‘My jewellery is fun and glamorous, but there’s also something disturbing when you come into contact with the pieces,’ says French jeweller Hugo Kreit. ‘The shapes are in movement, the textures and finishes are dripping. I like to surprise, I look for the appeal in the subversive and the weird.’
Trained in industrial design, Kreit worked in the fashion show production industry for Hermès, Dior, Jacquemas and others before turning to jewellery design: ‘Both experiences showed me the incredible power of fashion shows, the art of fashion storytelling through collective performances, image crafting and dream making,’ he says.
His first collection, Tears, combines synthetic and natural material to create off-beat and fluid jewels which appear to take on a life of their own. ‘I use resins, polymers, aluminium, brass, liquid chrome but also fresh pearls, hematite, crystal and agate beads. I choose materials for their visual impact, and the way they feel. Everything is treated with the same importance.’
Ropes of hard and soft polymers and liquid chrome dotted with beads become necklaces and chokers which form fluid loops around the neck. Ear clips and hoops in vibrant colours snake round the whorls of the ear for sensual and surprising silhouettes. ‘Like art objects, jewels are linked to religion, beliefs, superstition but also seduction, pleasure and madness,’ adds Kreit. ‘Carats, grades and degrees set apart the precious and the cheap, the rare and the common. I am attracted by the shapes, processes and people that challenge these oppositions.’
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