Punk Attitude, Organic Shapes, Color Therapy: Jewelry Showed Range at Paris Fashion Week
PARIS — A variety of styles and references were reflected in the latest collections that jewelry designers offered during Paris Fashion Week.
From punkish pieces to telegraph a rebellious attitude to color therapy with enameled details for an everyday mood boost via organic statement silhouettes in gold and diamonds, here are some of the highlights from presentations hosted all over town.
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Eéra
Romy Blanga and Chiara Capitani are gaining more and more confidence as their brand expands its assortment, introducing even more elevated takes on their staple codes. Cue their latest collection, hinged on new interpretations of the successful “Reine” and “Stone” motifs.
Introduced in Eéra’s debut collection in 2018, the former is inspired by the original snap hook, expressing the brand’s penchant for mixing industrial references, utilitarian elements and tropes of classic jewelry, as well as telegraphing its overall ethos of transforming unexpected and everyday elements into precious objects. In the new iterations, the “Reine” design has been incorporated in fine necklaces inspired by traditional rosary beads; it was rendered in a tubular rather than a flat shape in drop earrings pairing silver or gold tones with neon fuchsia and green shades, or worked in a sinuous shape in an 18-karat gold ring encrusted with diamonds.
Nodding to can tabs, the “Stone” element further built on the wrapping concept and organic shapes via bold renditions, as seen in rings available both in 18-karat gold and polished silver and chunky cuffs, either reprising its silhouette in maxi proportions or replicating it in a scaled-down version via rows of molded chains.
The duo’s strong proposition was also enriched with a new series of precious key chains intended to accessorize Eéra’s growing lineup of bags, which this season saw the introduction of woven raffia and suede as materials, in addition to leather and crystal-coated waxed denim.
Vann
When you see yourself reflected constantly in the unflinching eye of social media and in the era of AI, even perfection itself could feel flawed. That was the message Vann Kwok brought forward at her Paris presentation, which was part of the Hong Kong Fashion Guerrilla collective showcase organized by Fashion Farm Foundation. But the puffy hearts dangling from spiky hoops, rough crystals that seemed trapped in molten metal or the Xs of kisses repeating in a fierce looking choker found in her “Self-Discrepancy” collection proved her five-year-old brand’s ability to meld 3D modeling and hand-fabrication.
Justine Clenquet
Lille-based designer Justine Clenquet was inspired by horror movies, especially the 1981 film “Possession,” to develop her new collection, dubbed “Vade Retro.” Heart shapes with devil horns made for earrings and punctuated chunky chain necklaces, adding to jewelry oozing punk vibes via belly barbells and pearl piercings. These elements dangled from the Chase earrings or were interwoven in the Mindy choker, while the Luce nail ring was the ultimate twofer, doubling a sinuous ring with the perfect chrome manicure.
The punkish mood was reprised in a series of boots and metallic slingback shoes as well as in bags, categories Clenquet first expanded into in 2020 and 2022, respectively.
Ashaha
Moroccan native designer Uma Jémil usually takes inspiration from stones and their energy for her Ashaha creations, crafted between Paris and Italy’s Valenza. Influenced by the designer’s Berbere roots, the brand is best known for its stackable rings in gold and rainbow gems like diamonds, pink sapphires and topazes, like those seen in the Aku geometric line or the Wave curvaceous collection. Bolder creations stood out either for their organic shapes, like in the Pia ring in 18-karat yellow gold and diamonds, or the edgy feel, as seen in the Shams earrings covered in diamond pavé.
Sarah Madeleine Bru
Teasing her upcoming “L’Écume” (or seafoam, in French) collection to be revealed in April, London-based French jeweler Sarah Madeleine Bru introduced its new takes on her signature pieces featuring a new setting that she developed inspired by the cresting waves. Dressed in glittering concretions of diamonds, mainly old-cut stones repurposed from vintage pieces, her quasi-infinity loop of the Arum earrings or the Meta ring that loops around the knuckle take on a mineral quality that makes them feel as fresh as sea spray.
Joanna Laura Constantine
Joanna Laura Constantine also paid tribute to femininity by comparing it to the fluidity of ocean waves in her new collection. She expressed the parallel via jewelry defined by curvaceous and irregular shapes and featuring textured surfaces encrusted with stones and cultured pearls. Highlights ranged from statement chokers, ear cuffs and curved earrings to enameled options like the Orbs series of necklaces and bracelets.
All the pieces are brass-based and 18-karat gold plated or rhodium plated, handmade by Lebanese artisans reviving the age-old traditions of jewelry design. To wit, the designer moved back to Beirut from New York to set up her studio and workshop when she launched the brand in 2010, after graduating from the Parsons School of Design and piling up stints at fashion houses such as Donna Karan New York, Lanvin and Nicole Miller.
W. Salamoon & Sons
The storied jewelry house founded by Wadih Salamoon in Beirut in 1907 built on its Arctic Splendors collection, which aimed to raise awareness of the effects of climate change on the Arctic region and inspire customers to embrace more eco-friendly behavior. In addition to jewelry recalling the shape of glaciers that are in danger, the line expanded to sinuous bangles, earrings and earcuffs in yellow gold encrusted with diamonds. The designs, which also came with enameled details in colors ranging from turquoise and blue to off-white and forest green, were intended to be worn alone or stacked for a more contemporary take on the brand’s high-end jewelry.
