In 2009 the jewellery designer Camille Miceli at Dior arrived which signalled a new, more playful approach to pearls. And in addition to that the rise in popularity of face-framing accessories led by Instagram and fashion brands like Gucci and Céline, as well as independent designers Sophie Bille Brahe, Delfina Delettrez and Gaia Repossi, and all of you have the perfect backdrop for the resurgence of the pearl.
Julie Nielsdotter
One of the youngest designers championed by online store The Jewellery Room, Julie Nielsdotter launched her eponymous brand in 2015 via Instagram. Since then, she has enchanted a growing number of followers with her pastel pearl creations, like Danish designer Stine Goya, who was so taken with Nielsdotter’s jewellery she featured it in her Spring/Summer 2018 runway show.
Mateo
After five years designing jewellery for men, in 2014 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist Matthew ‘Mateo’ Harris launched his first collection for women. An ode to modern art, his earring designs feature cultured pearls suspended on Calder-inspired mobiles, while others seemingly float inside diamond-encrusted orbits – a direct reference to Wassily Kandinsky’s Floating painting. “We want to make jewellery that women can really, truly wear and pair with their wardrobe every single day,” says the designer.
Pernille Lauridsen
The Copenhagen-based designer, who set up her eponymous label in 2013, has used pink freshwater pearls as diamonds, setting one on the top of her Portia ring just where a solitaire would be, and created miniature orbiting systems featuring two round pearls of different dimensions, connected by a thin gold bar. With other pieces, Lauridsen has created an enticing underwater fairytale universe. Combining Keshi, South Sea and baroque pearls with colourful gemstones, her Waves earrings are all set on undulating silver and gold stems that move as the wearer walks.
Lia Di Gregorio
Lia Di Gregorio was initially taken by pearls for their clean, spherical shape and neutral colour. “I was influenced by what was happening in fashion at the time, by that wave of conceptualism. It was instinctive for me to use a precious object that I viewed as a solid shape—the pearl—and overturn its [usual] position.” The designer personally creates all the prototypes and closely follows the work of her Milanese artisans. “It’s an old-style operation. It’s tiring and requires time, but the beauty is that it allows me to have this kind of attention to detail.”
Mizuki
Goltz is known for her unusual pairings pearls and leather, she’s discovered, make excellent bedfellows and experimentation pearls in her designs don’t stand alone as they usually do, instead, she modifies them with gold lacquer and diamond embellishments. She has also found innovative ways of wearing them her ear cuff design, for example, wedges a pearl in the outer ear.
