From Fashion.FM
The List From Paris
The Czarina Collection:
Gaia Repossi and Eugènie Niarchos have launched Czarina, an original jewellery collection inspired at the Russian-Orthodox icons, including classical items mixed with "dè cale" elements and bit of rock and roll style.
The collection features and Arab style,that plays with design and wraps the skin in a refined and thin interlacement of golden elements.
Gold is enriched with diamond, drawing on the skin ancient Byzantine religious symbols.
A contemporary aesthetic that combines sacred suggestions and the passion for profanation.
What was the Czarina collection inspired by?
Actually we wanted to create a vintage-ring suitable for young girls...the original idea was to find somenthing like an arab-style ancient item, that could be bought in an odd market... what we had in mind was an Orthodox queen... Eugenie wears strange cross-shaped jewels,and I was inspired by the Armenian crosses, as a result of my archaeology studies..I can say that the project was carried out as a blend of all these elements.
And how the inspiration turned into design?
Everything began with the cross-motif ring, and the rest came later: bracelets, the pendant and so on. The most important design work was for the ring; other items of the collection reflect the same ideas. Actually, the bracelet has the same motif as the ring...we wanted it to cover the arm, in the same way as the ring covers the finger.
Did you intend to create something new, for an unconventional audience?
Exactly. The target was fashionable and the product is suspended between jewellery and trinkets.Every woman can afford to get at least one of it in a lifetime. The ring is particularly affordable.
You have also developed the idea of a jewel that adheres to the skin, with a gold manufacturing that recalls the gold interlacement.
Yes, some say it´s like a tattoo.. both the ring and the bracelet are very long, and there´s a sort of elegance in an object that does not carry particular stones..what we wanted to do is to create symmetries, proportions and to play with design.
Is that your first experience with jewellery?
Actually it´s my first practical experience, even though I´ve been handling with jewels ever since I was a child, I have also travelled many times to India for the stones.. Furthermore, my father has a passion for jewellery, and consequently everything came spontaneously. With reference to this project, I worked a lot in oder to learn more about design and technique... I really wish imagination was the only method..but not all of our ideas are feasible. For example, we have some price restrictions, as we only use an expensive European craft labour: as a result, we are forced to simplify the process, in order to reduce costs and stay on a "young" marketplace.
But this has nothing to do with art..right? You were born in a family of jewellers. Did that have an influence on your decisions?
I´ve never thought to be a jeweller... actually I wish I was a painter, I have my atelier and I keep on painting and studying. Then, gradually, my father involved me in his activity, and this world became with time a part of me. Later I began to work with Eugenie, she is whimsical and really has a particular taste. This is how it started. Then it became a real passion for both of us: Eugenie also studies gemmology..
What is you position with reference to the Jewellery´s classical tradition?
Of course it´s a reinterpretation of a very classical ring. It´s small and not very expensive.We tried to provide it with an ancient look,but it´s a very wearable object. We have also produced some different versions, with black diamonds, according to our customers´tastes.
What can you tell us about stones and materials?
It was also a question of costs, we had to do something basic and this is the reason why we used gold - black, white, pink and yellow - enriched with stones. Pink-cut diamonds are less expensive and show an ancient and vintage look. ..and what about the associations?
We were guided by a sort of visual harmony. In addition, we realised some particular objects, like the black-gold ring with pink diamonds. Are you planning to continue in your activity?
Yes, we are already working at the next collection, to be completed within March. Everything is handmade, and the production-rocess is slow... We have produced a summer line, available from march. It is a satinized gold line, the material is very rough. These jewels are 50% cheaper and more unrefined.
Would you define this experience as an amusing one?
It was a very intense experience, with unexpected results...fashion, for example. It was funny, but we were under pressure because of the press.
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Finally her own thread!!
