If you didn't know any better, you'd think that this guy just came out of nowhere and popped up on the fashion scene. But designer, bon vivant and Wes Anderson posse member,
Waris Ahluwalia has been around for quite sometime. Born in Amritsar, India to a Linguistics professor and private school headmistress, American dreams would be the catalyst for the family's move to Brooklyn, NY when Waris was five. Being the only Sikh kid in his community helped to define the man he would become. After doing a stint at a college in upstate New York, a year abroad at the University of Manchester in England, and a few post graduate interviews, Waris knew exactly what he didn't want to do in life. Armed with that knowledge, he decided to follow his dreams and find his place in the world. Not liking the cold weather of the North East, he opted to spend his winters in sunny Los Angles where the owner of Maxfiled's would place an order for rings that Ahluwalia was wearing, to be delivered in a week. These rings were made by a guy in New York's jewelry district just before Waris fled the cold. This is what is known as the beginning of
'House of Waris', a fine jewelry company that has become a media darling, being covered by all the top fashion mags. Needless to say, the rings SOLD OUT! Before long, Waris had workshops in Italy and Jaipur, India churning out his beautiful jewelry for men and women. He's appeared in Wes Anderson's films, 'Life Aquatic' and 'The Darjeeling Limited' and also Spike Lee's, 'Inside Man.' More recently, he opened 'House of Waris Tea Room,' a pop-up space designed by architect Christian Wassmann under the New York City High Line. It served Darjeeling tea, biscuits from England and of course hosted Playboy parties. Truly a renaissance brand, 'House of Waris' is all-encompasing--it personifies a love of history and romanticism.
