The Heirloom Maven: Maheep Kapoor Before you know about Maheep Kapoor's journey and what goes behind curating such pieces, you'll need to know one thing: since the age of 19, she has been a working woman.
By Paromita Gupta •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Grandma's exquisite jewellery and self-envisioned Chandbalis. Once you get an insight into Maheep Kapoor's life as a working woman and an eventual entrepreneur, you'll understand why these two play such a significant role in her life as a jewellery designer. Before you know about her journey and what goes behind curating such pieces, you'll need to know one thing: since the age of 19, she has been a working woman. Before launching her jewellery line and collection, she donned several hats including that of a model. In fact, she was the runner-up at the Miss India pageant in 1993.
Post her marriage to actor Sanjay Kapoor, and while expecting her firstborn Shanaya, the Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives star knew she did not want to sit at home. She had just never been someone like that. And because of her inherited love for jewellery, she enrolled in a jewellery course in Andheri. Designing pieces was obvious to follow up, which was loved and requested by her near and dear ones. In fact, she recalls Bhavana Pandey being one of the first to come to her house, see the designs and request one for herself. "It kind of snowballed into what I'm doing now, this full-fledged jewellery designing career," Kapoor adds.
She credits her mother and grandmother for her inclination towards creativity, glamour and jewellery. Kapoor's two business lines are Satyani Fine Jewels with Shravan Satyani and Tyaani by Karan Johar. "I think the first pieces I designed for Satyani were big Chandbalis. I stuck to the traditional concept because I don't particularly appreciate doing trendy pieces or pieces that you spend money on and after a couple of years, your daughter is not interested in wearing them," she shares.
Her grandmother's heirloom jewellery is close to her heart. Simply put, she cannot live without them. Worn by her grandmother, mother, and Kapoor herself, she hopes her daughter follows the tradition one day too. Her biggest inspiration for designing jewellery pieces and collections is her daughter.
What we did realise was that Indian women learnt to do online shopping, which was a big
change for us. It helped us reach women all over India.
Partnering with Tyaani was something the duo did to push the envelope and create comfortable-yet magnificent pieces which were not too heavy on the customer's pockets. She believes Johar's inputs to be of great importance for her Glow collection. Talking about a turning point for her brand, she shares that during the lockdown, people became very tight with their money and rightfully so. Traditionally being an offline outlet, they never thought of going online. "What we did realise was that Indian women learnt to do online shopping, which was a big change for us. It helped us reach women all over India."
The biggest highlight for the businesswoman is when her designs are appreciated and worn by friends and family. She shares her advice for women wanting to venture on their own: "believe in yourself, be extremely creative, keep an open mind, and see the market also. So, follow your passion; if you love what you do, it will show in your work. People will love it, and you cannot fake it."
