Questions for Aesa Jewelry

Following on the last post about Randi Mates, jewelry designer in Brooklyn, NY. I asked Randi a couple of questions about her background and the lastest collection...also a few images to tempt you further.

BD: Did you go to school to learn jewelry design and if so, what were some starting points for developing you style?
RM: I studied ancient greek and roman fabrication techniques at the Jewelry Arts Institute on the Upper West Side in Manhattan. It was a very esoteric scene with older women who have been doing this for years, making and restoring antique jewelry,and when I say antique I mean from antiquity, not within the last twenty years. When I was there you are given pure grains of metal [gold/silver] and you make your own alloys, sheet and wire and then make the jewels from that. It's very formal, very few modern tools... no pre-made components, the emphasis is on structure and classical design... This was an exciting place to learn, but it's difficult to forge a business from this method.

BD: Tell me a few things about the new collection?
RM: the newest collection that you saw on our visit is called the herkimer collection: The images here are of this collection: they are based on herkimer diamond forms. herkimer diamonds are quartz with two terminations [each end of the piece comes to a point] and come from a few mines in upstate New York. They were first found by colonists in the late 18th century and there is a great deal of lore surrounding their early sales. A multitude of stories suggest that they were sold by prospectors to unwitting consumers in the region as real diamonds during the civil war. As a historian, I like this story and and as a designer, I love the forms. I also was attracted to the fact that creating pieces that are riffs on their forms gave me an opportunity to play with the idea of 'diamonds' without using real diamonds. Like most people designing today, it feels important and necessary to address the environmental and ethical use of materials in whatever way you can when you can, while still trying to make something that looks kick-ass! The real diamonds used in the pieces, some of the pieces have small paved stones, are going to be recycled diamonds because it also helps situate the pieces in another historical context and if nothing else, it is fun to address these issues because it makes the pieces richer to me.

There is also a new collection of engraved pieces taken from late medieval alchemical texts...(images also attached).
All of the images [minus the palmistry hand] are taken from late medieval
alchemical texts. They are all indicative of the moment of enlightment. The rose bush image shows a rose bush growing from a stem of thorns; it is
supposed to represent the flower that comes from the thorns... the beauty
that is the blossom of hard work and trials..

The heart with radiating energy is supposed to be the clear heart after it
has been purified by enlightenment...

The eye is an image that represents the moment of seeing god; I believe it
says that by wearing this image the person will have the moment of to come into seeing, asking the wearere/viewer to see the 'truth'

The dragon eating it's own tail is actually a snake, or a variation on the
ourobourous. it represents regeneration.

The palmistry hand is taken from a 19th century palmistry text and shows the
sigficant palmistry points...

BD: I love the fact that you are using recycled diamonds. Thanks for all this information, Randi. This is fantastic.

Interview with Barbara Kurdziel, Plagg Paris

This is the first in a series of interviews I hope to do with designers, boutique owners and other interesting characters here in Paris or elsewhere around the globe.

Barbara Kurdziel at Plagg is a real inspiration for me and my future fantasies of opening up my own space. After my initial visit with this store as I mentioned before, I became semi-obsessed with tracking other designers from Scandinavia. On Friday of last week we met in her boutique and had a fun and fruitful dialogue about the boutique and her vision.

Deux Frontières: When did you open the boutique?
Barbara Kurdziel: August 2006-- so it’s been a year and a half already.

DF: Are all of the designers in the boutique Scandinavian?
BK: Yes. They come from Denmark, Sweden and Finland, and there is a Japanese and Norweigan design team who live in London.

DF: How did you get interested in Scandinavian fashion and design and what is it that particularly attracts you to it?
BK: Although I am Polish by birth my parents moved to Sweden when I was a child. I grew up in the city of Malmö and so the influence of Scandinavian culture and design has always been a part of my life. I have friends who are designers and I like the style of Scandinavia so it was a natural choice to focus on this for the boutique. Paris has fantastic style with a culture very steeped in fashion, but I found that a lot of the stores had a similar look. I felt that there would be a need and an interest in presenting something new and a bit different. Of course there are risks involved with this and it takes time for some people to get familiar and comfortable with some of the designers that I show.

DF: Tell me how you ended up in Paris.
BK: I had traveled a lot in France and studied in Grenoble for a time. I moved to Paris about eight years ago and took a job with H&M but after a awhile I decided to leave and start the boutique. I love Paris and consider this to be home now though I regularly go back to Sweden to visit for family and work.

DF: In your opinion, do you think there is a particular style or look with Scandinavian fashion design?
BK: Yes, I do. I think there is a different approach to fashion there, part of which is rooted in the climate and land. It is a sensible and functional approach combined with an eccentric, creative spirit. I think there is maybe more of an open spirit there. It is not too serious. The history of design, art, and fashion is more recent and fresh and so there are less pressures, traditions and references, which allows a freedom in which designers can create.

DF: In my opinion you work like an art curator here. There is a very creative sensibility to the designers you have selected and they way things work together. Do you rotate some designers while continuing to work with others long term? Tell me about some of the designers on view here now.
BK: Yes. There are some designers I have worked with since the beginning and will continue to work with, such as Ivana Helsinki and Best Behavior. Ivana Helsinki is Finnish (lives in Helsinki), and works both as a fashion designer, visual artist and performer. She has been working for many years but continues to produce on a smaller scale, which she seems to prefer. There is a strong visual and artistic influence which comes across in her designs. Best Behavior are from Denmark. They are a growing company and I am working as their agent here in Paris to get them in other boutiques. Another longer-term designer I plan to work with is Swedish designer Camilla Norback whose label, ecoluxury, combines just that: a sensible approach to materials and process of fabrication with sophisticated, elegant designs. Some other designers I have in stock for the Autumn/Winter 2007 line include Izaak (Denmark), Eluise (Denmark), Dagmar (Sweden), and Gudrun & Gudrun from the Faroe Islands (see earlier blog).

DF: Where/how do you do your research and how do you come to a decision to present someone’s line in the boutique?
BK: Because I work basically seven days of the week right now it is difficult to get out and see things, but I attend some fashion shows when I can. I make lots of store and designer/atelier visits when I am traveling in Sweden and Denmark-particularly Denmark which has a very strong fashion scene right now. My friends who are still living in Scandinavia will send me information and tell me about people to look out for. I like to have relationships with the designers I work with. Also of course I think of my clients- what they might be interested in and what their needs are and then I will make decisions based on this.

DF: For the boutique, was it not even a question to seek out a space in the Marais? And would you consider doing a boutique online?

BK: It wasn’t only the Marais where I was interested in having a boutique. I really considered the area of Canal St. Martin in the 10th, but this beautiful space was available (amazing garden included), and the foot traffic and attention towards rue Charlot confirmed the choice to settle here. As for an online boutique, perhaps in the future but no plans as yet.

For more information submit a comment or see these links below:
www.plagg.com
www.ivanahelsinki.com
www.camillanorrback.com
www.eluise.dk
www.izaak.dk
www.bestbehavior.dk
www.houseofdagmar.se