Famous celebrities make their mark as fashion early
adopters. Whatever Miss Celebrity has, then girls and women want
to incorporate into their own fashion persona. Everyone who is interested in
looking fashionable, makes an effort now to style themselves with
accessories or quirky combinations of clothes. In fact
this is what women always did before the dressed down looks of
the 90s under the guise of grooming.
Now
we say a look is styled, or a person's look can be improved with a bit of
styling. In recent years TV presenters/influencers Trinny Woodall and
Susanna Constantine
have spouted wardrobe opinions on TV's 'What not to Wear'.
The TV programme
challenges frumps who are locked in a fashion time warp, to a restyling. Over the last decade, the presenters in their turn, have become
celebrities.
Left - Trinny Woodall at the Swarovski sponsored Serpentine Summer Show. She may not be the first celebrity that springs to mind, yet this woman is hugely influential among masses of
women especially in the UK.
Styling is nothing new. Even Cleopatra styled herself with fabulous,
exotic eye make up, wigs and ornate jewellery.
In restoration England Nell
Gwynne was a cause celebre. By the late Victorian era, and in
her hay day, Lily Langtry was a leader in celebrity advertising.
Rita Hayworth in the 1940s and many screen starlets
that came later, such as Joan Collins have all been used to sell
products to women who care about their appearance.
When girls
in the 1950s copied the groomed starlets of the day, they copied
the likes of young stars such as Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn. What the film
stars fans of the fifties did
wasn't really any different than copying clothes as seen on
celebrities today.
It is nothing new and has all been done
before in every generation.
Do you have an outfit that was fashion led by
Lindsay, Lily, Paris, Sienna, Halle, Dita, Keira or Kate? 'Ah, but they
have a stylist' you think.
Some do, some don't.
Right Dita Von Teese at
the Swarovski Fashion awards.
In the 50s every one of the screen starlets were
contracted to acquire a certain trademark
look. They knew the rigour of consistently working at maintaining a look either to be glamorous,
or to be the girl next door. They were guided by screen
studio staff, who helped them get 'a look' that made the most of
their assets.
Victoria Beckman may still attract some
followers, but style and celebrity adulation is constantly
moving on.
Any
jewellery brand that has a celebrity name associated with it
soon creates fresh interest.
The photo left shows Jade Jagger, daughter of 'Rolling Stone' Mike Jagger, at
the Swarovski Serpentine Gallery Summer Show.
Back in 2000 Jade Jagger was appointed fine jeweller to Garrard.
She retained that appointment until June 2006. Now she has
launched a range with Garrad.
Jade began her career as an artist in the late 1980's. She held
numerous successful exhibitions of her works before setting up
Jade Inc., applying a colourful, bohemian aesthetic to bespoke
fine jewellery and leather goods.
Fine jewellery is actually driven by the more distinctive
designer styles. Costume jewellery has gone upmarket in recent years, today we see attractive bridge lines that name drop
materials to add a quality edge.
Swarovski crystal and man
made gems are a quality recognised brand that designers like to
use.
Since the millennium, top quality synthetic stones, or man made
diamonds have been cut and polished to more exacting
standards. To increase their believability, the stones are
now set in fine metals with a crafted dainty look. Until
recent years this was mostly a technique used only with top
quality gem materials.
Now jewellers and supply
manufacturers, are better attuned to fashion and try to create
pieces to match the fashion mood, especially since celebrity
adulation drives consumer expectations.
The use of precious metals, means that a costume jewellery
necklace might cost £3000, but of course, the real thing would
be almost priceless. This type of costume jewellery, is
given almost the identical craft production treatment as the fine estate
jewellery that uses real gems.
TV personalities, and models in particular have joined the
bandwagon to design just about anything. Many of you will
be familiar with Joan Rivers appearing on QVC shows selling her
fashion jewellery range. It seems having been gifted so much
jewellery this becomes an area of expertise. Because their design eye becomes so developed, they are able to convert an interest in jewellery into a successful commercial venture.
Heidi Klum for example has jewellery line.
According to press information 'The Heidi Klum Collection
is a dazzling line of fine jewellery designed by Supermodel
Heidi Klum. The collection was inspired by one of Heidi's visits
to Italy during which she was intrigued by a clover-patterned
marble inlay at the Duomo in Milan. Heidi envisioned the clover
as an adornment piece and expressed her desire to incorporate
the symbol into the design of a jewellery line.
~
Paris Hilton
In August 2007 the celebrity heiress, Paris Hilton signed
deals with jewellery Damiani of the Bliss collection. Bliss
Collection have affordable prices for their jewellery products
which are made up of gold, stainless steel, wood and bright
diamond pieces with a prices range from $60 to $3000 USD.
Right image of heiress Paris Hilton modelling a Swarovski
encrusted gown at Ir Heatherette SS07 catwalk fashion shows.
Right detail of the dress which has been
Swarovski CRYSTALLIZED™. When celebrities adopt such
embellished clothes in real life, little wonder the shops are
full of encrusted and appliquéd clothes.
The former Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson was behind the launch of 2 jewellery
lines in November 2006. The jewellery lines are Sarah
Ferguson Signature Collection and Sarah Ferguson for K & G
creations.
Using 14 and 18ct white and yellow gold
the pieces feature Baroque and Tahitian pearls and Moissanite™.
Classic art deco and modern styling mean variety in range that
costs from £200 to £9000 for a limited edition Sarah Ferguson
jewellery piece.
