The Return of the Native

... and here's another post about jewelry! I must confess I'm a bit obsessed with jewelry at the best of times. My love of adornment began at a very young age, like most girls I imagine, and was greatly catalyzed by my beautiful and brilliant Grandmother, Onnie Millar, who made her own jewelry. My Grandmother favored large and colorful jewelry often made from wood, ceramic, shells and glass; she loved natural and organic objects. She fashioned beautiful sculptures of people from stone and made pendants of painted portraits on sea shells and wood. Her preference for the natural always reminded me of the spirit of Native art;  where found objects were turned into figurative and literal representations of man, nature and the earth.

There is a definite trend of Native inspired jewelry proposed by many designers for Fall 2012... and I love it.
Am I convinced of the practicality of some of these pieces? No, but that doesn't matter. The point of fashion is to express artistic visions and what is practical for some may not be for others. I enjoy these European adaptations of Native adornment - I would love to see someone wear one of these pieces with a tank top or poking from beneath a suit!

Akong, Fall 2012

Dannijo, Fall 2012

Aurelie Biderman, Fall 2012

Akong, Fall 2012

Pamela Love, Fall 2012

Pamela Love, Fall 2012

Lulu Frost Fall 2012

photos from style.com

Mary Katrantzou (... I heart you)

Speaking of gorgeous statement jewelry, I thought I'd share some samples from Greek designer Mary Karantzou's first collection made for Fall 2008 while graduating at Central St. Martin's. There are so many things I love about Katrantzou's work: her predilection towards bold, bright colors, geometric shapes and patterns, and of course its all about those prints, prints, prints! Her prints are perfectly drafted to caress every curve of the body. The technical prowess to achieve such mastery is simply astounding. 

She is steadfast in her aesthetic, which affords all fashionstas the ability to immediately identify a Karantzou from the rest of the pack. Her love of shift dresses and peplums combined with her fantastic prints and elementary color sense creates a  perfect marriage of contrast between minimalism and kitsch. If you took away the prints, I feel her work would resemble Calvin Klein or Gianfranco Ferre. If you took away the silhouettes, I'm left to compare her work to Versace, Pucci or Jean Charles de Castlebajac.

In her first collection, Karantzou utilized in her prints trompe l'oeil variations of massive statement necklaces. What's not to love?

Mary Katrantzou Fall 2008

photos from StyleGuru

Heaven Tanudiredja

Why have I not heard of Heaven Tanudiredja until now??  I am completely enthralled and inspired with this designer's gorgeous jewelry! The Balinese born designer studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts and since has worked for Christian Dior and now Dries Van Noten where he is part of the creative team and is supported in his own line Heaven Tanudiredja . Learning of his work with Van Noten, I silently nodded in affirmation of the seamless aesthetic exchanged between the designers, as if it were the most logical and obvious thing ever. It all just seems to make perfect sense!

I am compelled by Tanudiredja's work for his brilliant fusion of materials such as plastic, metal, glass, his lively mix of colors and for the juxtaposition of the  aggressive, almost militant spirit (many of his pieces look like beautifully beaded and jeweled armor) with the feminine tradition of adornment. I am always personally attracted to jewelry that is chunky, bizarre and that manages to capture various tribal semblances and/or sci-fi/futuristic qualities. Lucky for me, these sort of desires seem to be trendy in fashion design right now and I'm finding more and more designers to placate my fantasies. More posts to come!