Ahluwalia’s Pandora Collab Is the Definition of Charming
The six engravable designs are available to shop and customise now, too.
Fashion Week is nothing if not a time to celebrate exciting new collaborations. Often though, it is a sneak peek at what is coming in the season ahead, planting the seed months in advance. Ahluwalia and Pandora have teamed up to buck that trend this season with an exclusive range of engravable symbols. Designed by Priya Ahluwalia herself, the six designs are customisable and – best of all – available to purchase right now.
“There’s six designs that will be able to go on charms, earrings, necklaces, bracelets… I mean, can you make a waist chain, even. We’ve done that in our lookbook,” Ahluwalia tells us from her London studio. “You can actually engrave things on two sides, even, so you could have one design on one side and another on the other, and literally flip it over [depending on what you feel like].”
The collaboration marks the second team up for the two brands. Last season, the Danish jewellery brand sponsored Ahluwalia’s SS25 show, with delicate pearl pieces featuring on the runway – and who could forget the pearl body harness? This season, their collaboration takes on a far more personal approach.
“I’m definitely a sentimental soul,” says Ahluwalia laughing. Her six designs, all of which pay homage to her Indian-Nigerian heritage, are testament to that. There’s the wavy “Joy” print, inspired by both Indian and Nigerian textiles, which has become an Ahluwalia signature. It fills a heart (a nod to Pandora’s “Be Love” message) and the map of Africa. “I think that the continent of Africa is one of the most special places in the world,” she explains. “I felt like it was a nice opportunity to put that into a more mainstream environment, too.”
The floral print, “Flower of Nigeria,” depicts a Costus Spectabilis, the national flower of Nigeria, while “Paisley Print”, pays tribute to the iconic Indian embroidery. “Both sentimental to me,” she adds. “Synergy Print” and “Starry Night” take inspiration from past Ahluwalia collections. Each a charming way of bringing the Ahluwalia world into your every day. And that isn’t lost on the celebrated designer. “I still have pinch-me moments when I see people wearing my clothes in the street and this will be an extension of that.”
Though absent from the show schedule this season, Ahluwalia has big plans, not least with her future in jewellery. “I’d love to do more. I think there’s so much sentimentality around jewelry, and creating something that can be customized makes it ever more special,” she says. In the immediate future though there’s more to come. “We’ve got some exciting things happening. I don’t actually think I want to talk about any of them, but there are exciting things in the pipeline,” she teases.
Browse the engravable symbols, which will be available through to September 2025, in the gallery above.
Keep up with all London Fashion Week happenings here.
