Fashion, makeup and accessories have always been designed to minimise or hide our ‘imperfections’, and this concept of beauty seems to have accompanied women forever.
Malaysian designer Joanne Tan, a graduate of the prestigious Central Saint Martins, decided instead to create a line of jewellery that helps women fearlessly express themselves. “Not your average beauty” is a series of tribal-inspired facial ornaments made from 18-carat gold, diamonds and pearls, designed to suit western and eastern facial features. The series was created to fight against the idealisation of beauty and obsession with plastic surgery, embellishing a woman’s face without modifying it. Thin gold threads emphasise the wearer’s most ‘delicate’ features, while pearls and diamonds add light, also highlighting imperfections.
A strong message: using fashion to dismantle its own most-negative aspects, in turn encouraging self-esteem and appreciation of one’s natural self.
Valentina Monti
11/7/2017