Niche report booklet

Aligeri

Niche Brand Report Word Count: 1919 Jewel Celeste Gerlings 1605728 Blog: https://jewelcgerlings.wixsite. com/mysite

Aligeri Niche Brand Report Word Count: 1919 Jewel Celeste Gerlings Stuednt No. 1605728

Aligeri Alighieri is a Jewelry brand that is influenced by Dante Alighieri’s ‘Devine Comedy’. The products match the poet’s 100 poems precisely which explores all the realms of hell, purgatory and paradise all in one. The brand forms a perfect resemblance of the atmosphere that the poems create.

Rosh Mahtani founder of Alighieri graduated in 2012 and since has been inspired in creating pieces that are modern heirlooms that has developed from the literature she has studied.

She is a London based designer and studied French and Italian at Oxford. Alighieri officially launched in 2014 however before she previously spent two years working around different stylist and e-commerce such has Avenue 32 and Farfetch and spent her evenings being creative and further exploring her own ideas. With no professional training or knowledge, she embraced her obsession of imperfection and the idea of melancholy. This idea then catered to her love of Dante’s subjects and lead the jewellery pieces disfigured imperfectly.

The aim was that each piece tells a story and embodying the modern heirloom concept that becomes unique with the consumer’s adventures.

The brand is firmly rooted for the literature and travel aspects and its rough edges of “Battered creatures, scraggy landscapes and passionate mistakes” (Rosh Mahtani, 2014). The idea of items having a story behind has always intrigued her. Mahtani was always a collector and since at a young age has been collecting things such as stones and shells and old coins from markets and became creative with them and attached them to chains. This was more of a hobby and nature to her.

In Mahtani’s final year she had to focus on Dante and the “Devine Comedy” and since has been influence by it and pushed her creativity from it.

The visual aspect of the story and its universality is what captured Mahtani and intrigued her to use this more than just for her studies. The objective of finding his way in the world from the lost dark woods has heavily leaded Mahtani’s story in the brand. Resulting to each item from the brand to replicate a poem and interpret the story. Capturing the mood and atmosphere into the jewellery to allow consumers to experience the literature on their body the way Mahtani feels it when reading Dante’s work.

People’s story such as Calvino’s ‘Cosimo’ in Il Barone Rampante who ran up tress and refuses to ever touch the ground and Madame de Sevigne with her witty 17th-century letters to her daughter also have influenced Mahtani’s work.

Either the jewelry itself or in the campaigns the sense of the adventures and the loss and humour always ends up finding its path to Alighieri perfectly. The brand encapsulates beauty with in Mahtani’s concept of melancholy.

Motifs of Dante’s work will always be the core of the brand as there are endless ideas that Mahtani has to this topic, the next step for Alighieri is also considering looking at the artists that have influenced Dante himself such as Gustave Dorè, and Salvador Dali and base designs and stories through this creating and endless library form of jewellery. Another way Mahtani could branch out to is bridal jewellery as she already has created some pieces such as Statements earrings and necklaces as well as a headband for her close friends and likes the feedback from given from the consumers and its story that it creates and adds which suits the brand perfectly in Mahtani’s vision.

Mahtani attended a one day course of wax carving and it just clicked with her and became second nature to her, she began creating things on her own after and concluded that she wanted make jewelry that are not so precise and didn’t have a rule or had a clean-cut look to it, Mahtani really admired the spontaneous imperfect imperfections. At the Hatton Garden, she began creating pieces in bronze and because of the no experience in any jewelry making she felt free and took in the no rules game quickly. Mahtani

took celebrating imperfection to a new level while creating a deep story behind it. Allowing beauty to come alive in the gloomiest stories.

All the items sold are 24-carat gold-plated bronze and are handcrafted by using wax carving skills she gained from Hatton Garden and allows the wax to take on a life of its own. The wax casting allows each piece to never be the same as well as represent the old craftsmanship in Dante’s time.

Mahtani consumer target is aimed at collectors like her and are intrigued on finding out the story behind each piece of jewelry. Mahtani highly appreciates how her customers style and match her jewelry and uses it to inspire her and her next brand steps. Her most liked aspect of her customers is how they layer her pieces as where she was brought up she states are normally more basic and keep it simple and minimal.

The collection ‘The Teardrop’ explains a journey of a young female traveller in search of an elsewhere. The character continuously fidgets with her rings for new combination and results to ending in the same position she was a in the beginning. The items capture the approach of the disfigured and imperfect melancholy that Mahtani continuously aims for with its abstract structure of the metal giving it almost a sculptural like look and how each piece works as a statement and fabricates an atmosphere around its story.

Mahtani is always open to collaborative works with various designers as well as artists and writers. Alighieri has a collaboration with RTW designer Anna Quan on white shirts as well as modern tailoring and shoe branding as well.

It will also have a publishing on wunderoedtions. com The brand has received a lot of press online from Vogue, The telegraph, fashion Bloggers, Elle, InStyle, Vogue.fr and many more. The abstract and spontaneous aesthetics with the classic bronze is capturing people’s attention for a statement accessory must have. Right now the items are available mainly at The Store Berlin, Soho Farmhouse, Joseph, Shop at Bluebird, Modern Society, Farfetch and on the Alighieri website. It continues to spread and become more available on a wider range of websites.

The press that Alighieri is receiving from Vogue especially allows her business to slowly grow and the more collaboration she creates and joins the quicker the build-up, if she collaborated with Youtubers it will gain more consumers consumption since Youtube is such a powerful

platform now with easily fascinated watchers with what the latest trend or must have items are. Although Mahtani aims her consumers who love collecting things or owning things with meaning this platform will allow more consumers to her brand and introduce them to not just the products and stories but expand their literature interests. As well as showing awareness that imperfect and unplanned creations is what makes the product beautiful and more unique.

