Amelia’s Magazine | New Designers 2012 Printed Textiles and Surface Design Graduates: part two

New Designers part one 2012 -Phillippa Copping
Following on from my first review of printed textiles and surface design graduates at New Designers 2012, here’s my second pick of the student work. At Cleveland College of Art and Design bright geometric patterns by Phillippa Copping reigned supreme. I wasn’t surprised to learn that she has interned with Zandra Rhodes, whose influence was clear.

New Designers part one 2012 -Robyn Taylor
Robyn Taylor had fun with embroidered fashion illustrations.

New Designers part one 2012 -Holly Stevens
Crazy robots with 3D embellishment sprung out of graph paper in these interactive wallpaper designs for children by Holly Stevens.

New Designers part one 2012 -Tori Arrighi
At Edinburgh College of Art Tori Arrighi mixed fractal patterns with bold swipes of bright colour.

New Designers part one 2012 -Gillian Boyd
Gillian Boyd is an acoustic textile designer who designers decorative panels for maximum sound absorption.

New Designers part one 2012 -Danielle Lunn
At University of Bolton Danielle Lunn embroidered curious patterns that looked like sea creatures created in the style of Indian folk art.

New Designers part one 2012 -Emma Mcvan
Emma Mcvan mixed photorealist imagery with abstract design to great effect.

New Designers part one 2012 -Velvet Jade
New Designers part one 2012 -Velvet Jade
The fabulously named Velvet Jade mixed vibrant geometrics with 3D rosettes.

New Designers part one 2012 -Viktoriya Zarvanska
At UCLAN oversized squirrel and deer designs were attracting a lot of attention on Viktoriya Zarvanska‘s very busy stand.

New Designers part one 2012 -Jane Bridges
The English Country Garden Collection by Jane Bridges featured some beautiful modern acidic and plum colour combinations.

New Designers part one 2012 -Shayna Begum
New Designers part one 2012 -Shayna Begum
New Designers part one 2012 -Shayna Begum
At UEL I was immediately drawn to modern woodland designs from nature lover Shayna Begum: read an interview with her by Kate Lynch here. Her love of Timorous Beasties is evident.

New Designers part one 2012 -Netanya Barber
At Northbrook College in Sussex Netanya Barber mixed photo real birds and flowers with intricate wirework patterns.

New Designers part one 2012 -Melody Ross
At the Arts Uni College in Bournemouth Melody Ross went wild with neon laser cut acrylic for interiors products.

New Designers part one 2012 -Alice Skipp
At Swansea Metropolitan layered stencil designs by Alice Skipp were applied with great joy across plates, tea cosies, teatowels.

New Designers part one 2012 -Sam Fenn-Johnston
Retro inspired upholstery by Sam Fenn-Johnston was showcased on old fashioned style arm chairs in the One Year On section.

Third review of printed textiles and surface design graduates at New Designers 2012 coming soon!

Categories ,2012, ,Acoustic textiles, ,Acrylic, ,Alice Skipp, ,Arts Thread, ,Arts Uni College in Bournemouth, ,Cleveland College of Art and Design, ,Danielle Lunn, ,Edinburgh College of Art, ,Emma Mcvan, ,Gillian Boyd, ,Holly Stevens, ,Jane Bridges, ,Kate Bell, ,Kate Lynch, ,Melody Ross, ,Netanya Barber, ,New Designers, ,Northbrook College, ,One Year On, ,Phillippa Copping, ,Printed Textiles, ,review, ,Robyn Taylor, ,Sam Fenn-Johnston, ,Shayna Begum, ,Stunt Giraffe, ,surface design, ,Sussex, ,Swansea Metropolitan, ,The English Country Garden Collection, ,Timorous Beasties, ,Tori Arrighi, ,UCLan, ,UEL, ,University of Bolton, ,Velvet Jade, ,Viktoriya Zarvanska, ,Zandra Rhodes

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Amelia’s Magazine | Olivia Rubin collaborates with OPI to create her own shatter nail lacquer set

OPI shatter nail polish collaboration with Olivia Rubin by Novemto Komo
OPI shatter nail polish collaboration with Olivia Rubin by Novemto Komo.

I do like a press day where you can get your hair and nails done, price so despite my lack of time I decided to swing by South Molton Street yesterday to visit Olivia Rubin, who was greeting all visitors personally – what a nice touch. No high falutin’ designer here, plus she was very good about my review of her A/W 2011 catwalk show, which mainly banged on about the high celebrity quotient.

Olivia Rubin at her A/W 2011 press day
Olivia Rubin at her A/W 2011 press day.

Usually there is a massive queue for free grooming but I chanced upon a lull having missed, by mere minutes, a whirlwind visit from The Only Way Is Essex pop group Lola. Damn. They were the ones who distracted me at her A/W 2011 catwalk show. Actually, maybe it’s a good thing I missed them.

Olivia Rubin by Liam Mcmahon
Olivia Rubin by Liam Mcmahon.

Olivia Rubin Cute as a Cupcakes. Of course.
Olivia Rubin bespoke cupcakes by Cute as a Cupcakes. Always the cupcakes… but I have to admit these really were a stunning compliment to her new collection.

Anyway, I decided to grab the opportunity to try out the new OPI shatter collection produced in collaboration with Olivia Rubin and for sale in exclusive colour combinations at ASOS and other stores soon. It’s a great idea because Olivia is known for her bold use of animal prints and this looks a bit like a leopard print from afar.

Olivia Rubin by Liam Mcmahon
Olivia Rubin by Liam Mcmahon.

Olivia Rubin shatter nail polish collaboration with OPI
Olivia Rubin shatter nail polish collaboration with OPI. Nice bright colours as always.

