New ‘Talents’ to Showcase Designs at Tendence

Twenty-two up-and-coming designers, young entrepreneurs, and students demonstrate that there are other ways of doing things and new paths to explore in matters of jewelry design.

As part of Tendence Autumn + Winter, July 4-8, these designers will be presenting jewelry which breaks with convention and tradition. The promotional program “Talents,” has established itself as a career springboard for young designers worldwide; it is organized within the framework of the consumer-goods fairs Ambiente and Tendence and brings these creative young people into contact with industry, wholesalers and retailers.

They will be presenting their jewelry and accessory designs in their own special area in Hall 6.0, of the Messe Frankfurt Exhibition Centre. Many former entries have taken a decisive step into the industry as a result of Messe Frankfurt’s promotional program.

A visit to the Talents area is not only a trip into the future of design, it is also a journey round the world. These young designers will be coming to Frankfurt and the river Main from nine different countries—including the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Norway, Hong-Kong, and Australia.

One of the new talents, Kerstin Klix has created an innovative textile-cum-plastic material for her jewelry items, which transforms stiff, rigid chains, and rings into elastic, flexible, and colorful works of art. The robust nature of the material guarantees that the jewelry is every bit as durable as items fashioned from traditional materials.

“Each piece is unique in color and shape,” Klix said. “Whilst an individual shape can be extensively reproduced, many moments in the manufacturing process are subject to chance and are not susceptible to external influence, so that no two pieces of jewelry are exactly identical.”

The pieces of jewelry by Insa Grotefendt are a combination of ultra-pure gold or silver and plastic. These creations are imperceptibly light. The pendants in her collection are made of printed plastic, underlaid with silver, which sets off the printed image. This way, personal photographs and pictures are turned into items of jewelry.

Katrin Rohde works with tagua nuts—the seeds of the South African ivory-nut palm—in combination with latex, to create pieces that draw their inspiration from the jewelry of native people. Sustainability plays an important part in the creative process: the tropical nuts are fairly traded and grown in sustainable forests.

“The starting point for each item is the individual shape of the tagua nut which is predetermined by nature and which I include in the design and manufacturing process,” Rohde said.

Folding techniques lie at the basis of the works of Susanna Loew, which form the shape, structure, surface, method of manufacture, and conceptual world of the jewelry pieces. Pure gold or pure silver are worked until they are paper-thin and as soft and fluid as fabric. In this way, material that is originally hard and tough can be folded at will, just using one’s hands.

“On my journey through this world of metal folding, I have not only discovered many exciting shapes and forms, I have also discovered a wholly new surface technology–micro-folding. This makes it possible to give pure gold and pure silver detailed folds and organic structures,” Loew said.

German native Kerstin Kavalirek of Idar-Oberstein, bases her collection on the combination of crochet work and modern jewelry manufacturing technology. The shape of each piece is crocheted in thread, then cast in precious metal; it emulates the feel of traditional jewelry, which uses diamonds or precious and semi-precious stones.

“The light, textile-like visual effect contrasts sharply with the metallic weight of the feel – creating unusual pieces of jewelry with a high degree of emotive charge,” Kavalirek said.

Tanja Friedrichs has created a piece of jewelry from 67 beads and a tightly stretched elastic band. It can be worn as an elegant choker, a simple necklace, an unobtrusive string of beads, or a playful hip belt. Because of the variety and robustness of the beads, the string can be looped and tied again and again in new ways and is thus suitable as an accessory for jeans, a light summer outfit or more formal evening wear.

Spanish designer Monica Ibarrola and Belgian designer Miriam D’Haene have come up with a creative mix of hat and tiara. In every-day life, the fashionable and trend-conscious are trusting to this striking retro-chic accessory and on formal occasions, such as weddings, they can indulge themselves by wearing something really characterful on their heads.

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