For our first Edit of 2024, we wanted to kick off our focus on the worldwide influences that make up COUTURE. While we know that the continent of Asia encompasses more than the Asian Pacific region, for the purposes of this specific editorial, we are including a selection of brands from Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore and Thailand. As illustrated by the pieces that were submitted, the aesthetic is as diverse as the places from which they were inspired and created.

AWKN1

Founder and designer of AWKN1, Anne-Marie Le Flanchec, was raised in Paris enmeshed in rich, French culture. Her passion for art history, fine art and interior design, coupled with her engagement in Tibetan Buddhism, are continual sources of inspiration for the brand. Now dividing her time between Paris, Los Angeles and Thailand, Anne-Marie believes in “dreaming the world into a wiser and kinder reality…”

Karen Suen

Award-winning, Hong Kong-based designer, Karen Suen, was once a dancer in the City Contemporary Dance Company, and her sensibility of expressiveness and sensitivity to her environment are evident throughout her collection. Sighting color and light as the two most important elements of her work, she adeptly orchestrates a sensual balance between complement and contrast, often manipulating palettes and hues into unexpected combinations.

Kavant & Sharart:

Founded by husband and wife team, Nuttapon (Kenny) and Shar-Linn, Kavant & Sharart’s jewelry is intended to satisfy more than the wearer’s need for something beautiful. After meeting in college, the couple married in 2011 and began splitting their time between their native Bangkok and Singapore. Endlessly inspired by nature, and specifically the sea, Kenny infuses the work with organic elements, while Shar-Linn’s love for Art Deco and motifs of Oriental Art balance fluidity with geometric forms.

Maison Tjoeng:

Maison Tjoeng’s designer, Yasmin Tjoeng, grew up between Australia and Papua New Guinea, and was influenced from an early age by the powerhouse of Melanesian art for which her hometown in Papua New Guinea is known. After perusing a career in architecture, Yasmin moved to Beijing to study Mandarin, and then Hong Kong, before a trip to Paris inspired her to embark on jewelry design as her life’s work. Following studies in jewelry design, gemstone setting and gemology in Singapore, in 2016 Yasmin launched Maison Tjoeng and began creating jewelry that combines elements of her rich, cultural heritage, ornamental art and an effortless Australian sensibility.

Mike Joseph: 

Creative Director of Mike Joseph Jewelry, Mike Saatji, has been honing his expertise in jewelry design and fabrication for over 25 years. Born in Armenia to a family of jewelers, Mike grew up spending any free time he could find at the jeweler’s bench. His childhood hobby soon evolved to a life-long passion, and he went on to apprentice and study in multiple cities under various masters learning all aspects of the art form. Mike’s avant-garde, unconventional approach to the creative process, bolstered by his technical acumen, results in imaginative pieces that push the boundaries of conventional jewelry design.

Moksh: 

Founder of Moksh, Milan Chokshi, beautifully encapsulates the grandeur and elegance of Mughal jewelry in designs that embody a more contemporary and refined sensibility. By combining ancient craftsmanship with state-of-the-art technology, Moksh gracefully showcases intricacies and innovation in fabrication, exceptional combinations of colors and materials, and subtle complexities in detail and design, all with a nod to the Mughal and Islamic architecture that inspired its creation. The name Moksh means a form of salvation or liberation and is rooted in Jainism, a religion older than Hinduism that promotes extreme non-violence; Moksh is, in Milan’s words, “what we all aspire for.”

Saboo Fine Jewels:

With roots in the world of gemstones and jewelry that date back to 1935, the Saboo Fine Jewels family business was founded by Chand Bihari Saboo before, in 1980, he passed the reigns to his sons, Rajendra and Surendra Saboo. The brothers first expanded beyond trading and manufacturing rough gemstones by creating pieces exclusively for high end retailers in Jaipur. While their reach and reputation have expanded, their commitment to making exquisite, colored gemstones the stars of their pieces has remained steadfast, and the brand’s in-house lapidary artisans, coupled with the meticulous attention to detail applied to each of their creations, ensures that each piece is a wearable work of art.

Simone Jewels:

In the creation of her one-in-the-world pieces of wearable art, Founder and Creative Director of Simone Jewels, Simone Ng, evokes stories brimming with culture and history. Since launching her eponymous brand in 2006, the designer has identified annual themes for her collections around which she develops her work. Simone’s 2014 collection, “Jewels of the Nile,” draws inspiration from the historical tale of the Queen of Sheba. These pieces, adorned with dazzling gems from Africa, radiate exotic glamour with vibrant jewel tones and intricate motifs. Fit for royalty, this collection embodies majestic splendor. 

State Property:

Based in Singapore, State Property is a poetic fusion of contemporary design and traditional craftsmanship. With influences of both art and industry, the collections draw on the place where Mother nature meets science for inspiration. Structured silhouettes rendered in precious metals juxtapose the soft textures of the human body in subtly adventurous, impeccably crafted designs that are fast becoming a cross-continental favorite among some of today’s most influential women.

Studio Renn:

Studio Renn was founded in 2018 by husband and wife team Rahul and Roshni Jhaveri. While they define their view of the materials with which they work as “agnostic,” the use of concrete, as an example, in their fine jewelry collection, isn’t the only thing that sets Studio Renn apart. The couple’s unique approach to the creative process challenges traditional perceptions of what’s considered valuable, and they pride themselves on partnering with creative thought leaders in a variety of mediums in bringing their unique vision to tangible form.

talkative:

talkative designer, Shinobu Marotta, had a career as a graphic designer before embarking on developing skills in jewelry design and craftsmanship, and joining a leading jewelry company in her native Japan, where she spent several years working in the industry and studying the landscape of the market. Ultimately, Shinobu recognized that there was a niche between mass produced and overseas art jewelry that needed to be filled and, in 2008, she launched talkative in order to offer fine jewelry that could be worn casually and that would appeal to a more contemporary aesthetic.