The microbial leather jewellery of a former student who graduated in July 2018 impressed the Jury of the International Artefact Innovation Award.
Research-based jewellery, new IED designer Beatrice Marini honoured in London
Date
10 June 2019
It was IED Milano - with a dissertation project by Beatrice Marini entitled 'Invisible Made Visible' - to win the Materials & Embellishments Award, one of the three categories of this year's INTERNATIONAL ARTEFACT INNOVATION AWARD, as part of London Graduate Fashion Week 2019.
What really impressed the Jury of the Award sponsored by Crisden - a luxury jewellery accessories manufacturer - was the innovative and original project submitted by Beatrice Marini, who graduated last year.
'Invisible made visible' is a collection of brooches. The material used for its design aesthetic is intended to show that everyone needs relationships: like the most evolved beings, micro-organisms share the same basic needs too. This is a project for contemporary jewellery involving the use of a totally sustainable material called MICROBIAL LEATHER, produced by the symbiosis between bacteria and yeasts (fungi). A mixture of water and sugar, in the presence of oxygen, gives them the right conditions to grow, and after a period of cultivation of the micro-organisms and fermentation, the result is a spongy, slippery substance that, once dried and treated to make it waterproof, looks like human skin.
This led to a collection of brooches created using fabrics (silk or nylon) and precious metals alongside microbial leather, as well as with the use of plating processes.
Click here to see all the awards won by the Students of IED Milano.
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