1. From: Info Marcelle Lawson-Smith <info@marcellelawson-smith.com>
Subject: L'Officiel Profile
Date: 9 March 2009 17:07:06 GMT
Bcc: Info Marcelle Lawson-Smith <info@marcellelawson-smith.com>
Shape and Meaning
The designer Marcelle Lawson-Smith innovates with jewellery that astonishes through
creative use of theme and scale > by Elle Alves
Under the title quot;Time - Tree of Lifequot;, Marcelle Lawson-Smith launched her first jewellery collection three years ago. Pieces in silver with rose
gold plating, Brazilian stones, synthetic hair and printed leather appeared loaded with symbolism and raised the curtain on a designer with an
unorthodox style of creating precious ornaments. After 4 collections, the 35 year old from Minas Gerais is celebrated as one of the most original
jewellery designers of her generation and, through her solid partnership with (leading Brazilian fashion designer) Ronaldo Fraga and with the
Vancox jewellery company, her creations have gained exposure and points of sale in the four corners of the world.
Marcelle's rise is not that of a status-driven quot;arrivistequot; designer. For nine years she made the best use of her studies and experiences and trained
in graphic design, the creative discipline that defines her work, initially at FUMA University in the capital of Minas Gerais, then at London's
prestigious Central Saint Martins. Her creations exhibited during Ronaldo Fraga's Winter 2005 SPFW show, quot;Everyone and No Onequot;, presented
daring jewellery that mixed graphic arts with traditional goldsmith techniques.
With pink hair and assured voice, Marcelle admits that her jewellery career started by accident in 2005, when she was drawn to the potential
that jewellery has to reflect the collective unconscious and to touch emotions. quot;I use historical and religious references and I am inspired by
archetypes, passers-by in the street, technology and music, without intellectualizing anything too muchquot;, she says. Since the Tree of Life
collection, when she made all the fashionistas lust after her necklace of printed leather postcards, those references permeate her work and are
clearly present in her Animus, Secret Garden/Beyond Desire and LionHeart collections.
From her rosary necklace, with its' heart-shaped rose soap, silver and ruby and topaz stones, to her stainless steel bracelets with cane-work
inspired by furniture of the bossa nova era, the designer has constructed a new language which reinterprets the values of the raw materials
used in her creations. She works with precious materials, indifferent to the status they carry. quot;What is important for me is what I call jewellery:
a piece with a richness of creative thought behind it, a marvelous aesthetic, a surprisingly detailed finish and with beautiful packagingquot;.
Marcelle adopted the surname of her english husband Michael Lawson-Smith, with whom she lives in a loft in London's Maida Vale. Together
they have established a new showroom, whose principle aim is to expand her label in Europe and Asia. The necklaces, bracelets and earrings
which appear in Fraga's catwalk shows are to be found in Belo Horizonte, in the stores of Ronaldo Fraga and the handbag designer Elisa
Atheniense, and in Sao Paulo in A Modista and Firma Casa, as well as in Japan. Her gold collections, developed in partnership with Vancox,
are distributed throughout Brazil, in Latin America, the United States and the Middle East. On the subject of reaching new customers, she is
categorical: quot;I want to see my pieces worn by the most elegant ladies as well as teenagers who know there's more to life than a new pair of
trainers.quot;