To mark the 25th anniversary of her opulent, whimsical, and gemstone-laden fine jewelry collection, designer Farah Khan has just released a book entitled Farah Khan: A Bejewelled Life. It’s published by Rizzoli New York, where the book will be feted tonight, with similar events to follow in Hong Kong, London, Milan, and Khan’s native Mumbai, India.
Khan is best known for being one of India’s leading jewelers to the stars, especially when it comes to Bollywood’s most stunning and sought-after leading ladies. The designer is, in fact, the daughter of Sanjay Khan, a famous Bollywood actor, producer, and director. She notes in the book that “I found my feet in the glare of flashbulbs” but chose to pursue a career in jewelry design and gemology because jewelry is her true passion.
Her designs are coveted on an international scale: Stateside her jewels have been worn by the likes of Serena Williams and other A-listers, including Beyoncé, who wore a Khan-designed Goddess crown made of Swarovski crystals when shooting the artwork for her 4 album (of “Love on Top” and “Run the World” fame).
A Bejewelled Life treats Farah Khan devotees to a compelling and intimate survey of the designer’s body of work, with personal musings and photos, snippets of poetry, and insights into her creative process.
The jewelry lover as yet uninitiated in Khan’s inspirations, design vocabulary, and unique affinity for some of the most magnificent gemstones on the planet will quickly get a flavor for her perspective and preoccupations—nature, water, and the majesty of India from its colorful architecture to its royal families and decorative traditions.
“I take Indian forms and motifs and make them more contemporary. My designs have an Indian touch and are very universal in language,” says Khan. “I always keep on evolving and reinventing myself. I always try to find something new and to reinterpret in my work.”
Paola De Luca, a leading Italian creative director and luxury trends forecaster, served as editor and curator of A Bejewelled Life. “India, led by design pioneers such as Farah Khan, is now reclaiming its global stature in luxury jewellery design,” she said in a statement.
Besides jewelry, the book will showcase designs from the Farah Khan World line of luxury fashion accessories and lifestyle products.
A Bejewelled Life also features works by painters Manjunath Kamath and Chie Yoshii, digital illustrator Daria Petrilli, photographers Tina Dehal, Sumer Verma, Arjun Mark, Ganesh Vanare, Sneha Pillai, Anukul Narayan, among others.
Top: The cover of Farah Khan: A Bejewelled Life (Rizzoli), which celebrates the designer’s 25 years in the jewelry industry, and a spread from among its 304 pages that shows Beyoncé wearing Khan’s Goddess crown (Beyoncé photo: Ellen von Unwerth; both images courtesy of Rizzoli New York/Farah Khan).
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