Did you know that OPI takes its name from the dental company whence the first nail products sprang from? Back in the early 1980s George Schaeffer took over a dental supply business called Odontorium Products Inc, and quickly realised the potential for transferring the technology behind acrylic dentures into the crafting of false nails. Not very sexy eh? But that’s the way it rolls in the beauty industry. Happily, OPI do not test on animals.

Olivia Rubin OPI shatter polish
Olivia Rubin’s elegant nails.

Olivia Rubin OPI shatter polish
Hmmmm, my not very elegant hands.

Since then they’ve built a huge nail brand, famed for its brightly coloured nail polishes with fun names. OPI technicians have been helping out backstage at various fashion shows during LFW, and they take care of famous pop personalities such as Katy Perry and Alexandra Burke, who have their very own nail technicians on hand at all times, except, that is, when they are sorting out my stubby sausage hands. My nails were done by Alexandra Burke‘s *actual* nail technician, get in. She won the X Factor a few years back in case you were wondering.

Olivia Rubin OPI shatter polish
Here’s a pic of my paws: the effect is really most captivating. I can’t stop looking at them!

The shatter nail polish is apparently all the rage, though in my backward way I had never heard of it and sat there transfixed as Alexandra’s right hand man painted the second coat onto my nails and it mysteriously cracked in front of my eyes: the chemicals reacting to the first coat below. After that he used a very cunning product called Drip Dry Lacquer Drying Drops, which drops on top to dry nails almost instantly. Clever, these dentist types. The shatter nail lacquer comes in black and silver to create fun effects on top of other colours.

Olivia Rubin-Rush Hair Salon Isobel
Lovely hair stylist from the Rush Hair Salon.

After that I decided to get my hair blow-dried by a lovely girl called Isobel from Rush Hair salon: love that vintage dress she’s wearing. I do wish that I could make my frizzy hair look so sleek and glossy myself, but I have to admit that it’s way more relaxing to get someone else to do it for me!

Olivia Rubin-A/W 2011
Olivia Rubin-A/W 2011
Olivia Rubin-A/W 2011
Olivia Rubin-A/W 2011

It was really nice to see the new Olivia Rubin collection up close, to feel the satin silks and admire the screen prints which she does herself. I particularly liked the fine gauge knit jumpers featuring Olivia’s signature brick and speech bubble ‘prints’ and she’s also done some lovely shoes in collaboration with Dune.

Olivia Rubin-A/W 2011

Keep an eye on this one because she’s a savvy business lady, and for sweet idiosyncratic dresses and tops she’s right on track: Olivia Rubin is now stocked in 50 stores across the UK and globally.

YouTube Preview Image
Do the shatter polish y’all.

Olivia will be finishing off the next collection over Easter, and her OPI collaboration should be available soon. I look forward to trying out Overexposed in South Beach, which joins Suzi Loves Cowboys and Wing It! from LFW goody bags. Now I’ve just got to find time to paint my nails more often myself.

Categories ,A/W 2011, ,Acrylic, ,Alexandra Burke, ,ASOS, ,Beauty, ,Blow Dry, ,Celebrity, ,cupcakes, ,Cute as a Cupcake, ,Drip Dry Lacquer Drying Drops, ,Dune, ,Easter, ,George Schaeffer, ,Katy Perry, ,knitwear, ,lfw, ,Liam McMahon, ,Lola, ,Nail Lacquer, ,Nail Polish, ,Nails, ,Novemto Komo, ,Odontorium Products Inc, ,Olivia Rubin, ,OPI, ,Overexposed in South Beach, ,prints, ,RUSH Hair, ,Shatter Nail Lacquer, ,Shatter Nail Polish, ,South Molton Street, ,Suzi Loves Cowboys, ,The Only Way is Essex, ,TOWIE, ,Wing It!

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Amelia’s Magazine | Central Saint Martins: Ba Hons Jewellery Graduate Show 2011 Review

Jing Jing Cao headdress
Headdress by Jing Jing Cao.

The Central Saint Martin Ba shows were held for the last time this year in the iconic Charing Cross building, visit before the courses depart for new accommodation in Kings Cross. What will happen to the beautiful vaulted hallways when they go? The caretaker couldn’t tell me…

I can’t help but love jewellery – whilst I’ll happily bypass the graphic design stands if there’s a glint of precious gem I’m in there, help nosing around. The Ba Jewellery offering was a mixed bag – much of it did not appeal to me at all but the designs that did grabbed my attention good and proper. Below are the best designers I found.

Kerry Huff
I was attracted to Kerry Huff‘s rough gemstone jewellery based on natural patterns even before I realised that she had sourced all her materials ethically… and is also passionate about fair-trade practice. How joyous to find students tackling design with a firm grounding in the implications of their work.

Hee Jung Son
Hee Jung Son also worked with recycled lids to create a well presented range of colourful rings on silver bases.

Yung-Han Tsai
Central Saint Martins jewellery graduate exhibition 2011 Yung-Han Tsai
Yung-Han Tsai reappropriated everyday objects and transformed them into something new – in this case she clumped bundles of headphones (I’m hoping they were recycled or upcycled) into sculptural forms.

Bonnie Yiu
Bonnie Yiu did some strange and wonderful things with copper wire and paper which produced curvaceous necklaces and bangles with detailed patterns that bore closer examination.

Central Saint Martins jewellery graduate exhibition 2011 Wenhui Li
Wenhui Li pink ring
Wenhui Li
Wenhui Li showed a fabulous display of coloured mixed media rings featuring strange alienesque bulbous shapes. See more on Wenhui Li’s website.

