Wear Your Attitude

Sahil Nandal, CEO and Founder of Mirakin, a brand that designs 3D printed, customisable jewellery, says that Indian men too are warming up to the idea of expressing themselves through jewellery

- Radhika R

Sahil Nandal, CEO and Founder of Mirakin, an accessories and jewellery brand launched in 2015, grew up shuttling between Japan, Brazil and India, but it was Japan’s unique street style that stayed with him. “I remember sitting for hours in a cafe in Harajuku and being blown away by what people wore,” he says. Until three years ago, Nandal lived in Japan to pursue a Masters in Global Business Strategy and explore 3D printing. He frequented the Harajuku neighbourhood in Tokyo known for its extremely flamboyant, eccentric and quirky street styles — imagine neon hair, heavily embellished T-shirts and a psychedelic pair of slacks. “You could spot a 60-year-old man in an Elvis-inspired look. You could spot a middle-aged woman in the most brightly coloured clothes. Every person used clothes and accessories as an extension of their personality, a form of expression.”

For Nandal, these bold, yet deeply personal styles, argued that fashion and accessories need not be limited to buying the most popular brands, but something you use to express who you are. Three years ago, when his sister was getting married, and they were looking for a highly personal and customised ring that was an extension of herself. They found nothing. “What existed in the customisable jewellery market could not give us the quality we wanted or deliver it to us on time,” he says. “She ended up choosing something she wasn’t entirely happy with.” Mirakin was born a year later with the idea of making good quality, customisable jewellery for the Indian market.