From this Alighieri can create an app for things such as exclusive deals and updates to her brand and what goes on and its journey as a brand and of the jewellery pieces itself as well as create an easier way to access the products. Because Alighieri is London based it instantly gives the advantage of her brand as it is in the central of fashion business and creators even with the high competitiveness having the meaningful deep stories and message will allow her to be a bit more out there and unique as the designs are modern and something new with its old-school craftsmanship. Giving the consumers a new refreshing look with the authentic old form.

The most recent collection of Alighieri is ‘The Lost Dreamer ‘collection and this is all about the acts of dreaming where the realities resemble surreal nightmares and situations. Just like Dante, we use music, art and writing or any other forms of expression as an escape from reality such as rough life situations and feelings. In Dante’s case, he writes about wakening in the dark woods and its terrifying surroundings of haunting reveries and situations that would lose consciousness that fills the air with fear. As well as the magical aspect of it that creates an illusion type feeling. It

is a constant fight of light and dark, dream and reality and Mahtani always tries to embrace this idea with the collection to represent the ‘Magical ambiguity of not quite knowing which is which.’

Today, there is a lot of controversial talks about perfection and imperfection, the trend is cycling where the 90s and 70s are back at the moment and all its rawness aesthetics. Now we have the imperfection aspects of things such as facial features trend with the thick natural eyebrows and freckles as well as birthmarks and many more. The society is slowly campaigning more about individuality and loving their own skin and its flaws which make them unique and more beautiful which I see reflected in Mahtani’s brand.

What Alighieri as a brand does is fully embrace the idea of imperfection and approaches this idea with its sculptural pieces that represent the beauty of fear, flaws and sorrows but also showing the outcome of a beautiful freeing effect of the rawness in these jewellery pieces.

Alighieri already has a following of 13.5k on Instagram, Mahtani uses this platform to mainly advertise the brand which continues to build her consumer and fan base. The social interaction within the social media allows the consumers to connect with the brand and Mahtani and its new products easier. The regular updates allow more chances of getting discovered on the explore pages as well as give visual reminders of the products to followers, automatically supplying awareness of the brand unconsciously to Instagram users. The aesthetics of the pages reflects the website and allows the focal point to be on the jewelry. Additionally, the models and items or object that are included in the post are minimal and adds a touch of softness to the feel of the brand which also empathizes the products more and add depth to the piece itself.

As Alighieri is still in the early stages of being in the business, it would benefit from having a faster/bigger social media publicity, and get involved in more collaborations with more wellknown designers or artist as well as TV actresses that would have the same connection to the audiences as Mahtani has with its consumers.

Such as people like Selena Gomez for the younger

generation as she is a big encouragement to her fans and has always been into the meaningful things that are quirky and different to the norms.

As well as Adele or others who will complement the style and aesthetics of the brand. With the products that is there to offer Alighieri will easily be a statement piece that can be styled effortlessly and suit multiple crowds.

Alighieri as a brand has carried out a deep and long journey and could possibly become successful due to its uniqueness in detail and craftsmanship.

Mahtani has embedded her personal touch into it which enabled her to reach out to many more similar minded people. The brand has a well constructed twist to it with its quirky approach on the creation process as they are modern style pieces but created in a Dante’s time adding that touch of historical crafting. Additionally, its uniqueness also lies in the inspired stories of explored melancholy avenue. While offering the beauty within the gloomy and destressed fears that occur repeatedly in Dante’s poems and other writers that Mahtani is moved by.

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Clark, P. (2017). interview | rosh mahtani. [online] SchĂśn! Magazine. Available at: http://schonmagazine. com/AlighieriSS15/ [Accessed 7 Aug. 2017].

La Maison Couture. (2017). Dante Alighieri Jewellery | La Maison Couture. [online] Available at: https:// www.lamaisoncouture.com/journal/dante-alighierijewellery-launches-at-la-maison-couture/ [Accessed 8 Aug. 2017].

Mahtani, R. (2017). About ~ Alighieri. [online] Alighieri. Available at: https://alighieri.co.uk/about/ [Accessed 6 Aug. 2017].

SUITCASE Magazine. (2017). Global Young Designer: Alighieri Jewellery | SUITCASE Magazine. [online] Available at: https://suitcasemag.com/fashion/globalstyle/alighieri-jewellery/ [Accessed 8 Aug. 2017].

Vogue Paris. (2017). An interview with Rosh Mahtani, the designer behind the jewelry brand, Alighieri En savoir plus sur http://en.vogue.fr/jewelry/profile/ diaporama/jewelry-interview-alighieri-rosh-mahtanimedallions-gold-dante-inspiration-accessories/422 32#epPDEBbqK6HBWM3L.99. [online] Available at: - http://en.vogue.fr/jewelry/profile/diaporama/ jewelry-interview-alighieri-rosh-mahtani-medallionsgold-dante-inspiration-accessories/42232#camillecharriere-en-alighieri-par-sandra-semburg_image5 [Accessed 6 Aug. 2017].

Vogue.co.uk. (2017). The Wedding Jewellery Inspired

By Dante’s Divine Comedy. [online] Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/article/wedding-jewelleryalighieri [Accessed 6 Aug. 2017].

WJ London Lifestyle. (2017). Why We're Loving Alighieri Jewellery -. [online] Available at: http:// wjlondon.com/why-were-loving-alighieri-jewellery/ [Accessed 7 Aug. 2017].

WOMEN WHO. (2017). ROSH MAHTANI, FOUNDER OF ALIGHIERI. [online] Available at: https://www.womenwho.co/blog/2016/8/16/interviewrosh-mahtani-founder-of-alighieri [Accessed 22 Sep. 2017].