Lauren Colover
I didn’t notice Lauren Colover‘s work when I was at the exhibition but the piece she has chosen for the catalogue is stunning – based on a Ginkgo Biloba leaf and encrusted on the underside with semi precious stones.

Min Yoo
Min Kjung Yoo created some amazing hybrid creatures from a mix of resin, precious metals and gems. Some were far more out there than this particular frog/dolphin specimen – see her website.

Jing Jing Cao
Jing Jing Cao produced stunning brass and acrylic ruffs that spread around the face like a stylised human frame.

Anna Heasman barter bangle
In her final year Anna has found herself questioning the meaning of jewellery as simply adornment but rather as a means of exchange. Inspired by primitive forms of exchange (or indeed, some might say the most postmodern way to live) Anna Heasman offered exhibition attendees the chance to Barter for a Bangle. How could I resist? I offered to write about her here if she gave me a particularly fetching gold twisted number. But I haven’t heard from her yet, and look, here I am writing about her anyway. Clearly I’m not so good at bartering.

Central Saint Martins jewellery graduate exhibition 2011 Anna Heasman Barter Bangles
One of the most intriguing things were the other barters on offer, everything from a list of herbal medicines to other bits of jewellery, cupcakes and a drink on the town. If it wasn’t so incredibly frowned upon to take photos at the CSM shows I would have taken more snapshots of the amazing array of offered goods and services. Some of them can be viewed on Anna Heasman’s Tumblr.

Still to come… my favourite finds from the Jewellery MA.

Categories ,2011, ,Acrylic, ,Anna Heasman, ,Barter Bangles, ,Bonnie Yiu, ,brass, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Copper, ,Eco-Design, ,ethical, ,fairtrade, ,Gems, ,Ginkgo Biloba, ,Graduate Shows, ,Hee Jung Son, ,Hybrid, ,jewellery, ,Jing Jing Cao, ,Kerry Huff, ,Lauren Colover, ,Min Kjung Yoo, ,paper, ,Precious Metal, ,recycled, ,Resin, ,review, ,Silver, ,Upcycled, ,Wenhui Li, ,Yung-Han Tsai

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Amelia’s Magazine | Central Saint Martins: MA Design Jewellery Graduate Show 2011 Review

Tourmaline Boa pendant by Gwyneth Harris
Tourmaline Boa pendant by Gwyneth Harris.

There were two jewellers that caught my eye from the MA Design course that covers Ceramics, information pills Furniture and Jewellery at Central Saint Martins. Gwyneth Harris‘s Boa Collection was absolutely exquisite: an exploration of surface qualities through shape, generic colour, tone and pattern, inspired by the sinuous lines of snakes. She used German lapidary experts to create her beautiful winding tourmaline pendant, which was first carved in wax. Everything was created in shifting shades of red, her favourite colour. Gorgeous, I wanted to wear every piece.

bite me pendant by Gabrielle Harris
Bite Me pendant by Gabrielle Rosanna Harris. Diamond, Topaz and Gold.

Gabrielle Rosanna Harris first trained in Paris, where she did a range of work experience in exclusive Parisian jewellery workshops such as Boucheron. It was in these joaillerie that she learnt the techniques for setting stones that have so influenced her final collection. I was most entranced by the way she has turned the settings upside down and back to front to achieve a bold new look for The High End Jewellery Etiquette, where the setting of the stone has become the most important part of the design.

It’s a real shame I can’t show you more of these jewellers’ work, but photos were not permitted in the exhibition and images were hard to come by. If you like this why not check out my previous blog about the Ba Jewellery show?

Categories ,Boa Collection, ,Boucheron, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Diamond, ,Diamonds, ,french, ,Gabrielle Rosanna Harris, ,Gold, ,jewellery, ,Lapidary, ,MA Design, ,paris, ,Snakes, ,The High End Jewellery Etiquette, ,Topaz, ,Tourmaline

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with jewellery designer Kyoko Hashimoto


Ruth Strugnell

Bath Spa’s electric and original collections show they’re not afraid to mix things up at Graduate Fashion Week. 

Bath Spa began with all guns blazing for their boutique show with Bournemouth, nurse setting the scene with a soundtrack of haunting thunder and lightning. As suspense grew, order a model stepped into the spot light…with a lampshade on her head. As more models filtered onto the catwalk, cure Ruth Strugnell’s quirky eccentricity became clearer in garments that made the most of mismatching, from multicoloured socks to panels composed of various prints and wools. Despite looking like they might’ve had a tussle in a dressing up box, the models’ nipped in waists and cute, soft take on the harem pants added a sense of maturity and direction to the pieces.  

Jack Duffy mixed things up again with clashing prints and a melding of culture; oversize jackets suggested elements of Eastern tradition, whilst large, ornate collars mould themselves round the body into demi-hoods more befitting of European nobility. 

Thierry Davies’s hypnotic monochrome prints bend the mind but when paired with a neat, boxy jacket a line of harmony seems to be drawn amongst the chaos. Another perennial favourite of this year appears again – the jump-suit, this time spruced up with a dramatic contrast between blue and white sections. 

Jodie Clay’s garments varied from the loose, long hem of her black jacket to the glitz of a bespoke neckpiece and sheer blouse. The wardrobe of the 1920s women was re-examined in the modern context and energised with splashes of murky blues, but held an element of reticent class.

