In an interview with BAZAAR.com, London-based jewelry designer Adwoa Aboah discussed her passion for jewelry, as well as her work for John Hardy.
When asked if there are any pieces she prefers in particular, Aboah said, "Ones that I really cherish were given to me by my godfather, who was an amazing presence in my life, almost like a second dad. I have an amazing emerald necklace from him, and a lovely heart-shaped one. I've also started wearing pearls quite a lot. My grandma, when she died, gave me a string of pearls, and I've started wearing it. My signet rings that my mom and dad got me for my 21st birthday are also some of my favorites. I recently bought a 1920s Italian charm bracelet, a gold one, which I really love. I wear all of it. I don't really have a favorite."
"My second collection is definitely my favorite out of the two," said the designer when asked about her work with John Hardy. "When you start working with a brand, you're feeling each other out. And I think for the second collection, they really gave me the space to really do what I wanted. I'm continuously looking at jewelry, whether it is my own collection or on other people. So I had a lot of references to base the collection on.
"I only wear gold, so that's how I started visualizing it, even though we also have silver in the collection," said Aboah when asked for the references. "John Hardy wanted to launch this for Valentine's Day, so I immediately started looking at different clasps, focusing on the idea of a knot. That got me to thinking about hearts, which is a repeated symbol in my work and a doodle that I've always done. It seemed obvious to bring that into the collection. I also wanted the collection to be inclusive and have a feeling of acceptance."
When asked about the meaning behind inclusivity and acceptance for her, Aboah said, "By inclusion, I mean there are pieces in the collection that you really can buy. I wanted to focus on the idea of buying jewelry for yourself. Don't wait for someone to give it to you just because it's Valentine's Day or some other holiday. I want people to have an appreciation and respect for the fact that they are deserving of fabulous, beautiful things. So by inclusive, it means that there are pieces within the collection that are more affordable, I suppose. We spent a long time thinking about how we could weigh down the gold and the silver so that it was more affordable, making the pieces a little bit more delicate than what John Hardy has done in the past. That's the only way I do work. I am obsessive."
Information originally sourced from BAZAAR.com.