jewelry designer

Jewelry Designer

    the new millennium saw a renewed interest in vintage costume jewelry styles.

 Dainty pendant necklaces and matching earrings came into vogue, harking back to the turn of the 2()th century. Pieces in the style of French jet were offered by mass-market retailers, and there was keen interest in traditional ranges from long-established costume jewelers such as Ciro and Fior from Britain and Kenneth Jay Lane in America.


 Established jewelers Erickson Beamon made their jewelry available to many more people by creating diffusion lines for retailers such as Target in the US and Debenhams in the UK.

Innovative new materials and styles have also emerged, such as Uli Raap's "Textile Jewlery", created from a fusion of jersey and rubber, or the work of German company Bless.

 Designers with a background in Industrial design, such as Lara Bohinc, brought new techniques, such as Computer Aided Design, to the field of costume jewelry design.

Events such as Swarovski Runway Rocks (2005), Coutts London Jewellery week (2008) and the "Jewels for Fashion" symposium held at Geneva's University of Art (2008)

emphasized the continuing change in attitude towards jewelry. Where once it had appeared to play second fiddle to clothing in the fashion industry, it has since become a dominant voice.

jewelry designer

The new-found appreciation of costume jewelry coincided with a trend for recycling and a worldwide recession that resulted in a renaissance and new respect for vintage finds. Consequently new and vintage jewelry has never been so sought after.

Tradition with a twist

Today a new generation of designers are working to combine traditional techniques with modern technology, and vintage gems with new materials to push the possibilities of costume jewelry forward. Jewelers, such as Tracy Graham of Bijoux Heart, use materials such as faux gems and Murano art glass beads to create extravagant pieces, which celebrate vintage style for 21st century wearers. Laurent Rivaud, who has designed jewelry for Y'ivienne Westwood since 1994, also creates his own antique-style pieces under the name "R". Pave set with marcasites, and hung with coins, pearls, figurative elements such as bird skulls, and graduated beads, R jewelry is instantly recognizable and memorable.

Others jewelers like to push the boundaries of traditional forms of jewelry to create exciting contemporary pieces.

jewelry designer

 American designer Philip Crangi created quadruple-sized rhinestone jewelry for Vera Wang's Fall Winter 2008 catwalk show, meanwhile London-based Mawi has transformed classics such as the pearl necklace into futuristic-looking designs, in which pearls become bullets and knots become box chains. Inspirations as diverse as antique jewelry and punk led to the creation of jewels that are the hallmark of 21st century style.

 

Celebrity endorsement

There has been a long tradition of the wives of American presidents wearing costume jewelry on formal state occasions. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower, for example, wore Trifari pieces at her husband Dwight D. Eisenhower's Presidential Inaugural Gala in 1953 and again in 1957.

jewelry designer

Michelle Obama has continued this tradition and is renowned for wearing exciting pieces by contemporary costume jewelers, such as St. Erasmus, Erickson Beamon, and Dana Lorenz. She also famously wore vintage costume pieces to her husband's inauguration and has been photographed wearing vintage costume jewelry by Schreiner, among other famous makers.





 

Mrs Obama is not the only famous face who has helped to make costume jewelry newsworthy again. Patricia Field, the stylist for the Sex and the City television series and movies, is well-known for mixing vintage and contemporary clothes and jewelry. Additionally, the star of the series, Sarah Jessica Parker continues the trend off screen when she attends fashion shoots and film premieres and has been credited with inspiring many others to do the same.

A range of choice

jewelry designer

The thread that runs through the story of costume jewelry is the continuous quest for the most exciting new materials and ideas. Although some modern pieces are cheaply made, the better pieces should rise in value over the years to come, becoming good investments for the future. 



The incredible artistry and techniques that go into making some of these amazing pieces mean that no one today worries about wearing mere "imitations." The challenge lies in choosing from the extraordinary range of designs on offer to suit a personal style and look.