ChicTherapy by Vandana
The Beginning
Vandana Makhija didn't set out to build a
jewellery brand. She set out to make things she actually wanted to wear and couldn't find anywhere else.
Growing up, jewellery wasn't just decoration for her. It was the detail that finished a look, that said something without words, that stayed with you long after an outfit was forgotten. That early fascination didn't fade.
It became a direction. She went on to study Apparel and Accessory Design at CEPZ Institute of Fashion Technology in Mumbai, and spent the next fifteen years working across design and fashion retail learning how pieces are made, how they move through the market, and more importantly, how they make women feel.
Chic Therapy launched in 2015. Not out of a gap in the market, but out of a genuine restlessness with what was already out there.
The Woman It's Made For
There's a specific kind of women Vandana designs for. She's not easy to pin down she might be running a business, boarding a flight, dressing for a wedding, or just going about a Tuesday. What she has in common with every other Chic Therapy woman is that she's stopped trying to dress like anyone else.
She knows what she likes. She doesn't follow trends so much as absorb them, filter them, and wear what actually works for her life.
She wants jewellery that can go from a morning meeting to an evening out without a second thought pieces light enough to forget you're wearing them, distinctive enough that someone will ask where they're from.
The Designs & Inspirations
Where the Designs Come From
The collections draw from a wide and sometimes unexpected mix Indian craftsmanship, global cultural symbols, the textures and colours of natural materials, and whatever Vandana is drawn to at a given moment.
What makes them interesting is precisely their irregularity the slight variation in colour, the weight of a real stone, the way light catches an unpolished surface. Chic Therapy doesn't try to iron that out. The designs are built around the material as it actually is, not as a uniform, manufactured substitute for it.
The result sits somewhere between jewellery and wearable art. Not in the precious, hands off sense these are made to be worn constantly but in the sense that each piece has a quality of thought behind it that goes beyond pattern repetition.
How They're Made
Every piece is handcrafted in Chic Therapy's in-house atelier in Mumbai, by a team of skilled artisans who have been doing this work for years. The core material is brass cast and finished to a standard that makes 18k gold plating not just decorative but durable. The plating process is part of why the pieces hold up as well as they do without tarnishing over time.
There's no outsourcing, no shortcuts on quality inspection. The atelier operates under close supervision, partly because consistency matters at scale, but mostly because Vandana cares too much about what leaves the workshop to leave it to chance. Lightweight construction isn't accidental it's engineered into every piece, so wearing a statement necklace for eight hours doesn't feel like a feat of endurance.
The Journey So Far
Celebrity & Influencers
It started with a pop-up in Mumbai. Then more pop-ups. Then trade shows, multi designer stores, stockists in cities across India and in international markets. The growth has been gradual, loyal, and largely word-of-mouth the kind of following built by people who genuinely wear the pieces and talk about them, not by a single viral moment.
Celebrities including Shilpa Shetty, Kriti Sanon, Taapsee Pannu, Kiara Advani, and Shobhita have been spotted in Chic Therapy pieces.
The brand has been covered in Bombay Times, HT Cafe, Cosmopolitan, Filmfare, and Your Story. These aren't things Vandana leads with they're just markers of a decade of consistent work.
Media Coverage
Over the years, Chic Therapy has received notable media recognition across several leading publications. The brand has been featured in Bombay Times, HT Café, Cosmopolitan, Filmfare, and YourStory, highlighting its journey, design philosophy, and growing presence in the fashion space.
These features reflect more than just publicity they represent years of consistent work, creative evolution, and the brand’s ability to stay relevant in a competitive industry. Through these platforms, Chic Therapy’s story, craftsmanship, and vision have reached a wider audience, reinforcing its position as a thoughtful and steadily growing fashion label.