I Love Designer unites the best of East and West

Yesterday we went to the London launch of ilovedesigner.com, an online boutique specialising in accessories. They gather unique pieces from often obscure designers from around the world, particularly America, Asia and Indonesia, and put them all on one website.

Our first discovery was Saught, a brand which works with charities and local craftsmen in post-conflict countries, particularly Cambodia, using metal collected from landmines and UXOs. Each set of pieces has a story behind it, reflecting their advocacy of peace and sustainable development. This delicate necklace below uses a corn motif to represent freedom and a dove to represent flight.

There was also a massive contribution from India, in the shape of Manish Arora for Amrapali and Outhouse. The former is the coming together of two Asian fashion giants to create collections inspired by traditional Indian jewellery aesthetics.  

Outhouse’s glam-Punk inspired collection was a wonderful mish-mash of silver claws, pearls, diamonds and Swarovski crystals; the result being some of the most outlandish jewellery we’d seen that day.

 

Kriss and Jules was founded by two bohemian brothers whilst on holiday in Bali. At first glance, they have the generic ‘I’ve been on holiday and bought some woven bracelets for a euro’ vibe that you get on every high street. But they’re far superior, using traditional Balinese crafting techniques coupled with, among other things, emerald and ruby encrusted silver animal motifs.

Not forgetting bags, Katja Tamara creates über-versatile ethically sourced reptile skin clutches in every colour imaginable. California-based Kayu uses giant precious stones against traditional south-east Asian weaving techniques.

Overall, we’d say that if you want something beautiful to add to your accessory collection, that not many people have, really packs a punch and has probably travelled thousands of miles to get to you, I Love Designer should be your first port of call!

Kate Williams

Find all these brands here.