When Ada Zanditon, the designer at the cutting-edge of London eco-couture, announced a collaboration with Ingle & Rhode, the British ethical jeweler, it deserved a tweet or a Facebook news …
But when the fruit of this partnership – a magnificent 18 carat fair gold pendant – is the subject of an inspired video and is being given away through a contest on Vogue UK’s website – it definitely deserved a proper post!
Invited by Ingle & Rhode to imagine a unique one-off piece of jewellery to celebrate the arrival in the UK of the first batch of certified fair gold (see our post on the topic here), Ada Zanditon didn’t hesitate for long:
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“Fairtrade is an incredibly important issue to me as it is part of my brand philosophy and approach. I believe in creating beautiful, desirable pieces that respect the balance between people, planet and business”, the young designer told Vogue UK.
It’s worthwhile noting that Ada isn’t at her first try in jewellery-making … She recently imagined in partnership with the artist and designer Luca Romanyi a line of modern and original jewels, made from recycled plastic and decorated porcelain tiles.
Jewellery made from recycled plastic and porcelain tiles from the Spring-Summer 2011 collection
“After this first experience, I’m excited about designing in gold because it gives me as a fashion designer the opportunity to use a really beautiful and precious material that I haven’t used before!”
What we like here is the combination between the the bespoke British jeweler’s ethical values and the elegant and bold lines that we see in the young designer’s ready-to-wear collections (revealed to the fashion world during Estethica, London Fashion Week’s green runway initiative).
As a matter of fact, it’s from her collection “The Cryoflux “, which pays tribute in Antarctica, that Ada drew her inspiration.
Design from "The Cryoflux" collection (Photo: Vogue UK)
No doubt… the necklace’s sleek and sophisticated shape truly looks like… an iceberg!
“The brief was to design a piece of jewellery that had a very positive, forward-looking message. So I chose to design a very bold, geometric, futuristic shape. And to me, that symbolizes a bright new future for the people producing fair trade gold.”
THE necklace!
Mission accomplished, don’t you think?!
And before you rush to Vogue UK’s website to enter the contest, we invite you to watch the short movie in which you’ll discover the entire creative process: from experimenting with paper, origami-style, to the various stages of jewellery-making, up until the photo shoot of the pendant… we recommend that you don’t miss a second of it:
Courtesy of Ingle and Rhode, Ada Danditon and Nicola Stoker
To enter the contest, visit Vogue UK’s website until May 4th, 2011 and answer the question about fair gold.
A small hint? You’ll find the answer in our article “Fairtrade & Fairmined certified gold launched for Valentine’s Day in the UK” …
Good luck!
Marie & Julie