The Duchess has partnered with K&G Creations to create a
collection of unique jewellery designs featuring Charles &
Colvard(TM) created Moissanite. K&G Creations is the world's
largest manufacturer of Moissanite jewellery.
Moissanite is a unique, near colourless lab-created jewel with
fire & brilliance unmatched by any other jewel or gemstone.
Harder than sapphire or ruby and second in hardness only to
diamond, Moissanite was first discovered in nature by French
Nobel prize winner Dr. Henri Moissan in 1893. Women around the
world have embraced this magnificent jewel and are rewarding
themselves with the big, bold look of Moissanite jewellery.
K&G Creations, a division of JewelNet Corp., located in Boca
Raton, Florida, is the world's largest manufacturer of fine
jewellery featuring Charles & Colvard created Moissanite. K&G was
formed in 1997 to focus exclusively on developing and
manufacturing Moissanite jewellery. Working against the
conventional belief that fine jewellery retailers couldn't sell a
new category of created jewellery, K&G has pioneered a new profit
centre with Moissanite and garnered the nation's largest
retailers.
Frostfirestyle.com
is the new website from the Frostfire Group providing celebrity
inspired Jewellery. Frostfire is convinced that we all want to
look like a celebrity and wear the latest looks. For many that's
certainly a trusim. With this in mind, Frostfirestyle.com
sells up to the minute, cutting edge celebrity 'style' at a
fraction of the cost.
Their web site Frostfirestyle.com has something to suit all
tastes and budgets. Plus a large number of new products are
added every week creating an ever-growing range.
Frostfirestyle.com has set out to provide the very latest
celebrity style at factory prices. They buy direct from
the factory, eliminating the middlemen with their costly markups.
Peter Frost the founder said
"We live in a celebrity obsessed culture and we aim to move
quickly to accommodate the customer’s requests for the latest
Celebrity Jewellery fashions."
Above Victoria Beckham wearing a large ring, which can be
bought as a low cost copy from
www.Frostfirestyle.com.
Right - a copy of the Beckham ring from frostfirestyle.com.
Both images courtesy of frostfirestyle.com.
Good quality branded
jewellery is a growing market.
At present it only represents 6% of global sales, but more and
more consumers are seeking a brand name with cachet.
According to the New York based Luxury Institute, jewellery
brands from Tiffany, Cartier, De Beers, Gucci and Bulgari lead
the luxury awareness list. Those retailers are closely
followed by Van Cleef & Arpels, Harry Winston, Chanel, Dior and
Mikimoto. These are the luxury jewellery brands most
consumers know by name.
Branded jewellery is a finding a corner of the marketplace.
Mont Blanc for example, are looking for special premises to
promote their newer jewellery lines, which they believe demand
more space to show it to best effect. Mont Blanc
specialise in a unique six faceted diamond cut, and called
unsurprisingly 'the Mont Blanc cut'. Customers are willing to spend as long as the item is what they want even if the price is high.
'Want it' - so 'buy it'. 'Not sure' - so 'leave
it'.
Modern fashion design houses are also entering the jewellery
market. Badgley and Mischka have launched a new line of
costume jewellery in USA. They are jewellery items which
women find perfect for travel. Badgley and Mischka feature
day, evening and bridal jewellery. Prices range from £50
to £500.
Guess is another brand that is promoting its range of Guess
branded jewellery across Europe. With its youthful
look it intends to rival jewellery brands like those of Dolce
and Gabbana.
Right - actress Thandie Newton at the Swarovski Serpentine
Gallery Summer
Show and sporting a must-have necklace. This consumer
story will run and run....
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Famous celebrities make their mark as fashion early
adopters. Whatever Miss Celebrity has, then girls and women want
to incorporate into their own fashion persona. Everyone who is interested in
looking fashionable, makes an effort now to style themselves with
accessories or quirky combinations of clothes. In fact
this is what women always did before the dressed down looks of
the 90s under the guise of grooming. 
Rita Hayworth in the 1940s and many screen starlets
that came later, such as Joan Collins have all been used to sell
products to women who care about their appearance.
Any
jewellery brand that has a celebrity name associated with it
soon creates fresh interest. 
In August 2007 the celebrity heiress, Paris Hilton signed
deals with jewellery Damiani of the Bliss collection. Bliss
Collection have affordable prices for their jewellery products
which are made up of gold, stainless steel, wood and bright
diamond pieces with a prices range from $60 to $3000 USD. 
The former Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson was behind the launch of 2 jewellery
lines in November 2006. The jewellery lines are Sarah
Ferguson Signature Collection and Sarah Ferguson for K & G
creations. 
Frostfirestyle.com
is the new website from the Frostfire Group providing celebrity
inspired Jewellery. Frostfire is convinced that we all want to
look like a celebrity and wear the latest looks. For many that's
certainly a trusim. With this in mind, Frostfirestyle.com
sells up to the minute, cutting edge celebrity 'style' at a
fraction of the cost.
Peter Frost the founder said
"We live in a celebrity obsessed culture and we aim to move
quickly to accommodate the customer’s requests for the latest
Celebrity Jewellery fashions." 
Branded jewellery is a finding a corner of the marketplace.
Mont Blanc for example, are looking for special premises to
promote their newer jewellery lines, which they believe demand
more space to show it to best effect. Mont Blanc
specialise in a unique six faceted diamond cut, and called
unsurprisingly 'the Mont Blanc cut'. Customers are willing to spend as long as the item is what they want even if the price is high.
