With the likes of Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Helena Christensen wearing her experimental designs, young jewellery designer Imogen Belfield’s 2012 looks set to be riveting, says Adela Cechova.
London Fashion Week is without exception the best place to discover new up and coming designers, and that’s exactly where I met Imogen Belfield a couple of seasons ago. I knew straight away her jewellery had a firm place in fashion’s future. Despite the fact her label (also her namesake) is still very young, she’s already won a number of prestigious awards, including the Bright Young Gem Award in September 2011. She’s also been showing at London and Paris Fashion Weeks with Vauxhall Fashion Scout, gaining sought-after new stockists which include Selfridges and Young British Designers.
Belfield and Inspiration
Many hours of creativity have been invested in Belfield’s hand crafted pieces and the jewellery designer has experimented with porcelain, gemstones, metals, dyes and glaze. She’s also made casts from paper, plastics and even fruits. She aims to create work that is at once beautiful and challenging; modern yet classic; bold yet subtle. Inspiration comes from her surroundings, mostly from nature and architecture. She adores the work of Zaha Hadid and Anish Kapoor and also spends hours at a time at the Natural History Museum, studying all the fossils, natural minerals and rock formations displayed there.
If she had to choose the piece she most loves, Belfield would go for the ‘Ferero Ring’. This is a statement piece that covers almost the entire finger, yet retains some functionality and wearability. Belfield loves the versatility of the piece in particular and it can also be slung onto a chunky chain and worn as a necklace.
Belfield has enjoyed a more than healthy string of coverage and celebrity endorsement in her career to date. Most recently, her jewellery appeared in December’s edition of Harper’s Bazaar and in the latest Duran Duran ‘Girl Panic’ music video. Simply to see her jewellery being worn, loved and enjoyed is the best feeling ever for Belfield. She’s also spotted a particular type of woman who likes to wear her designs: “A woman who may wish to make a statement, to wear a piece that could express the bold, artistic or flamboyant side to their personality. Most recently Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Helena Christensen have all been photographed wearing my jewellery. Men also wear my pieces, including our range of cufflinks and chunky pendants on chains.”
To 2012 and Beyond for Imogen Belfield
When asked what she’d do other than designing jewellery, which she can’t imagine, Belfield says she’d like to do more travelling, visiting her brother in New Zealand and family in Australia. But don’t expect her to slow down any time soon. For 2012 she’s already very excited about her new AW collection and moving into her studio at the brand new Goldsmiths’ Centre, which looks set to become the new hub for those in the UK’s jewellery trade.
There’s no doubt that Belfield’s designs and prestige will continue to go from strength to strength. Her statement experimental pieces in particular make Belfield’s work highly covetable: delicate porcelain fragments enrobed in the textured metals of gilded bronze, silver, steel and gold, all taking on an organic twist. Her rings or pendants will take a proud place in your jewellery collection and I can guarantee you will be returning to them again and again – this year and beyond.