L’Atelier Nawbar
Playful stacking and personalization are at the core of fellow Lebanese fine-jewelry brand L’Atelier Nawbar. The label, which boasts a heritage dating back to 1891 and has been revamped to attract modern customers by the fourth generation of Nawbars, flanked its propositions nodding to astrological and Art Deco-reminiscent motifs with minimal yet colorful designs. Necklaces, bangles and rings handcrafted in Lebanon from 18-karat gold and refined with white diamonds were enameled in turquoise, coral or green shades, in addition to black and white.
Jacquie Aiche
Fresh from placements on the likes of Usher during his Super Bowl performance or on Rihanna via pregnancy jewelry such as body chains and necklaces adorned with protective amulets, Jacquie Aiche continued to expand her assortment of hippie-chic jewelry. This hinges on a hand-selection process of minerals and semiprecious gemstones aimed at inspiring positive energy and acting as protective talismans to be worn every day.
The Los Angeles-based designer — who also draws inspiration from her Eastern roots to include in her creations symbols inspired by ancient Egypt and her signature blue eye motif associated with protection, luck and security — particularly played with colors in new pieces that displayed her penchant for tourmaline, one of her favorite stones due to its diversity of shades and the consequent array of moods and energies evoked. Highlights included pendant necklaces and hoops with multicolored assorted gemstones in different shapes lined around watermelon tourmalines.
The designer continued to elevate secondhand watches, adding Cartier styles to her usual customization of Rolex pieces, and collaborated with Timex on a similar offering at more affordable price points.
Begüm Khan
Say yes to making your bridal moment fun was the overarching message for jeweler Begum Khan this season. With “Non-Bridal Bridal,” the Turkish jeweler explored the idea that your happily ever after means jewels that aren’t limited to the occasion. Although she explored a vocabulary of pearly whites, lace-shaped details and, for the first time, hair accessories, these were infused with her more-is-more approach to sparkle and plenty of wit. Take the hairclips that read “Say Yes,” “Say No” or “Kiss the Frog.” And she enriched her famous bestiary with dragonflies that came as pendant, long necklaces and brooches.
Bibi Van der Velden
Once bitten, twice shy? Not Dutch jewelry designer Bibi van der Velden, whose Alligator Vertebrae Bite earring plays on the idea of the reptile swinging from a lobe caught in its gold jaw. With the colorful stones that compose their spines, they were one of the highlights of her Paris presentation. Another was her striking Scarab cocktail rings brought out in full force, their tourmaline-studded backs inlaid with ivory, turquoise and fossilized wood. Elsewhere, it was the siren call of the North Atlantic ocean near the designer’s family home in Portugal that yielded jewels shaped like a mermaid’s hair filled with treasures or witty flippers peeking from an ear.
Marie Hélène de Taillac
Pay it forward: for Marie-Hélène de Taillac, if we have just entered the Year of the Dragon, she’s already got her eye on next year’s guardian animal with a collection nodding to the snake. Most striking were a necklace composed of links cut from amethysts and tanzanites, connected by woven gold links and finished with a serpent as a closure, or a pair of woven gold reptiles with apatite heads curling down from the ear. These reptiles were equally charming when curled around a pair of drop-shaped moonstones or as a pendant with googly tanzanite eyes. The jeweler continued her exploration of tourmalines, particularly the shades of blues she explored to great effect last season. Here, a rainbow cuff caught the eye with its boiled-sweet-sized stones set in a gold band.
Gabrielle Greiss
For Gabrielle Greiss, her “Fables Etcetera” debut jewelry collection is the result of a hands-on breather she took after a heady first chapter in fashion that included working at Marine Sitbon, Sonia Rykiel and an eight-year stint leading the creative team at Chloé under Clare Waight Keller and Natacha Ramsay-Levi. In the Galerie de Pierre Marie were showcased the gold- or silver-plated bronze jewels Greiss imagined as tableaux influenced by fables and tales but also by the life drawing and painting classes she took at Paris’ École des Beaux-Arts during her creative hiatus.
Each design was part of a limited-edition art run of five, but only the first one gets the wunderkammer (or cabinet of curiosity, in German) frames designed in collaboration with New York-based artist Thomas Engelhart. Cue a despondent equine necklace from Aesop’s “The Horse and the Donkey;” a “Tortoise” and Hare” with the titular creatures as a necklace but also a trio of golden snail rings; a “Cat and a Rat” duo of necklaces where the feline was modeled after her own cat, and more stories.
Axep
For Ana Xenia Ene Pienescu, clothes too deserve their precious adornments and that’s what she offers in Axep, the two-year-old label she launched after cutting her teeth in ready-to-wear at Margiela and Hussein Chalayan before veering toward leather goods and accessories for Balenciaga and Loewe. Expanding on her idea of ordinary turned precious that saw a plastic tag fastener turned into a gilded pin, minute paper tags recast in enamel or a golden button become a practical adornment, Ene Pienescu offered this season the aptly named Buckle made to cinch the waistline or be a graphic brooch, stone versions of her tags and Slider, chains and strands of pearls meant to take the place of drawstrings but that can also be worn as a necklace.
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