Natalie Ellis’s use of vintage fur coats and gloves reminded us of the staple role they played in the wardrobes of women gone by, but cropped double colour trousers were a reminder of Ellis’s unfailing dedication to modernity. Interesting shapes appeared on the body as high waisted trousers split cream khaki and black across the body, complimented by ethereal, floating blouses and fur barrel bags. 
*Here at Amelia’s Magazine we don’t advocate any wearing of fur at all, so we hope this is fake, otherwise, DON’T WEAR IT!*

Outi Silvola deconstructed apparel in the most immediate sense, repositioning collars, shoulders and buttons to give a mixed up feel that wouldn’t look out-of-place in Dover Street Market. A fully made collar placed forward on the body was a walking work of art. A shirt is at once open at yet concealing the figure, showing a careful appreciation of the simple practise of putting clothes on the human body. 

Photographs by Nina Joyce

Ruth Strugnell

Bath Spa’s electric and original collections show they’re not afraid to mix things up at Graduate Fashion Week. 

Bath Spa began with all guns blazing for their boutique show with Bournemouth, site setting the scene with a soundtrack of haunting thunder and lightning. As suspense grew, information pills a model stepped into the spot light…with a lampshade on her head. As more models filtered onto the catwalk, more about Ruth Strugnell’s quirky eccentricity became clearer in garments that made the most of mismatching, from multicoloured socks to panels composed of various prints and wools. Despite looking like they might’ve had a tussle in a dressing up box, the models’ nipped in waists and cute, soft take on the harem pants added a sense of maturity and direction to the pieces.  

Jack Duffy mixed things up again with clashing prints and a melding of culture; oversize jackets suggested elements of Eastern tradition, whilst large, ornate collars mould themselves round the body into demi-hoods more befitting of European nobility. 

Thierry Davies’s hypnotic monochrome prints bend the mind but when paired with a neat, boxy jacket a line of harmony seems to be drawn amongst the chaos. Another perennial favourite of this year appears again – the jump-suit, this time spruced up with a dramatic contrast between blue and white sections. 

Jodie Clay’s garments varied from the loose, long hem of her black jacket to the glitz of a bespoke neckpiece and sheer blouse. The wardrobe of the 1920s women was re-examined in the modern context and energised with splashes of murky blues, but held an element of reticent class.

Natalie Ellis’s use of vintage fur coats and gloves reminded us of the staple role they played in the wardrobes of women gone by, but cropped double colour trousers were a reminder of Ellis’s unfailing dedication to modernity. Interesting shapes appeared on the body as high waisted trousers split cream khaki and black across the body, complimented by ethereal, floating blouses and fur barrel bags. 
*Here at Amelia’s Magazine we don’t advocate any wearing of fur at all, so we hope this is fake, otherwise, DON’T WEAR IT!*

Outi Silvola deconstructed apparel in the most immediate sense, repositioning collars, shoulders and buttons to give a mixed up feel that wouldn’t look out-of-place in Dover Street Market. A fully made collar placed forward on the body was a walking work of art. A shirt is at once open at yet concealing the figure, showing a careful appreciation of the simple practise of putting clothes on the human body. 

Photographs by Nina Joyce

Jeweller Kyoko Hashimoto has just opened a new shop/studio in Berlin called We Are All Made of Stuff. Born in Japan, diagnosis Kyoko grew up in Australia and studied jewellery design at university. She worked on conceptual designs until setting up her own label in 2006, diagnosis and she lived in Sydney and then Tokyo before moving to Berlin. Her designs play with different textures and nature-inspired themes, creating a look that’s modern and whimsical at the same time.

Can you tell me a bit about how your own label came about?
I was travelling through Europe in the the summer of 2005, and found myself completely out of money in the fairy-tale city of Venice. It felt really surreal to be broke in such a gorgeous city. I had studied jewellery design at university, but I wasn’t really using it to earn anything – instead I was teaching English to high school kids in Tokyo. I thought, “I can do better than this.” So when I returned from my holidays, I really set my mind on creating something new and committed myself whole-heartedly to design and production.


Illustration by Paolo Caravello

What techniques and materials do you most enjoy using in your work?
I enjoy working with acrylic. It’s the medium I feel most connected with. I like the consistency and the range of colours, transparencies and depth.
Synthetic polymers have been my choice of material since my university days, and I used to do a lot of resin casting. I stopped using polyester resin because of its toxicity, but I still really enjoy working with acrylic; I like the choice of colours and forms that can be achieved with relative ease. I use a combination of traditional and industrial techniques, although given the choice, I far prefer working with traditional methods. You can definitely see the difference in a finished object that has been hand-crafted, and one that has had little or no contact with the hand. Certain imperfections can also bring charm to an object.

In your most recent collection, Shadow of Lula, you’ve created pieces that look both Victorian and contemporary at the same time. Where did the inspiration to explore traditional mourning jewellery come from?
I love reading about the history of jewellery and fashion. Jewellery as a national fashion was at its height when Queen Victoria was mourning the death of her husband Prince Albert. She was so iconic and influential that the whole of England also went into a phase of mourning, and sentimental jewellery became very popular. I like thinking about the notion of sentimentality in jewellery, and I wanted to create a collection reflecting the same sense of nostalgia and longing, but in a contemporary context. So I chose environmentalism as a theme and made jewellery to mourn extinct animals, threatened by industry and environmental destruction.

You mentioned on your blog that the different countries you’ve worked in have, in general, different fashion aesthetics – that people in the UK tend to embrace bold statement jewellery, and Germany tends to be more understated.  Having moved around the world quite a bit, do you find that the location – and the local style – influence your designs?
Absolutely. When I was living in Tokyo my aesthetic was definitely influenced by the underground subculture aesthetics. I used to be good friends with the kids that hung around Harajuku and were often featured in fashion magazines like Fruits. Their unique and colourful sense of fashion influenced me to make pieces that were bold and also somewhat strange and nonsensical. Now, living in Berlin, I have noticed that people do not wear very much statement jewellery, so I am trying to indulge in their aesthetics. It is much more understated here, minimal but also more sophisticated.

