THE NEXT BIG THING....IN JEWELLERY

Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large

The SS10 press days can be a stress to get to when you're juggling deadlines, but are so worth it. Especially when a designer you haven't considered before talks you through their work and you get that internal jolt of inspiration/recognition that tells you that you are seeing something new and exciting or clever and fun. I’ve seen so much exciting stuff which I will bring to you between now and the end of January when the collections actually come in. And when the January sales are on – BELIEVE ME – you will need this blog to keep you going. ANYWAY. Top of my mind over this last week are Katie Rowland and Jordy Askill two young jewellers  I encountered at Blow PR and Starworks respectively. Jewellery is definitely having a creative renaissance. I was going to put my good friend and charge Dominic Jones on here too, his new work is so insanely beautiful, but he made me promise not to - well it is his AW10 colllection!! Guess we will have to wait for that, but I'll get first look!

KATIE ROWLAND

It was her “Ring Me” ring that did it. Katie is a 28 year old London jeweller who this year has won a string of prestigious awards (see below) but her stroke of genius for me is a ring that, in back to front text, has Ring me and your number stamped into it. All you need to take out with you is a tiny ink pad to make it work. When you see a boy or girl you like just rotate the ring on the ink pad, and in one slick move roll it up the arm, (of whatever body part is available to you) of the person you desire. “It’s really naughty”, giggles Katie. “It makes me quite bold. When I made my own version with my mobile number on I went a bit crazy with it. The next day I got a few calls, but I couldn’t remember who they were!” The idea behind the Ring Me ring was the calling cards of Victorian Ladies who would hand out cards with just their names on. “My Ring Me ring brings the idea of a calling card bang up to date,” says Katie.

http://www.katie-rowland.com/
WINNER OF COUTTS NEW JEWELLER AWARD 2009
WINNER OF LONMIN'S DESIGN INNOVATION AWARD FOR PLATINUM 2009
WINNER OF THE SONAMA-CUTRER DESIGN AWARD 2009



JORDY ASKILL

Meadham Kirchoff SS10 Image courtesy of Catwalking.com

Jordy Askill is one of those rare artist/jewellers who use their creative experiments to inspire very pretty

commerical pieces, and some thought provoking high fashion work too. Jordy is a an Australian who worked with Tusbi/Ksubi in Sydney before moving to London. Now he creates these anodised sculptures from animation programs he develops on his computer. How amazing is that horse sculpture? I love it. He told me its costs £1000. As does the People sculpture below. I think they are worth every penny. From them come his adorable heart rings (above), and can't wait to see whether his Meadham Kirchoff sculptural headpieces (yes those are lots of little people, plus for the Meadham Kirchoff brogues he placed said mini metallic people to the back heel of the shoe like spurs). I can see how his thinking process works. I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of Jordy in the coming months. He is one to watch.

http://www.askillprojects.com/
His work is available at Dover Street Market
He is represented by Starworks.