Jewellery designer Pieter Louis Erasmus always knew he was unsuited to a nine-to-five life. 'I don't like working for other people. I studied fine arts so I think from the beginning I've always been pretty unemployable,' he says.
A native of Pretoria, South Africa, Erasmus lives in New Delhi. He founded his luxury costume jewellery line, St Erasmus, after working for seven years at jewellers Erickson Beamon in London. He is visiting Hong Kong to present his autumn-winter 2012 collection at Harvey Nichols in The Landmark.
His trademark look - chunky Swarovski crystal- and pearl-encrusted pieces made with an Indian thread called metallic zari - has been favoured by British and Bollywood stars, as well as American first lady Michelle Obama.
Erasmus says he always finds a strong female character to use as inspiration each season. In the past, he's been inspired by Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren and Laila, the main character from Khaled Hosseini's novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. His latest collection looks to Marie Antoinette.
The artisans he employs to handcraft each piece in New Delhi are a huge boon to his designs, he says. He points out the slightly different shades of the hand-dyed ribbon and uneven stitching on one of his bracelets.
Erasmus takes pride in these so-called imperfections. He learned early on to appreciate what they add to the designs, so he doesn't try to impose his techniques on the artisans who make them.
'Mostly, it's Muslim men that do the embroidery. They come from families who have been doing embroidery for hundreds of years. In India, they get classified as unskilled labourers, but they have a long history of doing this.'