What’s it like working in Berlin compared with the other places you’ve lived in?
It’s great, because everyone here is either an artist, designer or a musician. It’s nice to engage in passionate talk about art or the exhibitions we’ve seen, and the price of housing means that people can afford a nice working space to create. It gives us more freedom to do what we love to do.


Illustration by Paolo Caravello

You used the texture of a pomelo as inspiration for one of your pendants. Do you draw a lot of inspiration from the natural world? What do you find particularly inspiring at the moment?
Yes, I guess nature is always going to be a huge pool of inspiration for me. Moving around a lot means things are always a little different, which I really like. For example, with the pomelo, I’d never seen of those before. My flatmate here in Berlin was eating it everyday, and I was thinking: “It’s not an orange… it’s not a grapefruit… what the…?”

At the moment, I’m inspired by what I saw when I went to the Natural History Museum. A huge collection of curiosities were on display in these glass cabinets. I just love old objects from the era before the Industrial Revolution. They are never perfect and there’s such an unspeakable, precious quality to them.

Which are your favourite pieces you’ve created recently?
I like the ‘Toby’ pendant I made here in Berlin. I think it embraces a new aesthetic for me, working with these rubber sponge balls I found, and also tackling the soldering iron, which I don’t often do. The oxidised sterling silver frame is made from a single sheet of metal. Maybe it’s my current favourite because it is also the newest… I’ll have to see how I feel about it in a few weeks!

Are there any other designers whose work you particularly admire?
I love the work of fashion designer Sandra Bucklung – her masterfully knitted garments are a work of art. I also admire the work of jeweller Ted Noten, whom I met when he was teaching my partner Guy Keulemans in the Netherlands. Ted likes to cast objects like guns and cocaine powder inside clear resin; the concept is simple yet extremely provocative.

We Are All Made of Stuff opened this week in Berlin. How’s it going so far, and where did the idea to set it up come from?
It happened by luck. A friend we met in Berlin knew someone who knew someone who had the space available. I actually never thought I would open a store, but if it was going to be anywhere, this would be the place. Guy and I designed the interior of the shop, together with our Austrian architect friend Christoph Hager. The result is wonderful. Really, I could not be happier and we’ve already had tons of people stop by to check it out and have a chat.

Is it a working space as well as a shop? Which other designers are showing or working there?
As well as showing mine and Guy’s work, we have jewellery pieces by fellow Australian designers like Make Believe and Anneliese Hauptstein, as well as local and European designers such as Berlin jeweller Susanne Schmitt and A&Ré, a French duo who make wonderful things with concrete. And more designers to come.
The space is a shop but also a workspace. We needed to divide these two functions, but uniquely, and without being heavy or obtrusive. So we created a kind of porous curtain made up of hundreds of individual strings hanging from the ceiling. It divides the space diagonally, and supports jewellery plinths, but you can also walk through it. Its very light and delicate. Behind the strings are workbenches, and these are removable, so we can clear the space and party!

That’s probably keeping you very busy at the moment, but have you got any other projects or collections coming up that we can look out for?
Yes, but it’s a secret for now!

Categories ,A&Ré, ,Acrylic, ,Anneliese Haupstein, ,berlin, ,Christoph Hager, ,french, ,Germany, ,Guy Keulemans, ,interview, ,japan, ,jewellery, ,Kyoko Hashimoto, ,Make Believe, ,Netherlands, ,Paolo Caravello, ,Pomelo, ,Sandra Bucklung, ,Shadow of Lula, ,Susanne Schmitt, ,Ted Noten, ,Toby pendant, ,tokyo, ,Venice, ,Victoria & Albert, ,We Are All Made of Stuff, ,Workspace

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Amelia’s Magazine | An interview with jewellery designer Kyoko Hashimoto


Ruth Strugnell

Bath Spa’s electric and original collections show they’re not afraid to mix things up at Graduate Fashion Week. 

Bath Spa began with all guns blazing for their boutique show with Bournemouth, nurse setting the scene with a soundtrack of haunting thunder and lightning. As suspense grew, order a model stepped into the spot light…with a lampshade on her head. As more models filtered onto the catwalk, cure Ruth Strugnell’s quirky eccentricity became clearer in garments that made the most of mismatching, from multicoloured socks to panels composed of various prints and wools. Despite looking like they might’ve had a tussle in a dressing up box, the models’ nipped in waists and cute, soft take on the harem pants added a sense of maturity and direction to the pieces.  

Jack Duffy mixed things up again with clashing prints and a melding of culture; oversize jackets suggested elements of Eastern tradition, whilst large, ornate collars mould themselves round the body into demi-hoods more befitting of European nobility. 

Thierry Davies’s hypnotic monochrome prints bend the mind but when paired with a neat, boxy jacket a line of harmony seems to be drawn amongst the chaos. Another perennial favourite of this year appears again – the jump-suit, this time spruced up with a dramatic contrast between blue and white sections. 

Jodie Clay’s garments varied from the loose, long hem of her black jacket to the glitz of a bespoke neckpiece and sheer blouse. The wardrobe of the 1920s women was re-examined in the modern context and energised with splashes of murky blues, but held an element of reticent class.

