As a tribute to Madras, she has come up with a new collection called This is Madras collection using all the traditional flowers from the city. “The intense lockdown in May made me begin cycling long distances into the outskirts of Chennai. I cycled past fields and little colourful markets that I’d previously overlooked in my search for exotic flowers. I also met with an accident which slowed a lot of things down for me. This made me pay closer attention to what was around me. So, when I started looking at my immediate surroundings, I found flowers that are coveted all over the world growing wild in our city. This made me take a closer look at what I had missed for so long,” says Amrita, founder of Alankaara Designs Private Limited. 

For the collection, she has used traditional flowers of Madras. “The same flowers grow all over Tamil Nadu as well. You’ll find them in every flower market you go to. I found most of what I needed in the Koyambedu poo market. “We used an array of saamandhi (chrysanthemums), orange kanakambaram (firecracker flower), the demure and fragrant mallipoo (jasmine), the bright maroon kozhi konda (cockscomb), vedchi poo (Ixoras), the fiery red gulmohar, the sturdy pink vadamalli (globe amaranths), the button roja poo or panneer rose (roses), thulasi plants, arasa maram leaves (peepal) and mullapoo (jasmine buds). For this collection - to commemorate our city, I primarily used only the traditional flowers,” she adds. 

When asked about the process of making fossilised jewellery, she says that the process is straightforward. “We use two-part slow curing epoxy resin. Before we measure out the ratio, we dry out our botanicals completely using wooden flower presses, books or silica gel. We then design the piece alongside our metalsmith who then creates the base frame for us. Once they have been plated to our desired colour we pour resin, encase the botanicals and polish it off. This lasts a lifetime if stored well.”