Interview // Nobahar Design Milano

Nobahar Design Milano is all about unconventional design pieces that carry a strong concept and the voice of its designer.

Each design is built from a concept and every idea is translated into an object that represents it. These design pieces are for people who want to make a bold statement, don’t have fear of being different or ambiguous, and appreciate wearable architectural designs.

Decorative and wearable pieces are made of unconventional, technological, and sustainable materials, using the same effort and research that is applied in the high-end jewelry and design industry.




Can you tell our readers about your background?
What inspired you to start your business?


I studied mathematics and Industrial Design in Tehran (Iran) and Service System Design, Jewelry Design, and Jewelry Engineering in Italy. I have worked in Graphic Design, Communication, Jewelry Design, and Jewelry Production Process fields and in 2017 finally I decided to create my personal brand “Nobahar Design Milano” and apply whatever I learned and I wanted to do differently. I started Nobahar Design Milano in summer 2016 but I presented the first piece on the 8th of March 2017 on the international women day, a design piece dedicated to protesting the violence against women. Doing just one thing never satisfied me and with my strong background in design and working experiences in the high and fine jewelry industry, I wanted to create something different. It was not an easy start and path because I had to do everything by myself. From my Master’s degree thesis and the experience as a researcher at Politecnico di Torino university, I knew what kind of technology and material I wanted to use because of its special characteristics. Therefore, the first thing I was thinking about was what type of objects I need to create and how to make them be different. I started with macro market research about what people are looking for and they cannot find it easily.






How would you describe the spirit of the brand?


The brand for me is is unconventional and contemporary. I come from a culture where jewelry is strongly traditional and I moved to one of the symbolic countries of fine and high-end jewelry. The combination of the two created a strong identity for my products because I decided to create unconventional wearable designs, with unusual materials and colors which express precise concepts.

“THE DIFFERENCE IS MY MATERIAL AND WEIGHT… IT IS ABOUT THE STRONG CONCEPTS BEHIND MY WORKS.”



How do you differentiate your business from the competition?


From the traditional and conventional jewelry industry, the difference is my material and weight. From the contemporary one, it is about the strong concepts behind my works.





Who is your business role model? Why?


It is difficult to name just one person or brand.
I follow and study a lot Marni, Seletti, Alexis Bittar, Monies, and similar brands because they have design pieces for everyday life, are aesthetically beautiful with good functioning, transmitting to their customers a vision for a unique, personal and fun lifestyle. These are the brands that they were not afraid to use unconventional styles and materials.





How many collections have you made? Can you describe the most salient features of each of them?


Nobahar Design Milano has the main collection called MyCity, a collection for all the people far from their homeland or their hometown. So, you can take a piece of your city always with yourself. Till now there are two lines for this collection, Tehran, which is my hometown & Napoli, which is my partner’s home. Then there are limited edition pieces that all the result of participation in different national or international contests. I am grateful for all these designs because each one of them won and has been awarded in the contest. Like my first design The Rebirth Of Lotus cuff, 1st prize winner of the international contest which the theme was “A Jewel For Life” symbolic jewelry to protest violence against women.

My second limited edition piece is Fluidity Is The Way To Life” brooch, 3rd prize winner at Venice Design week of 2017. A design dedicated to the 409 bridges of Venice and fluidity of water that with touching it reminds us how to be always fluid in our life.

My third limited edition piece of 2018/2019 is My Inner Freedom brooch only in 10 pieces inspired by Enso circle and Dervishi dance which has been selected for the “Gioiello Comunicazione” contest and has been presented on the Milan Fashion Week 2019 runaway.

My Fourth limited edition is Bāzār collection. The ring and the cuff in this collection are inspired by my memories of the grand bazaar of Tehran and the museum of bijoux in Italy which they have been dyed manually with black tea, the traditional drink of bazaars. This collection Awarded at Bijoux Museum of Casalmaggiore In Italy. The last limited-edition piece of 2019 is CinCin brooch which has been selected for Fermenting Jewelry 2019 exhibition. This piece is inspired by the movement of the red wine in the glass when we swirl it which represents our quality moments together.

For Paris Fashion Week 2020 I designed a limited-edition and hand-dyed earring called “Lolita”, and my last collection in 2020 is a Minimal Collection, a collection for daily use and perfect for every season. This collection is consisting of earrings and pins which mostly have been hand-dyed with natural colors.

I created also one of a kind rings and brooches during these years. They are unique because each piece created with a small, handmade silk Persian carpet which I knotted personally. They are a great example of my brand concept, a combination of tradition and technology.




What’s your favorite way to decompress?


With plants, I never had plants and never could keep one alive before in my life. I tried when I started my business actually, now I have two balconies full of different plants and some orchids that I have had for more than two years, that was really difficult for me to keep them alive.

Another new way that I figured during this quarantine time, which also is totally contrary to my character, is baking bread. I’ve even started to create a sourdough from scratch, which needs more than 10 days, with a lot of patience, and I really found playing with flour and dough relaxing.


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