Natalie Ellis’s use of vintage fur coats and gloves reminded us of the staple role they played in the wardrobes of women gone by, but cropped double colour trousers were a reminder of Ellis’s unfailing dedication to modernity. Interesting shapes appeared on the body as high waisted trousers split cream khaki and black across the body, complimented by ethereal, floating blouses and fur barrel bags. 
*Here at Amelia’s Magazine we don’t advocate any wearing of fur at all, so we hope this is fake, otherwise, DON’T WEAR IT!*

Outi Silvola deconstructed apparel in the most immediate sense, repositioning collars, shoulders and buttons to give a mixed up feel that wouldn’t look out-of-place in Dover Street Market. A fully made collar placed forward on the body was a walking work of art. A shirt is at once open at yet concealing the figure, showing a careful appreciation of the simple practise of putting clothes on the human body. 

Photographs by Nina Joyce

Ruth Strugnell

Bath Spa’s electric and original collections show they’re not afraid to mix things up at Graduate Fashion Week. 

Bath Spa began with all guns blazing for their boutique show with Bournemouth, site setting the scene with a soundtrack of haunting thunder and lightning. As suspense grew, information pills a model stepped into the spot light…with a lampshade on her head. As more models filtered onto the catwalk, more about Ruth Strugnell’s quirky eccentricity became clearer in garments that made the most of mismatching, from multicoloured socks to panels composed of various prints and wools. Despite looking like they might’ve had a tussle in a dressing up box, the models’ nipped in waists and cute, soft take on the harem pants added a sense of maturity and direction to the pieces.  

Jack Duffy mixed things up again with clashing prints and a melding of culture; oversize jackets suggested elements of Eastern tradition, whilst large, ornate collars mould themselves round the body into demi-hoods more befitting of European nobility. 

Thierry Davies’s hypnotic monochrome prints bend the mind but when paired with a neat, boxy jacket a line of harmony seems to be drawn amongst the chaos. Another perennial favourite of this year appears again – the jump-suit, this time spruced up with a dramatic contrast between blue and white sections. 

Jodie Clay’s garments varied from the loose, long hem of her black jacket to the glitz of a bespoke neckpiece and sheer blouse. The wardrobe of the 1920s women was re-examined in the modern context and energised with splashes of murky blues, but held an element of reticent class.

Natalie Ellis’s use of vintage fur coats and gloves reminded us of the staple role they played in the wardrobes of women gone by, but cropped double colour trousers were a reminder of Ellis’s unfailing dedication to modernity. Interesting shapes appeared on the body as high waisted trousers split cream khaki and black across the body, complimented by ethereal, floating blouses and fur barrel bags. 
*Here at Amelia’s Magazine we don’t advocate any wearing of fur at all, so we hope this is fake, otherwise, DON’T WEAR IT!*

Outi Silvola deconstructed apparel in the most immediate sense, repositioning collars, shoulders and buttons to give a mixed up feel that wouldn’t look out-of-place in Dover Street Market. A fully made collar placed forward on the body was a walking work of art. A shirt is at once open at yet concealing the figure, showing a careful appreciation of the simple practise of putting clothes on the human body. 

Photographs by Nina Joyce

Jeweller Kyoko Hashimoto has just opened a new shop/studio in Berlin called We Are All Made of Stuff. Born in Japan, diagnosis Kyoko grew up in Australia and studied jewellery design at university. She worked on conceptual designs until setting up her own label in 2006, diagnosis and she lived in Sydney and then Tokyo before moving to Berlin. Her designs play with different textures and nature-inspired themes, creating a look that’s modern and whimsical at the same time.

Can you tell me a bit about how your own label came about?
I was travelling through Europe in the the summer of 2005, and found myself completely out of money in the fairy-tale city of Venice. It felt really surreal to be broke in such a gorgeous city. I had studied jewellery design at university, but I wasn’t really using it to earn anything – instead I was teaching English to high school kids in Tokyo. I thought, “I can do better than this.” So when I returned from my holidays, I really set my mind on creating something new and committed myself whole-heartedly to design and production.


Illustration by Paolo Caravello

What techniques and materials do you most enjoy using in your work?
I enjoy working with acrylic. It’s the medium I feel most connected with. I like the consistency and the range of colours, transparencies and depth.
Synthetic polymers have been my choice of material since my university days, and I used to do a lot of resin casting. I stopped using polyester resin because of its toxicity, but I still really enjoy working with acrylic; I like the choice of colours and forms that can be achieved with relative ease. I use a combination of traditional and industrial techniques, although given the choice, I far prefer working with traditional methods. You can definitely see the difference in a finished object that has been hand-crafted, and one that has had little or no contact with the hand. Certain imperfections can also bring charm to an object.

In your most recent collection, Shadow of Lula, you’ve created pieces that look both Victorian and contemporary at the same time. Where did the inspiration to explore traditional mourning jewellery come from?
I love reading about the history of jewellery and fashion. Jewellery as a national fashion was at its height when Queen Victoria was mourning the death of her husband Prince Albert. She was so iconic and influential that the whole of England also went into a phase of mourning, and sentimental jewellery became very popular. I like thinking about the notion of sentimentality in jewellery, and I wanted to create a collection reflecting the same sense of nostalgia and longing, but in a contemporary context. So I chose environmentalism as a theme and made jewellery to mourn extinct animals, threatened by industry and environmental destruction.

You mentioned on your blog that the different countries you’ve worked in have, in general, different fashion aesthetics – that people in the UK tend to embrace bold statement jewellery, and Germany tends to be more understated.  Having moved around the world quite a bit, do you find that the location – and the local style – influence your designs?
Absolutely. When I was living in Tokyo my aesthetic was definitely influenced by the underground subculture aesthetics. I used to be good friends with the kids that hung around Harajuku and were often featured in fashion magazines like Fruits. Their unique and colourful sense of fashion influenced me to make pieces that were bold and also somewhat strange and nonsensical. Now, living in Berlin, I have noticed that people do not wear very much statement jewellery, so I am trying to indulge in their aesthetics. It is much more understated here, minimal but also more sophisticated.

