Boys In Jewels - Part 1

Photo: The Sartorialist

Photo: Etienne Tordoir, courtesy of Raf Simons

I came across the top photo a while back on The Sartorialist's blog. It reminded me of a photo that appears in my book – of Atelier 11's ss04 jewellery for Raf Simons – and I thought that when I eventually started a blog of my own I'd like to post the two together. So here they are.

Atelier 11

Atelier 11's jewellery set for the book launch at Colette

• Atelier 11 is Flor Janssens and Ludovik Colpaert. They are Belgian.

• One of their signature techniques is powdercoating, which is used to paint cars.

• They are artistic manufacturers of Raf Simons Jewelry.

• Atelier 11 say: 'We look for solutions that are not meant for jewellery. We look for crazy ways to make crazy things.’

Fashion Jewellery: Catwalk and Couture

Call me lazy, but for reasons that will be revealed, time is of the essence. Putting my considerable talent for procrastination to good use, I've left it to the last minute to master the art of blogging and get this thing up and running as the undisputed online authority on all things jewellery. Yep, in precisely 1 hour I'll be emailing lots of influential people about a book I've written, and a little launch do I'm having next week, so for this reason – and this reason only – I'm committing the cardinal journalism sin and re-hashing a press release. Even worse - I'm re-hashing a press release I probably helped write, about myself.

Fashion Jewellery is created with the catwalk and couture in mind, and is characterized by its creativity and originality. It is arguably the most exciting field in fashion today.

Arranged by designer, this is the first book to showcase contemporary catwalk and couture jewellery, profiling 33 international fashion jewellers who combine traditional techniques and ultra-modern methods to create this new style of jewellery.

The book features exclusive interviews, never-seen-before sketches and specially commissioned photography. Collaborations with leading fashion designers and brands such as Lanvin, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Comme des Garçons, as well as collections for directional fashion stores such as Colette and 10 Corso Como are all discussed.

Adams believes that the allure of fashion jewellery is the endless scope for re-invention and its applicability to different forms. The sheer range of materials, interpretations, philosophies and – importantly – humour, also make it endlessly fresh and exciting. Showcasing skilled craftsmanship and an often limited-edition approach fashion jewellery harnesses the spirit of couture for the 21st century.

Ahem. Here's some spreads to lighten things up.


Photo: Harold David, Jewellery: Michelle Jank


Photo: Mark Borthwick, Jewellery: Bless


Photos: Florian, Jewellery: Florian


Jewellery: Atelier 11 for AF Vandevorst