The Modern Perspectives campaign by Her Story made an impact at the 2023 Red Dot awards – one of the most prestigious design awards in the world. The campaign won the Red Dot Award for Brands and Communication Design, celebrating creative thought, impact and the seamless integration of a powerful concept across touchpoints.

This win is particularly noteworthy as it positions a young modern Indian brand’s in-house efforts towards aesthetic and conceptual excellence ahead of some of the world’s top advertising agencies and global brand campaigns. The meticulous evaluation process for the Red Dot Distinction for the Advertising, Integrated Communication category, which had over 9,000 entries from more than 50 countries, included the criteria: originality and creativity, design quality and innovation, and impact and emotional significance.

The Modern Perspectives campaign (2022-2023) opened up a dialogue on modernity and questioned stereotypes, gender-assigned roles and expectations. Her Story chose not to counter those stereotypes with a stance of our own, but rather extend a seemingly simple question…so that every woman may discover her own answers in the context of her own life. The campaign celebrated different perspectives through the stories of five inspiring personalities – Anoushka Shankar, Smriti Mandhana, Kalki Koechlin, Twinkle Khanna, and Sobhita Dhulipala – capturing aspects of women that are often challenged by constructs of society, and celebrating the beauty of choice the modern individual.

Brand Director Sitanshi Talati-Parikh, who conceptualised and directed the campaign says, “As a meaningful brand, it was important for us to open up a dialogue on modern values, with subtlety as well as depth, and without presumptions. It has been wonderful to receive global validation on the concept, execution and emotional significance from an award that is truly respected and coveted by the creative minds of the world. What really brought home the award to us, though, were the voices of people who shared how the campaign impacted them in their lives. How it made them think, and made them question fundamental modern values that we often don’t stop to consider. To have made a difference in the way someone thinks, to have impacted someone’s life in a positive way, is what is truly humbling and gratifying.”

Her Story along with FICCI FLO Bangalore hosted an exclusive masterclass led by fashion journalist Nandini Bhalla (ex-editor of Cosmopolitan India, Harper’s Bazaar India and Brides Today, launch editor of Grazia Magazine, and Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Word Media House), along with Her Story Brand Director Sitanshi Talati-Parikh.

The interactive workshop began with understanding style, and delving into the idea further with a creative, hands-on styling demonstration. Nandini Bhalla then took the select audience through the best ways to layer and stack precious jewels for the modern individual, followed by an insightful conversation on fashion, body image and personal style.

Her Story celebrated the spirit of the Poetry in Motion collection with brand ambassador Sobhita Dhulipala answering the question ‘What’s Passion?’.

The actor, in conversation with fashion entrepreneur Pernia Qureshi and Her Story Brand Director Sitanshi Talati-Parikh, explored the idea of passion and what it means to a modern individual, and spoke about the focus, intensity and emotion involved in bringing art to life. “Passion is a feeling. It’s not something you do, but rather it’s the way you approach every aspect of your life,” Qureshi reflected in conversation. While Dhulipala felt that “it’s about being intentional in everything you do. Being completely present in the moment. That’s passion.” Talati-Parikh observed, “It's interesting because passion is often seen as a singular idea, but Sobhita and Pernia brought out such diverse perspectives. From the fact that passion needs fierce discipline, to the understanding of passion as something that can just flow, even through 'off' days. It really brought alive the beauty of the choice of the modern individual."

To watch the entire conversation, click here.

The evening was attended by women from the arts, brought together by co-host Ira Dubey at the Her Story flagship in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, where the maison’s campaign featuring Sobhita Dhulipala as well as the jewels of the Poetry in Motion collection are on display.

Her Story celebrated the spirit of ambition with brand ambassador Smriti Mandhana at the maison’s flagship boutique. The opening batter for the Indian Women’s National Cricket Team engaged in conversation with an excited group of young sports enthusiasts about dreaming big and chasing after what they want. The group ended the morning with a little friendly competition, going head-to-head in a game of cricket on the streets of Kala Ghoda. Each child went home with a custom kit and an autographed bat from Smriti.

