Over the last two years, Zoya has opened two new stores and six new galleries – this is a large footprint for retail, but can you ignore influencer marketing and e-commerce at this stage…reports Tanya Banon
Celebrating the feminine spirit as a force of nature, jewellery brand Zoya, presents its most elevated expression of design, Beyond – A Boundless Journey.
This new offering draws an analogy from the passage of rivers finding inspiration in the glory of the Indus. The narrative, celebrates a woman’s continuous, larger than life journey through genesis, conflict, turbulence and calm. Exceptional gemstones are set in statement pieces by purity of form and graphic lines to create a contemporary collection of timeless classics.
The exquisite diamond boutique from the House of Tata, takes pride in its positioning as one of the most design forward ateliers in the country. Beyond is introduced, by celebrated designer Gauri Khan. Khan shares, “Zoya has always impressed me with jewellery that is timeless, yet has a contemporary expression. With Beyond – A Boundless Journey, the atelier presents a magnificent collection with artistic pieces that are worthy of a connoisseur’s collection and a narrative that will charm every heart.” Ajoy Chawla, CEO Jewellery Division, Titan and Gauri Khan opens up about this new collection:
Gauri Khan & Ajoy Chawla, CEO Titan jewellery division
Gauri this is your third collection for the brand, what is different about this line compared to the other two and what is the inspiration behind it?
Gauri Khan: Each collection from Zoya has been exceptional. Rooted was colourful and vibrant, inspired by the rainforest. It spoke of a woman’s inner strength. 9122 Hollywood Boulevard, was the collection I wore to the launch of Zoya’s Delhi store. It celebrated the glamour of different eras in Hollywood. But with Beyond – A Boundless Journey, I feel Zoya has really outdone itself… each piece is like wearable art – magnificent and imperial. The collection celebrates the feminine spirit with design inspiration from the River Indus… it is beautiful.
Coloured gemstones are making a comeback, they are more coveted than plain diamond pieces do you agree?
Gauri Khan: I’ve always loved emeralds because they are a symbol of hope and renewal. This collection has exceptional use of stones with lots of big beautiful emeralds and also morganites and tourmalines, sapphires and rubies along with diamonds, set in designs that are timeless.
With Zoya, the Titan brand taps into the luxury sector, tell us your vision for Zoya, the new collection and the target audience.
Ajoy Chawla: The vision for Zoya was to redefine the way fine jewellery is experienced in India; to create a product that was not only exceptional with impeccable craftsmanship but also had a meaningful design story and was supported by a very personalised and warm service experience.
Our new collection Beyond, Her Boundless Journey presents the most elevated expression of design, finding inspiration in the glory of the Indus. The narrative celebrates the feminine spirit as a force of nature drawing an analogy from the passage of the rivers. Statement pieces are set apart by the purity of form and graphic lines to create an imperial look with an exceptional combination of stones to present a contemporary collection of timeless classics.
Zoya has always appealed to a very discerning, aesthetically astute audience. Every creation is imagined as a talisman that enables the woman to celebrate herself. Our boutiques are designed with a view of enhancing the customer’s experience of warm luxury and reminding her she is indeed at the heart of this story, whether that happens over conversations with our jewellery advisors over a cup of hand-brewed filter coffee and fresh hors d’oeuvres or an event we specially curated for her.
Zoya’s Beyond – A Flush of Evergreen Necklace
Going beyond luxury, the brand also focuses on functionality, with most of its pieces while being high end can be worn daily. Women spend a lot of money on jewellery, how important is it for them to be able to wear pieces routinely rather than on special occasions alone?
Ajoy Chawla: The brand has always challenged traditional notions that endorse the view that jewellery was meant to display one’s status and be worn sparingly. Our collections are exquisite and designed to make your daily wear meaningful with pieces that reflect your individuality and celebrate your everyday.
Do you feel as a brand you encourage women to wear rather than store jewellery?
Ajoy Chawla: Absolutely! Zoya is a beautiful, wearable piece of art, that we would want our customers to wear and enjoy as often as possible. Even our larger pieces are designed keeping versatility in mind, so they can be styled with a variety of clothes for various occasions and worn often. Even with collections like Beyond, ensuring versatility in wearability is a key focus for our designers.
With Zoya’s design ethos being so contemporary, it’s not uncommon to see millennials and Gen Z shopping here. When we look at other brands this doesn’t exist because the pieces are over the top and very Indian in design, do you agree?
Ajoy Chawla: Yes, Zoya has a very modern design language and an Indian soul. While our audience is often 35 years and older, the versatility of the design would certainly find appeal amongst millennials and Gen Z too perhaps – anyone with a sophisticated aesthetic.
Zoya’s Beyond – Sparkling Rapids Rings
Share with us what you feel the reason is for Zoya performing so well in the past couple of years, despite a pandemic where occasions and functions were on the back burner?
Ajoy Chawla: Several factors contributed to this. Firstly the brand’s audience is HNI’s, a group that was possibly not as severely impacted financially by the pandemic and continued to spend on jewellery when they wanted for an occasion such as a birthday or anniversary. Also, the share of wallet shifted somewhat from other segments like travel etc., people did spend more on jewellery, which may have been considered safer as an investment. And finally, we opened new stores and galleries and strengthened our online service all of which helped sales and helped us cross 140 crores last year.
Over the last two years, Zoya has opened two new stores and six new galleries – this is a large footprint for retail, but can you ignore influencer marketing and e-commerce at this stage
Ajoy Chawla: We are also in the process of setting up an e-commerce site and you should see that soon. However, decision-making with jewellery like Zoya is usually a high involvement purchase and is rarely done purely over digital so we have had a blended strategy.
The initial phase of discovery is done digitally while the conclusion of a sale might happen at a store or in the customer’s home. We do have a strong digital service, that we hope reflects the same personal attention one might get at a store. For instance, we have one of the fastest response time in the industry to enquiries that come over the web. They are answered by a jewellery advisor from a store closest to the enquirer’s location.
We have done several influencer campaigns that build on the core brand theme of the woman as a heroine and Zoya as a talisman that enables her to connect with her most authentic, feminine self. So we are certainly not ignoring the digital space, just integrating it in a way that keeps the customer experience as Zoya optimised.