What’s it like working in Berlin compared with the other places you’ve lived in?
It’s great, because everyone here is either an artist, designer or a musician. It’s nice to engage in passionate talk about art or the exhibitions we’ve seen, and the price of housing means that people can afford a nice working space to create. It gives us more freedom to do what we love to do.


Illustration by Paolo Caravello

You used the texture of a pomelo as inspiration for one of your pendants. Do you draw a lot of inspiration from the natural world? What do you find particularly inspiring at the moment?
Yes, I guess nature is always going to be a huge pool of inspiration for me. Moving around a lot means things are always a little different, which I really like. For example, with the pomelo, I’d never seen of those before. My flatmate here in Berlin was eating it everyday, and I was thinking: “It’s not an orange… it’s not a grapefruit… what the…?”

At the moment, I’m inspired by what I saw when I went to the Natural History Museum. A huge collection of curiosities were on display in these glass cabinets. I just love old objects from the era before the Industrial Revolution. They are never perfect and there’s such an unspeakable, precious quality to them.

Which are your favourite pieces you’ve created recently?
I like the ‘Toby’ pendant I made here in Berlin. I think it embraces a new aesthetic for me, working with these rubber sponge balls I found, and also tackling the soldering iron, which I don’t often do. The oxidised sterling silver frame is made from a single sheet of metal. Maybe it’s my current favourite because it is also the newest… I’ll have to see how I feel about it in a few weeks!

Are there any other designers whose work you particularly admire?
I love the work of fashion designer Sandra Bucklung – her masterfully knitted garments are a work of art. I also admire the work of jeweller Ted Noten, whom I met when he was teaching my partner Guy Keulemans in the Netherlands. Ted likes to cast objects like guns and cocaine powder inside clear resin; the concept is simple yet extremely provocative.

We Are All Made of Stuff opened this week in Berlin. How’s it going so far, and where did the idea to set it up come from?
It happened by luck. A friend we met in Berlin knew someone who knew someone who had the space available. I actually never thought I would open a store, but if it was going to be anywhere, this would be the place. Guy and I designed the interior of the shop, together with our Austrian architect friend Christoph Hager. The result is wonderful. Really, I could not be happier and we’ve already had tons of people stop by to check it out and have a chat.

Is it a working space as well as a shop? Which other designers are showing or working there?
As well as showing mine and Guy’s work, we have jewellery pieces by fellow Australian designers like Make Believe and Anneliese Hauptstein, as well as local and European designers such as Berlin jeweller Susanne Schmitt and A&Ré, a French duo who make wonderful things with concrete. And more designers to come.
The space is a shop but also a workspace. We needed to divide these two functions, but uniquely, and without being heavy or obtrusive. So we created a kind of porous curtain made up of hundreds of individual strings hanging from the ceiling. It divides the space diagonally, and supports jewellery plinths, but you can also walk through it. Its very light and delicate. Behind the strings are workbenches, and these are removable, so we can clear the space and party!

That’s probably keeping you very busy at the moment, but have you got any other projects or collections coming up that we can look out for?
Yes, but it’s a secret for now!

Categories ,A&Ré, ,Acrylic, ,Anneliese Haupstein, ,berlin, ,Christoph Hager, ,french, ,Germany, ,Guy Keulemans, ,interview, ,japan, ,jewellery, ,Kyoko Hashimoto, ,Make Believe, ,Netherlands, ,Paolo Caravello, ,Pomelo, ,Sandra Bucklung, ,Shadow of Lula, ,Susanne Schmitt, ,Ted Noten, ,Toby pendant, ,tokyo, ,Venice, ,Victoria & Albert, ,We Are All Made of Stuff, ,Workspace

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Amelia’s Magazine | New Designers 2011 Part One: Contemporary Craft Graduate Show Review

New Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson
Creatures, troche by Hollie Anderson, purchase at Hereford College of Arts.

During part one a large part of exhibition space was given out to what is known as Contemporary Craft – which in essence meant anything that was not particularly innovative in comparison with the rest of New Designers. But there were exceptions… Hereford College of Arts turned out some of the strongest contemporary crafters, page with individual and imaginative artwork that looked fresh against much of what I saw, both in the Contemporary Craft space and elsewhere. Hereford very deservingly won Best Stand.

New Designers review 2011-Ashleigh Williams
Ashleigh Williams was on hand to explain that her crocheted jellyfish filled with LED lights were intended for display as groupings that mimic their tendencies in the natural world. The tentacles and translucency were very convincing – amazing what crochet can do.

New Designers review 2011-Sarah Bevan Toft LaskiNew Designers review 2011-Sarah Bevan Toft Laski
Sarah Bevan also goes by the name Toft Laski. On her display cabinet there was a host of curious beasties: dolls with donkey heads, dried fish on wheels and rolling birds with wigs on. A grand old assortment.

New Designers review 2011-Victoria Midgley
Victoria Midgley created extravagant mirrors from unconventional art materials, inspired by the colours and shapes of tropical sealife.

New Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson hereford
New Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson herefordNew Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson herefordNew Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson hereford
New Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson hereford
I was totally stunned by Hollie Anderson‘s work – fuelled by an interest in animistic religions, she’d put together some totemic pieces that were vaguely unsettling and yet utterly compulsive: strange faceless creatures with embroidered snowflake tummies, gaping mouths and protruding spikes… bleeding figures with no discernible features at all… five legged creates with bones for mouths… a tethered fox like creature, again with hair and bones in all the wrong positions. She aims to tug at the viewer’s subconscious, ‘creating an innate emotional reaction to the figures, giving them life.’ Totally dazzled with the brilliance of Hollie’s incredible creations, caught somewhere between craft, totems and fine art. More images can be viewed on her very well designed tumblr website.