Speaking after the high-energy match, she commented, “Playing with the kids was amazing. Sometimes when you play professional cricket, you can forget the energy and the true love for the game, and that’s exactly what they gave me today. So thank you to the Her Story team, I always love the spirit behind everything we do together, and thank you to the kids for teaching me a lot of new things today!”

The campaign featuring Smriti Mandhana as well as the jewels of the Limitless collection are on display at the Her Story flagship in Kala Ghoda.

Watch the full conversation with Smriti and the young athletes here.

Her Story celebrated the spirit of the Kaleido collection with an intimate high tea and an evening of conversations with campaign face Twinkle Khanna. The writer, entrepreneur, producer, mother, and multitasker spoke evocatively about her experience balancing many roles, which is the sentiment that inspired the collection. Guests also participated in a fun live polling experience, which sparked conversations about balance, harmony, and the ideal of perfection.

“There is so much thought behind the design of the Kaleido collection,” Khanna described. “When I look at the bangles, and an entire stack, I feel that they reflect all the different roles I inhabit in my life. Just putting them on makes me feel empowered that I may be able to tackle all of them efficiently.”

Speaking about the brand, she said, “There’s a story behind every thing that they do; there’s so much ideation. Even with the campaign…what I like most is that it has women who exemplify their inherent traits, like ambition, tradition, freedom. These fabulous women are torchbearers of those pathways, and I think that’s remarkable – as is the way that the brand approaches design. Every time I’ve spoken to them about a piece, there has been an entire story behind it, and a compelling one at that!”

The campaign featuring Twinkle Khanna as well as the jewels of the Kaleido collection is on display at the Her Story flagship boutique in Kala Ghoda.

Watch the full conversation with Twinkle here.

Her Story celebrated the launch of our first-of-its-kind flagship destination in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, with a high tea and insightful dialogue on rootedness with Grammy-nominated musician Anoushka Shankar. The British-Indian-American artiste spoke evocatively about her love and pride for her heritage, which is the sentiment that inspired the new Keepsakes collection. Moderated by author Karuna Ezara Parikh and co-hosted by Farah Siddiqui, the intimate event was attended by a curated list of women achievers from the city, including Aditi Dugar, Arundhati De Seth, Sagarika Ghatge Khan, Vanika Choudhary, Prerna Goel, Vinti Lodha, Devyani Pawar Aishwarya Nair Mathew, Hino Omerbhoy, Shruti Jalan, Neesha Alwani, Gauri Thripathi, Alka Vazirani, and Supriya Hiremath Vora.

Shankar described the jewels of the Keepsakes collection as “stunning and beautiful”. She elaborated, “They have something that I really love and look for, which is a way of being inventive and original but not just for the sake of it. There’s an authenticity to it that I really connect to.” Speaking about her relationship with the brand, she shared, “I was very attracted to what a strong woman-led company it is. It’s got a real personal touch from the people who are invested in what they’re making, and I connect to that passion and that love for what they do.”

Watch the full conversation with Anoushka here.

In a sparkling display of traditional craftsmanship and modern design thinking, Her Story and Rahul Mishra took the runway together at the designer’s Couture Fall show on July 4, 2022 at Paris Haute Couture Week.

“Our collaboration with Her Story came together rather effortlessly, given their impeccable craftsmanship and refined sense of design,” said Rahul Mishra. “I am particularly impressed by how functional and easy the jewels are in their eventual expression of design, which carries a strong appeal for the Rahul Mishra woman. It’s a special moment of celebration, of being rooted in India with a contemporary global outlook.”
Falguni S Kapadia – Brand Head, Marketing & Strategy, Her Story, commented, “This collaboration was a natural fit for us, given that Rahul Mishra is not only a brand that we personally love but also one that seamlessly marries traditional Indian craftsmanship with modern conceptual design. We are excited to have taken our vision to the world stage and brought stories of the modern individual to life at Paris Haute Couture Week."

The precious handcrafted jewels – each designed to symbolically capture facets of a woman’s personality – were seen with the Rahul Mishra Couture Fall 2022 collection in a beautiful display of artisanship and conceptual design thinking.