This season I had the pleasure to be invited to the Swarovski New York showroom for a presentation of their new Spring 2017 collection. The New York team of Swarovski works with select designers directly, introducing them the new shapes, colors and innovations, and I was fortunate to become one of them. It was a fascinating, informative and very inspirational experience for me as a bridal designer. I love working with embroidered crystals and other beaded textures and I have done it on many on my designs!
Among many things, I was really taken by one of their inspiration stories called “AIR “, as I believe it translates to bridal very well.“A breath of air, central to our very existence, remains a potent symbol of calm for all those wishing to retreat from the pressure of daily life."
One of their last innovations which, stood out for me, was their Crystal Fabric. It is just what it sounded – fabric made of crystals. As such, it can be used for a small section on a garment or applied all over. It comes as a sheet of crystals that can be cut into any shape and then heat-transferred on any material.
I also fell in love with the Kaputt crystal collection, which was the result of astonishing teamwork by one of my favorite designers and a source of inspiration, Jean Paul Gaultier and the Swarovski team. Their story began when Jean Paul Gaultier was struck by the perfection of Swarovski’s crystal assortment, and felt that the only way to add his touch and make something new, was to introduce an element of imperfection. His solution was designing a crystal cut which consisted of six variants that riff on irregular forms of pendants- square shapes and round stones in rich, shimmering metallic colors – a striking technological innovation that is simultaneously perfect and imperfect. Playing on the theme of “perfect imperfection”, it was aptly named “Kaputt”(German for “broken”). I absolutely love this concept and the shapes!
Another favorite of mine was the Crystal Leatherette-it. It is faux-leather that could be custom designed to have a crystal motif embossed on it. It really gave me some cool ideas for making a leather jacket that could be worn over a wedding gown.
Being able to work with the Swarovski’s team directly has opened a world of possibilities and ideas for me, and I couldn’t wait to share this with you. I hope it was as inspiring and exciting for you as it has been for me. I would love to hear about your ideas and inspiration...