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Laura Finkelstein

Vicenza's Jungle Fever
January 19, 2007

I’ve just returned from my first trip to VicenzaOro, Italy’s biggest jewelry trade fair. My first impression as a newcomer? Bellissima! The Italians just get it right. When I wasn’t attending talks in which jewelry leaders extolled the design and quality for which the country is known, I was surveying the newest collections, whose innovative themes and shapes set the latest tone for jewelry in the U.S. and around the world.

The jungle inspires this season’s trends. Black and white merged with brown stones and pink gold for an African feel, never more beautifully than in Valente’s long chain necklace with smoky quartz.

Bejeweled creatures crawled through a multitude of collections, from Damiani’s white gold snake line to D.A.D.A.’s colored stone frog rings. Other jungle standouts: an ethnic disk necklace from Garavelli and wild, unhinged chains (calling to mind a leaf cover) from Songa.

No surprise that Roberto Coin, one of the Italian’s finest and most successful here at home, embraced the trend and put his signature spin on it; virtually every piece in his new collection incorporates jungle colors and shapes, and many feature animal print patterns.

Unfortunately, I have no images to post yet; I got so press kit happy I had to mail the huge package home- to arrive in a few days. But look for more Vicenza notes (and pictures) in next week’s JCKstyle e-newsletter and JCK’s upcoming show roundup.

Posted by Laura Finkelstein on January 19, 2007 | Comments (4)

January 19, 2007
In response to: Vicenza's Jungle Fever
Jennifer Heebner commented:

These jungle and African themes are also consistent with what's coming out of Brazil, according to an article in Winter Luxury about Brazilian jewelry trends. Can't wait to see the pics of all that beautiful jewelry from Italy!

January 22, 2007
In response to: Vicenza's Jungle Fever
UTeezzie commented:

Maybe this latest design should be called "TarJanian Bling"

January 23, 2007
In response to: Vicenza's Jungle Fever
R Parisi commented:

Jungle/animal themes and prints are the current trend, as they have been at times in the past...but in between, they are often considered tacky and cheap looking. How does the average person know from one fashion season to another whether their jungle gems will draw looks of admiration or amusement?

January 24, 2007
In response to: Vicenza's Jungle Fever
Laura Finkelstein commented:

Thanks for asking R, it’s a very good question. I can offer two pieces of advice. First, jungle (and most trends) can be interpreted in many ways (i.e. even just color combinations), and doesn’t have to mean the explicit, sometimes-tacky animal patterns I think you are imagining. Second, while considering the trend, also consider your own taste and weight it equally if not more; if you love something, it won’t matter (or, will matter less) what others think.