okay so everyone has a few go-to stories they like to tell after they’ve been on a trip somewhere, and probably my favourite one from NYC is meeting Erin Considine on the subway on our first day in New York. Anton and i were waiting in a station somewhere in Manhattan, i forget where, we had just been out and about all day after a long flight and we were bushed and kind of in a daze. so i notice this stylish girl in a big hat walk through the turnstile and the next moment she turns to us and says, “excuse me…” i couldn’t believe it when she introduced herself, as i am of course familiar with her work and we happen to follow each other on twitter. what are the odds that i would run into someone that i kinda-sorta-know on our first day in a city full of millions of people? so as you can well imagine, i just love telling this story.
anyway, Erin lives in Brooklyn and she makes beautiful jewellery with a focus on metalwork and natural fibers. she just sent me a preview of her SS 2014 collection which comes out in March next year. you can shop her previous collections at her website. i will not hesitate to say that i would gladly wear any of these beautiful pieces, especially the Caril Burst Cuff (seen in the last spread) and those wonderful braided rope + brass mesh chain necklaces.
By marrying two such diverse materials, Erin is able to continuously experiment with technique and form. Her natural-dye baths make use of ingredients like madder root, logwood, and onion skin. She tests new textile construction methods with every collection, incorporating weaving, crocheting, and the Japanese braiding style of Kumihimo into an ever-expanding roster of creation tools. Her metal forms are mined from the dregs of industrialism – whether it by repurposing dead-stock jewelry findings or sculpting models inspired by the antique metier. Her commitment to sustainability ensures that almost every step of the production process is completed by hand in New York, primarily by Erin herself.
photography: Shawn Brackbill. model: Mari Giudicelli. clothing: Where I was From.