We’re big fans of self-starting students – after all, for most of us ‘studying’ is simply an excuse to live on loaned money, shop and socialise without fear of admonition and, when the bell tolls, cram for exams that you should have started revising for months ago. Then there are those rare breeds of student for whom creativity is a constant – and Holly Paxton is one of the latter.
Having studied painting at Camberwell College of Arts and now, elbow-deep in the fine art of Jewellery Design at Central Saint Martins, the London native, and her boyfriend, Michael Hatched, have been ploughing their passion for quirky jewellery into a money-making enterprise for years. In 2006, the pair even supplied bespoke pieces to a whole shebang of glam guests at the UK Music Hall of Fame – but while we’re digging the cool quotient of lucky recipients Prince, Beyoncé and James Brown, we’re even more head-over-heels with the pretty pendants and trinkets themselves.
Every piece is painstakingly drawn onto plastic then resin-coated to seal the colour and protect it. This isn’t a cookie-cutter collection – a closer peek reveals the extent of the pair’s perfectionist eyes and pleasing dexterity. Every piece is, essentially, a one-off with a small catalogue of previous designs, which can be reordered. For those who prefer the precious over the plastic, there are also luxury silver-backed and diamond-studded pieces, finished with a quality silver chain and bound up in a ribbon-tied box. Then there’s the bespoke option – which (hint hint) would make a far more glamorous gift than a bouquet of wilting petrol station carnations and half-melted box of Milk Tray.
Of course, with a name like Eat Your Feet, there’s bound to be a twist. It comes in the form the designers’ inspiration and the delightful sense of humour that pervades so many of their pieces. Our favourite? A necklace emblazoned with the face of the portly tyrant Henry VIII with a pair of his wife’s heads as earrings to match. Smart and funny enough to make us lose our heads – but lucky for us, with nothing but laughter.
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