Images throughout courtesy of ALIENINA
When you first hear suggestions of jewellery being made from household items as obscure as metal washers, here it may not be quite what you would consider wearing. However, explore the world of ‘Alienina’ and you might just change your mind – completely. Successfully managing to incorporate items normally considered as ‘rubbish’ in her designs, Eliana delves into the wonderful world of sartorial desire with each piece being wholly ‘one-of-a-kind’.
As you peruse the website you begin to see just how extraordinary and innovative her designs really are, often featuring second-hand and reclaimed materials, stepping much further than the usual ‘recycled’ jewellery we see online.
Managing to amalgamate fashion with everything from bungee cord to gas pipe is no easy feat, but Eliana pulls it off with seeming ease! The designer herself describes her collection as ‘an exclusive mix and match of design, fashion, art and madness’ – a portrayal that we think fits perfectly. Even the name of the brand itself is fitting to the objects used – ‘Alienina’. They are items that are just that, ‘alien’ to the fashion world in most cases. They have been lost, found, and given new lease of life through beautiful textile techniques.
With an organic feel to the pieces, ‘Alienina’ goes back to the more traditional textiles processes – with a lot of the designs based around knitting. Most likely you will be drawn to how textural the pieces are thanks to their components – from shiny and plastic, to smooth and pearly. The knotting effects also present in most of the accessories add to this ‘magpie effect’ by bending and manipulating their materials to present final surfaces and shapes that are very different to those originally associated with the objects.
Through this ‘Alienina’ hopes to give what was once ‘rubbish’ a sense of sustainability – a key concept for the brand, and something that is close to both the heart of Amelia’s Magazine and myself. Items are not just used once and then thrown away; they can be used again and again – becoming transformed. The brand itself suggests the inspiration for the work is about ‘giving everyday objects that we don’t usually care about, an extra life’. The hope is to inspire people to think about what they consider to be waste, and to ideally believe it can be reused in beautiful and innovative ways.
‘Alienina’ aim to ‘mix creativity and manual ability’, and I believe this is just what they do. The outcome is something entirely original, fascinating, and one of my favourite things – recycled. The jewellery collection is entirely its own – eye-catching, and wonderfully attractive considering its original state.
I challenge you to create jewellery made from materials such as rolling shutter straps, metal washers and old sofa trim, and make them as exquisite as the ‘Alienina’ collection. The collection is distributed in galleries and stores throughout Europe, including London, as well as in the US. With an online store soon to be available sit back and watch ‘Alienina’ go from strength to strength.
Categories ,ALIENINA, ,Camilla Sampson, ,eco jewellery
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