New Designers review 2011-Nadine SpencerNew Designers review 2011-Nadine Spencer
Nadine Spencer from Nottingham Trent University showed a huge laser cut city chandelier, with buildings piled on top of each other. Her individual artworks also showed cities, this time populated with alien spacecraft too. What fun!

New Designers review 2011-Laura Matthews Nottingham Trent University New Designers review 2011-Laura Matthews Nottingham Trent University New Designers review 2011-Laura Matthews Nottingham Trent University
By the table Laura Mathews was obviously in charge of the rats. I do so love it when you can spot the maker! She told me how her rats with articulated limbs are made out of recycled acrylic that she found in a skip. At last! Someone thinking ecologically! There really wasn’t enough of this at New Designers. Laura would like to make an animation featuring rats amongst those other urban pests: foxes and pigeons.

Don’t forget to check in with my other New Designers Part One blog posts: Textile Design, Surface Design, Ceramics and Glass and Jewellery. Just click on the links!

Categories ,2011, ,Acrylic, ,Animistic Religion, ,Ashleigh Williams, ,Best Stand, ,Business Design Centre, ,ceramics, ,Chandelier, ,Contemporary Craft, ,craft, ,crochet, ,Curious Beasties, ,Fine Art, ,Hereford College of Arts, ,Hollie Anderson, ,Jellyfish, ,Laura Mathews, ,Laura Matthews, ,LED lights, ,Mirrors, ,Nadine Spencer, ,New Designers, ,Nottingham Trent University, ,Rats, ,recycled, ,Sarah Bevan, ,Toft Laski, ,Totems, ,Upcycled, ,Victoria Midgley

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Amelia’s Magazine | New Designers 2011 Part One: Contemporary Craft Graduate Show Review

New Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson
Creatures, troche by Hollie Anderson, purchase at Hereford College of Arts.

During part one a large part of exhibition space was given out to what is known as Contemporary Craft – which in essence meant anything that was not particularly innovative in comparison with the rest of New Designers. But there were exceptions… Hereford College of Arts turned out some of the strongest contemporary crafters, page with individual and imaginative artwork that looked fresh against much of what I saw, both in the Contemporary Craft space and elsewhere. Hereford very deservingly won Best Stand.

New Designers review 2011-Ashleigh Williams
Ashleigh Williams was on hand to explain that her crocheted jellyfish filled with LED lights were intended for display as groupings that mimic their tendencies in the natural world. The tentacles and translucency were very convincing – amazing what crochet can do.

New Designers review 2011-Sarah Bevan Toft LaskiNew Designers review 2011-Sarah Bevan Toft Laski
Sarah Bevan also goes by the name Toft Laski. On her display cabinet there was a host of curious beasties: dolls with donkey heads, dried fish on wheels and rolling birds with wigs on. A grand old assortment.

New Designers review 2011-Victoria Midgley
Victoria Midgley created extravagant mirrors from unconventional art materials, inspired by the colours and shapes of tropical sealife.

New Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson hereford
New Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson herefordNew Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson herefordNew Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson hereford
New Designers review 2011-Hollie Anderson hereford
I was totally stunned by Hollie Anderson‘s work – fuelled by an interest in animistic religions, she’d put together some totemic pieces that were vaguely unsettling and yet utterly compulsive: strange faceless creatures with embroidered snowflake tummies, gaping mouths and protruding spikes… bleeding figures with no discernible features at all… five legged creates with bones for mouths… a tethered fox like creature, again with hair and bones in all the wrong positions. She aims to tug at the viewer’s subconscious, ‘creating an innate emotional reaction to the figures, giving them life.’ Totally dazzled with the brilliance of Hollie’s incredible creations, caught somewhere between craft, totems and fine art. More images can be viewed on her very well designed tumblr website.

New Designers review 2011-Nadine SpencerNew Designers review 2011-Nadine Spencer
Nadine Spencer from Nottingham Trent University showed a huge laser cut city chandelier, with buildings piled on top of each other. Her individual artworks also showed cities, this time populated with alien spacecraft too. What fun!

New Designers review 2011-Laura Matthews Nottingham Trent University New Designers review 2011-Laura Matthews Nottingham Trent University New Designers review 2011-Laura Matthews Nottingham Trent University
By the table Laura Mathews was obviously in charge of the rats. I do so love it when you can spot the maker! She told me how her rats with articulated limbs are made out of recycled acrylic that she found in a skip. At last! Someone thinking ecologically! There really wasn’t enough of this at New Designers. Laura would like to make an animation featuring rats amongst those other urban pests: foxes and pigeons.

Don’t forget to check in with my other New Designers Part One blog posts: Textile Design, Surface Design, Ceramics and Glass and Jewellery. Just click on the links!

Categories ,2011, ,Acrylic, ,Animistic Religion, ,Ashleigh Williams, ,Best Stand, ,Business Design Centre, ,ceramics, ,Chandelier, ,Contemporary Craft, ,craft, ,crochet, ,Curious Beasties, ,Fine Art, ,Hereford College of Arts, ,Hollie Anderson, ,Jellyfish, ,Laura Mathews, ,Laura Matthews, ,LED lights, ,Mirrors, ,Nadine Spencer, ,New Designers, ,Nottingham Trent University, ,Rats, ,recycled, ,Sarah Bevan, ,Toft Laski, ,Totems, ,Upcycled, ,Victoria Midgley

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