned along the way:
· Always remember why you started and let your business be an unapologetic reflection of your dreams.
· Failure is inevitable, so learn to take the blows and embrace them because they happen for a reason.
· Make your products speak for yourself. Good products and a sweet word go a long way and have people come back to you for more.
· Success doesn’t happen overnight, so learn to be patient.
· Count your blessings and don’t even think of giving up!”
With summer here, team pieces from the GT collection with an ethnic sleeveless kurta, saree or a regular white tee and jeans. These pieces will effortlessly fit into your style and get all the lovely attention your way! To place your order, write to Ananya at girlxthinks@gmail.com. To see their entire collection and stay abreast of latest updates on their upcoming collections, connect with them via Instagram and their FB page.
As for you my folks, I hope you enjoyed this feature and have yourself a great week ahead!
(Image Courtesy: Girl Thinks)
As for you my folks, I hope you enjoyed this feature and have yourself a great week ahead!
(Image Courtesy: Girl Thinks)
Great post Shruthi!! Beautiful jewelry, thanks for sharing and bringing to us such amazing talent.
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