Elie Top Has Launched a New Jewelry Collection with Zara

There's costume jewelry and then there's costume jewelry, the kind of pieces that inspire delight and offer a bit of larger-than-life character. Elie Top's (formerly of Lanvin and now known for his eponymous brand) new jewelry collaboration with Zara certainly fits in the latter category. A capsule of pieces that is a tribute to buzzing bees on those delicious days dripping in sunlight—the kind that have the sweetness of honey—was born out of an appreciation of the "The Song of the Earth," and day-dreamy motifs of the natural world. And of course, true to form, the pieces encapsulate his appreciation of not just lightness of essence, but eye-catching, and even chunky design in costume jewels.

We spoke with the designer about the 16 piece collection, which launched today. Of his inspiration, he had this to say: "To be honest, the 'Song of the Earth' is quite glorious—and the inspiration beside that was the sunflower. It came to me immediately, it was the first thing I started to sketch. I wanted something graphic and pretty big because it's costume jewelry, and a statement piece is how I like to do it. Then came the bees and a daydream feeling. I was contemplating life and nature."

Of the whimsical and kinetic pieces he created, he also mentioned a unique trait of the bee, which was incorporated into the design: "I discovered the bee's language to each other—they do special flight lines to communicate with one another, in loops—and this became part of the jewelry in a poetic and graphic way."

Shop our favorites from the collection below.