Book Review: Fashion Jewellery by Maia Adams

Jewellery designers, academic researchers and sociologists agree that jewellery is a form of body adornment that speaks a language of its own.

This ornamental language has a peculiar beauty: it is internationally understood and doesn’t seem to know any kind of borders or barriers.

Borrowing from Punk, Pop Art or Baroque, be it vividly coloured, sculpturally minimalist, costumy, fetishist or romantic, jewellery contributes to create and reflect the wearer’s identity.

In the last few years the universal glossary of jewellery expanded thanks to the arrival on the scene of many new designers coming from very different backgrounds.

While some of them received a more traditional education and mainly focus on jewels, others work as stylists, photographers and product designers but, feeling limited concentrating on just one profession, burst onto the scene with eclectic accessory collections full of energy, dynamism and passion.

London-based freelance writer and editor Maia Adams, a regular contributor to many magazines, among them British Vogue, Elle, The Guardian and Wallpaper*, provides the best insight into the world of this new generation of jewellery designers in her book Fashion Jewellery: Catwalk and Couture (Laurence King - you can now keep updated with the art, fashion and design releases of this publishing house also through its its Facebook page).

Arranged in alphabetical order, the volume analyses the work of 33 contemporary designers and jewellery labels, from Alexis Bittar to Yoshiko Creation Paris, passing through Arielle de Pinto, Husam el Odeh and Natalia Brilli.

Adams explores through interviews also the more flamboyant work created by designers with a cult follow-up such as stylist Judy Blame, while also analysing the structure and construction of more conceptual collections such as Naomi Filmer’s and discovering the humour and philosophy behind creations like Florian’s.

The metaphors, symbolisms and hidden messages behind pieces inspired by fine art, film, sculpture, antique artefacts, archaeology, paintings or technological developments are unveiled together with the most disparate techniques employed by the designers, among them also needlepoint and taxidermy.

The 400 colour illustrations taken from catwalk shows, magazine photo shoots and lookbooks provide the readers with a visual journey through different materials, including ceramic, metal, lace, plastic, leather, fur, phone cables, rubber and Plexiglas.

While disturbing, grotesque, kitsch and poetically whimsical, the pieces featured in the volume are always thought-provoking. 

For some designers interviewed by Adams creating a piece is an act of poetry, for others is an exploration of contrasts in materials, colours and moods.

Yet the purpose of all of them is the same, making a bold, brave and daring statement through their work. This is also why many of the artists featured in this volume often created capsule collections or collaborated with famous designers such as Martin Margiela, Comme des Garçons, Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan. 

Adams' volume is a wonderful inspiration for everybody working in the fashion industry on a professional level, and a must for students who want to learn more about this subject or fashionistas with a penchant for jewellery and body adornment. 

"Accessories, and by extension jewellery, allow us to invent ourselves: they’re the icing on the cake. That’s why I always have been, and always will be drawn to them," states Judy Blame in the pages of the book. It will be extremely hard to disagree with the words of this British style icon once you enter the amazing world of Fashion Jewellery.

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