DISCOVERING PALLADIUM

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

In the middle of last year I got a call from my old friend Priyesh Shah; I've known Priy for as long as I have been a professional journalist. When I met him in 1995 I had just graduated from uni and he was fresh from Saint Martins and causing a London fashion storm as Antonio Berardi's business partner. While Tony designed his beautiful clothes, Priy was the more public face of the label. More recently Priyesh has become a brand consultant and one of his projects is a rather fabulous one - namely to build a world of wonder around Palladium, a precious metal from the platinum group and the most recent high value metal to be hallmarked in 2009. The metal, as you can see below, is lustrous and white. What you can't sense is something I have experienced first hand, which is how light and strong it is.  

I know that last nugget of information because I was lucky enough to be asked to assist in the pre-judging of a competition set by The International Palladium Board at Saint Martins School of Art last summer, with a second round of meetings and crits with the students early this year. Following that second round of discussion with the students on form, function, inspiration and idea the jewellery world  judges including jewellery editor Carol Woolton of Vogue and jeweller Stephen Webster rode in and chose the winner and runner-up, and in February the winning work was put on show at Rock Vault, the new jewellery showcase at London Fashion Week. Working with the students was utterly inspiring. 

Here are my favourite pieces, which include the neckpiece from Yuki, the winner and the ring from Vance the runner up.  Keep an eye on Palladium, with gold at such a premium, it has room to take hold of a slice of the precious market. To me it looks more futuristic than platiunum and white gold, which fits with the way fashion is going, and the latest designer to work with the metal is none other than Mr Modern himself, Hussein Chalayan.

Yuki Agriardi Koswara's winning Palladium piece "Essentia" 

Kate Sibley's brooch "Eye of the Storm": My favourite piece

Juanjuan Hu's sculptural neckpiece "Flying Lines"

Vance Ng Sze Wing "Flower Ring" took the runner up prize

Caroline Esmeraldo "Geometries" cuff

The International Palladium Board and Central Saint Martins’ collaboration is part of the ‘Palladium Visions’ campaign, which will see the International Palladium Board working with some of the world’s most visionary artists, designers and jewellers throughout 2012.

ADVENT DAY 23: THE BLACK SWAN COMETH

Posted by Melanie Rickey, Fashion Editor at Large

The Black Swan ring created by Boucheron

We are reaching the end of our Advent journey. Work at FEAL towers came to a halt at midday today, until 2012. I'm now at home in front of the fire wrapping presents, playing cheesy Christmas songs and putting away home made mince pies. My guess is you are or soon will be doing much the same. I love that Christmas seems to be the only time of the year when we all stop and take time to reflect on the year behind us, and the one ahead. The penultimate advent post celebrates the incredible beauty of Parisian fine jewellery. I'll leave the description to Boucheron...

Not surprisingly, the price is given on request. 

"In nature we never repeat the same motion. In captivity (office, gym, commute, sports), life is just repetitive stress injury. No randomness." 

Nassim N. Taleb, author of Black Swan, The Impact of the Highly Improbable

For today, I'll leave you with an astounding scene from Black Swan in which Natalie Portman demonstrates her awesome power as an actor.  Give that girl an Oscar!

DOMINIC JONES SCARES ME IN A GOOD WAY FOR LFW

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Alice Dellal and Dominic Jones

A year and a half ago up-and-coming British jeweller Dominic Jones was living in the notorious London squat known as "Squallyoaks" because he said "there was more drama there in one week than the omnibus of Hollyoaks". Then he came up with a jewellery range of high-end looking fierce pieces made using gold plate ten times thicker than the usual, but with an affordable heart. His idea was to create jewellery that his generation could afford and not just love from afar. I remember meeting him at a Dover Street Market party to launch Stephen Jones perfume, and being impressed by both his grey/blue hair (he is definitively ahead of the fashion curve), his endearing manner and his clear talent; he was wearing his own instantly covetable fang jewellery. He set up his business with funding from the punky model Alice Dellal, one of his best friends, and his first season saw his jewellery go global. Then Anna Wintour came knocking; then he got NewGen sponsorship.

Could he sustain the hype for his second collection? This is the all important question with any young designer, and having seen his new collection go from an idea he told me about over coffee in my Paris hotel last season, "I'm thinking about skulls," I can say he is moving steadily in the right direction! Here is an exclusive preview of his Autumn/Winter collection.

The "Vampire Bat Skull Heart Pendant" by Dominic Jones for AW10

The new collection is both beautiful and challenging inspired as it is by skulls, scorpions and beetles. "You would run a mile from these things in real life, they are pretty intimidating, but I hope I have made them desirable," says Dom. The model shown is 15 year old Daphne, who is represented by Union. The Dutch girl is already a hot property and has been modelling for just one month. She won't be allowed to walk for a catwalk show until she is 16.  The "Vampire Bat Skull Heart Pendant," was initially created by fusing two anatomically correct and to scale Vampire Bat skulls. We will bring the rest of the collection to you on Saturday.  Thanks for the preview Dom! Good luck (you won't need it). FEAL xxx

Image: by Aitken Jolly
Styling: Francesca Burns
Photo of Dominic and Alice from http://weblog.brownsfashion.com/