“I’ve always wanted to make jewellery. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been into ornaments and making sure all of my looks have a special touch,” says Paris-based designer Lauren Rubinski, whose oversized, chain-linked necklaces and bracelets have proved to be just the statement-making, second-skin accessory to elevate at-home dressing this past year. “I think that women have wanted pieces that are visible, but that you can also barely feel. They are as light as a dove but make an everlasting impression, with gold giving that perfect shine,” she says of her designs that are handcrafted by master goldsmiths in Italy and have been seen, stacked and layered, dressed-up and down, on acolytes including Kate Moss and Zoe Kravitz.
Lauren’s love for jewellery stemmed from rummaging through her mother’s jewellery box, her eye drawn to the sheen of pearls and the playfulness of earrings. It’s little wonder then that it was “the ancestral aspect of jewellery” that captured her, years later, at design school, where she endeavoured to give heirlooms a “precious twist” with diamonds. This classic-contemporary hybrid that continues to inspire Lauren’s work today reflects a strong connection with her past but also with her present self. Still her most treasured piece of jewellery is a diamond ball that she designed for her first collection. “It was an hommage to the story of Apollo landing, but also to my own world that is constantly spinning, but I always want to continue to dream and shine no matter the circumstances.”
“Lockdown didn’t slow me down. To the contrary. I’ve always been very active and being home all the time actually pushed me to think outside the box, to dream more and to have even more crazy ideas.”
Lauren Rubinski
With a style she’d describe as “intuitive and bold,” loving colours and hating trends, Lauren’s latest collection feels like a natural extension of herself, while tapping into emerging mindsets. Multicoloured candy necklaces and bracelets reading “Happy” sit alongside this season’s iterations of the much-loved wheat-chain necklace. “I have this obsession with colours and I wanted to create pieces that would be fun and easy-to-wear, but with a great quality. Some of my new necklaces have that fun aspect and some are a modern take on pieces that my mother used to wear when I was growing up. So the inspiration was really family heritage and living life unapologetically by wearing whatever you want,” says Lauren, prepped for the brave new world ahead.
