I believe it is a widely known fact that I am a jewellery enthusiast. I am also a recycling enthusiast. So imagine my delight when I came across these sodomised Barbie rings and necklaces. Every childhood fascination with decapitating Barbie has been realised in a unique, if slightly deranged, jewellery collection. Designer Margaux Lange has gone to town on the Mattel icon, leaving no discarded hand, melted face, amputated leg or lonely Ken left unturned.
I decided to venture further into the land of weird and wonderful jewellery and unearthed some very unique, if very questionable, pieces. Walter Raes, a British artist, created a dramatic, period collar piece made from tampons. His style ethic is waste not, want not. “In short, he takes the disposable remnants of our everyday lives to create his brilliant pieces, explorations in form and function”. I already made the pun so lets move on.
Then there were some Vicodin earrings, courtesy of Becky Stern, an artist who experienced a negative reaction to Vicodin after a stint in hospital, but decided to turn that frown upside down, and make some earrings with the tablets. Quick Fix comes to mind.
Finally, and perhaps most controversially, Vice magazine did a piece on Cancer Fashion, which featured a London designer by the name of Sarah Lewis. Lewis creates beautifully intricate leather collars and bustiers, inspired by the spread of cancer throughout the body. Her work is borne of the traumatic loss she experienced personally in her childhood and she has received much support from cancer patients.
