about
Born and raised in Ghana, West Africa, Indo-Canadian designer Vaneesha Advani moved to New York at seventeen to study fashion design at the prestigious Parsons School of Design.
After Parsons, she relocated to Canada, where she spent more than a decade working with fashion houses, importers, and buyers in Vancouver and Montreal, gaining extensive experience in design and trend forecasting.
Drawing on this background, Advani founded her jewellery brand, Designs By Sonia, in Eindhoven, Netherlands, in 2008. The brand became fully active in 2011, when she presented her first collection during Paris Fashion Week. She subsequently showcased her work during New York and Milan Fashion Weeks and was represented by a Paris showroom until the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, Advani creates bold, contemporary, and avant-garde jewellery that bridges fashion and wearable art. Her sculptural designs explore form, texture, movement, and scale, transforming jewellery into distinctive artistic statements. Her work has reached an international audience, earning recognition for its originality, craftsmanship, and striking sculptural aesthetic.
artist statement
I see jewelry as a form of wearable sculpture and a profound medium of self-expression. My practice explores the relationship between material, form, movement, and the body, with a particular focus on creating pieces that celebrate individuality and quiet confidence.
I begin with curiosity. Inspiration can come from the tactile quality of a material, a historical reference, architecture, art, culture, travel, human connection, or an unexpected moment. I allow these influences to evolve through experimentation, often beginning with materials rather than a predetermined form. I am drawn to transforming ordinary and unconventional materials including wood, recycled glass beads, leather, and yarn into sculptural objects with a strong visual presence.
My approach is rooted in contrast: structure and movement, strength and softness, boldness and restraint. I explore scale, texture, layering, repetition, and unexpected combinations to create work that is contemporary and avant-garde while remaining wearable.
I believe jewelry should enhance the person wearing it rather than define her. My intention is to create pieces that invite engagement, spark conversation, and give the wearer a sense of confidence and individuality.
Ultimately, my work is about transformation—taking familiar materials and reimagining them as expressive, sculptural forms that exist between jewelry, fashion, and wearable art.
