Wearable Art Blog

Illuminated Pendants by Mark Garbarini

Mark Garbarini, whose inspiration is the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, combines silversmithing with contemporary lighting design to create hand made sterling silver pendants with natural gemstones. What makes this collection unique is that within each pendant is a small LED flashlight that illuminates the gemstones from behind. The stones in this photograph are lit up. Some of the lit stones remind me of bands of rock. If you go to Garbarini's website, you can see the gemstones unlit and then lit up when you mouse over the stones. Sometimes the difference is dramatic. If nothing else, this seems like a unique concept. How do you like these pendants?

Helen Finlayson Wraps

Helen Finlayson, a 22-year-old graduate of Heriot-Watt University’s School of Textiles and Design in Scotland, was selected to design tweed wraps for the wives of the world leaders, including Michelle Obama, who attended the G20 summit in London last month. Finlayson's work in tweed (the iconic Scottish fabric), velvet and vintage Japanese kimono fabrics has attracted international attention. Finlayson is one of “the Glasgow 10” designers whose work is featured at the Che Camille shop in Scotland. The handsome hand tailored wrap (left), made from purple tweed with a blue silk taffeta lining, resembles the wraps that Finlayson created for the G20 leaders' wives. You can see more of her lovely work at Che Camille.

Amir Adnan Men's Couture

Amir Adnan gave up everything to pursue a career in fashion design in 1990. Since that time, Adnan has created Pakistan's first international menswear label, the House Of Amir Adnan, which is now the largest network of designer wear in Pakistan. Adnan, who was awarded the President’s Pride of Performance (the highest award given to a civilian in the field of arts in Pakistan) in 2005, offers a couture collection featuring beautifully cut and embellished sherwanis (a long coat-like garment), kurta pajamas for men, and ethnic wear for women. "I take exquisite elements of our culture and synchronize them on modern silhouettes," he says. How do you like these beautiful coats? I think they're handsome.

Felt Necklaces by Thea Clark

Thea Clark says it best: "My jewelry incorporates the tactile contrasts of metal, handmade felt, and various found materials. I am driven by the act and challenge of creating, which is like an ever changing dialogue between my materials and ideas; each reshaping the other." I love the playful nature of her work and the combinations of materials that she uses to create sculptural pieces. The red pendant (left) is made from felted wool oxdized silver, and citrine. The Tassel Pod necklace (below) is made of felted wool, silk, oxidized silver, and apatite. I love felted jewelry, so of course, I have a special feeling about these pieces. How about you? Check out Thea Clark on Flickr to see more of her work.  

José Durán

New York-based designer José Durán creates very feminine, soft clothing he describes as, "wearable art." The inspirations for his collections are varied. Recalling that a church in his native town in the Dominican Republic was attacked by a group of Haitians at the time of the Haitian revolution (1791–1804), he traveled to Haiti to better understand its culture and designed a collection to commemorate the event. Women who lost their breasts due to cancer or who had amputated limbs were the source of inspiration for another collection. Durán designed clothing to celebrate their innate beauty by incorporating his signature draping methods using silken and delicate fabrics to create "alternative" silhouettes. Pictured here is one of the lovely dresses from his Fall 2009 collection, which is one of my favorites. You can hear Durán speak about his work in a five-minute video documentary, Designing Minds: José Durán. This photo is from Not Just a Label.