Japanese animism meets jewellery in Harumi Klossowska de Rola’s third capsule collection for Goossens. Bracelets, rings and earrings are imbued with elegant lifelike forms for wearable artworks that become golden insects fluttering on earlobes or perching in the hair.
Klossowska de Rola draws on magical design codes for the pieces, which appear as if from an enchanted pond. This jewellery plays on the fantastical forms of the dragonfly and Kallima inachus (or orange oak leaf) butterfly, whose leaf-like silhouette marks the intertwining of the animal and natural worlds.
For Klossowska de Rola, it was a fine line between representation and realism. ‘I start from the idea of the jewel as an object. Whether worn or not, I like it to have its own existence. I work with wax, so it was challenging because I wanted to give some details – as on the butterflies – but yet didn’t want to be too realistic. The challenge with the dragonflies was that I didn’t want them to be similar to the style of the 1920s.’
The limited-edition jewellery, in metal with a gold finish, can be worn in multiple ways, with the dragonfly able to rest on the ear or on a jacket lapel. In other pieces, it spreads its wings on a finger or sits in the hollow of the neck. The butterfly can make an elegant piece of hair jewellery, ring or earrings, with an oversized pendant making a chic play on proportions.
‘I would say that what I like the most is when you see irregularities, imperfection, wabi-sabi,’ adds Klossowska de Rola. ‘I love all insects, all butterflies. Because they’re inspired by nature, there’s something alive about them that’s rather lucky.’ §
