How Aanchal Sukhija became famous worldwide by designing necklaces from scrubbers

Garbage is such an essential part of our daily lives. Every day, we discard a variety of items without realising their full potential. Empty pen bodies, matchboxes, and old vessels are deemed worthless in our eyes, and are either thrown away or sold. It thus seems unimaginable that this junk could be transformed into attractive accessories and be showcased at a large-scale and acclaimed fashion event. Yet, this is exactly what Aanchal Sukhija has done.

Delhi’s Aanchal Sukhija took up the challenge of giving jewellery a whole new look, and has been incredibly successful at it too. In fact, she received so much recognition that her designs were featured in this year’s New York Fashion Week. What made Aanchal’s designs so eye-catching was that they weren’t made from mainstream precious metals and stones, but from the ‘garbage’ that we throw away on a daily basis. She created necklaces and earrings from scrubbing pads, parts of AC filters, electrical fitting pipes, and matchboxes.

When Aanchal first showed her designer friend Vaishali S. a necklace made from a steel scrubbing pad, Vaishali was stoked. Under her guidance, Aanchal experimented with different ideas for jewellery, and managed to get them on the runways of New York. Aanchal said,

I couldn’t believe that I received such high praise for my jewellery on this big a fashion platform. We run after beauty and attractiveness. We think that until we wear diamonds and platinum, we can’t make the people walking the ramp gorgeous. The same thinking applies to dresses too. However, the heart of the matter is simply self-confidence, a good idea, and big dreams.

Aanchal further said,

Our lives do not begin till we start dreaming. It is very important to dream. Chase your dreams, not caring about whether they will be fulfilled or not. I had no idea that people would like it so much when we created a beautiful piece of jewellery from a thing like scrub. For each piece of jewellery that I design, my most challenging task is to figure out what to create from the piece of junk. Designing jewellery from silver and gold, rubies and platinum, is easy. But the challenge is how to transform garbage into a thing of beauty. This is the same trash that you and I would throw away without a second thought, and it is harmful to the environment as well.

Aanchal compares life to a stage, and believes that each person is an actor who plays as many roles as life demands of him or her. She is an inspiration to those who dream and an example of what we can achieve when we put our mind to it.

Read this in Hindi

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