How did it all begin for you, when did you know you wanted to be a jewellery designer?

I started doing jewellery four or five years ago when a friend of mine gave me some pliers and beads, I like to collect a lot of jewellery, so I enjoyed making it too. Training wise, I started by doing some evening courses at the London College of Fashion, followed by an MA at the Metropolitan University.

How does your day job, dentistry, inform your work, does it play any part?

I think it’s helpful because we work with similar materials such as metal. Both jobs require quite a bit of handy work for things like casting, recent design work has involved rings and I’ve had to carve wax which is something that you sometimes do in dentistry. I think having a stable job allows you to be more creative and not to have to worry too much about if it is going to work and am I going to sell something, it eliminates the fear, mind you, there is always going to be fear!

Your collection describes influential themes such as ‘power, assertion, sexual liberation, distinctiveness and adventurousness’ what is the significance of this and how do you feel it comes across in your designs?

I think the ideas came from the research in my thesis originally. When I did my first presentation everyone was a bit skeptical because I showed some images of Manuel Albarran’s work, one of the designers who did the metal facemasks for Lady GaGa’s “Born This Way”. People felt they were very S&M and about fetishism, but I explained that I don’t want to make something that makes women seem weaker or something that the men would be in power of…I wanted to eliminate that side of the collection and make it more about elegance and power with elements of adventurousness. Someone wearing my pieces would be a person who wants to be seen, I think jewellery should definitely be worn to be seen. ‘Empowering the potential wearer’ is the intrinsic idea behind my work. In terms of design I wanted to focus on the arm, as it is traditionally associated with power like if you make a fist, then there’s the element of wearing something on your hand so that’s really what it was about.

What are your signature pieces?

Definitely the wrist pieces, the collection for my MA was mostly these, experimenting with different forms and grips around the hand. The latest collection is about developing those ideas; a signature piece that will go into the collection starts at the hand, goes up the forearm and through to the upper arm, though I am also contemplating doing some neck pieces now. My work is about creating clean lines, and outlining the body form, I wouldn’t want anything with too much decoration, my designs are simple.

What’s new for 2012? What are you working on now?

At the moment there is definitely some more development on the current collection for AW12 as it’s been confirmed I will be having an exhibition at Paris Fashion Week, which is very exciting! We are also exhibiting at Schmuck 2012 in Munich in March (German jewellery week), which is great. In terms of design, I would like to experiment more with 3D, especially through neck jewellery, maybe creating smaller pieces but more interesting physically.

Words: Emily Cater

Maria Piana

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Tell me about your individual backgrounds, how did you meet and form the brand?

We met whilst interning at Alexander McQueen after graduating in 2008. After working with various other designers over a period of two years we decided to form our own label after feeling frustrated at the current work climate.

What is it like being part of Fashion East and how has it helped the label develop?

It was the first real step on the ladder for us. When we first began, we set ourselves goals and aspirations and this was at the forefront of these entirely. Being associated with Fashion East has opened many doors for us – not just creatively, but leading onto other schemes such as the CFE, London Show Rooms and even putting ourselves in a better position to work with collaborations and sponsorships.

Your collections play with print and colour and you like to push boundaries, what is it that draws you to this?

The desire to push boundaries is something that we feel is vital in art and fashion. What is the point in churning out the same stuff you see year in and year out? We find that print, colour and humour are things often lacking in menswear so we use this as a tool to explore this unknown realm. Though while we are trying to push boundaries, we are learning along the way exactly what boundaries can be pushed without going too far; this we feel is equally as important as everything we do needs to be relevant. If we do something “normal” it becomes endangered of getting lost amongst countless collections. Similarly, if we push too far it becomes inaccessible.

Tell us the thought process behind the AW12 collection…

This season we have been looking at the evolution of man. This stems from man himself, to the discoveries and technological advancements of life. The starting point was taken from watching Stanley Kubrick’s 2001, A Space Odyssey and ended up with a story about a man named Eloi Cole, who was found in a bin outside the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, claiming he was from the future. The police later described the man as “wearing too much tweed for this period in time”…

What is it like working as a pair? Describe the design process…

It helps a lot, we honestly have no idea how people can do this alone, even down to making the smallest of decisions. In terms of designing, we discuss a concept that interests us both and then begin researching independently. Over time we merge our research and talk through each others ideas which can usually result in an interesting amalgamation of thoughts and creations.

What type of man would wear your pieces?

A ladies man, who drinks too much and has more money than sense.

What’s new for 2012? What are you working on at the moment?

Currently we are in Paris with London Show Rooms, working on sales, but after we get back we will go straight back into design mode, working towards the MAN show at the end of February.

Agi & Sam
Words: Emily Cater

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