In time for the festive season, a unique collaboration is a one-way ticket out of Squaresville.
London-based New Zealand fashion designer Catherine Boddy has teamed up with local jewellery designer and goldsmith Maeve Woodhouse of Hera Saabi with a unique collaborative collection that plays on both of their aesthetics,
Featuring Catherine’s signature flesh-coloured garments, the most avant-garde of which is her signature web-fingered gloves subversively embellished with long red lacquered nails - the perfect nod to surrealist fashion.
“Those of us who work with our hands and for whom a dramatic manicure would be impractical now have the chance to playfully sport that talisman of easy luxury” explains Maeve, whose jewellery brand Hera Saabi is inspired by “the contrast of imperfect nature and geometrically constructed environments, and stands for feminine strength, considered design and supporting local creative communities.”
Catherine, who recently relocated from Auckland to London, says the complementary collaboration came about organically.
“I reached out to Maeve about a silver orchid pendant I’d seen on her Instagram that I thought I needed,” she says. “I sold Hera Saabi pieces at Curionoir where I worked, and Maeve also purchased gloves of mine from Sabotage (formerly on K Road) which she’d featured in Hera Saabi photo shoots. So I understood that we appreciated each other’s work and that we complemented each other well! Instead of selling me the pendant, Maeve suggested we collaborate around it, because she envisioned it as a necklace attached to a garment. I was elated!”
The pieces will be made to order, except for smaller pieces like the fingernail webbed gloves which the duo will have available online.
“One of my favourite pieces are the fingernail gloves. Maeve drills holes in the nails and I hand sew them on to my gloves, so they will never come off. As girls who are always working with our hands acrylic nails can be impractical, so the idea of taking them on and off in a moment is so refreshing.”
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Advertise with NZME.To complement, Maeve has created a melting orchid as a nod to the natural world and unapologetic femininity, with Catherine’s garments hooking easily on to the back of the floral accessory. “In this collection, we imagine a world where we are not quite human, where AI and nature collide to form a new and startling femininity,” says Maeve.
Catherine adds: “I wanted to design pieces that were technical but also didn’t detract from the detail of the orchid. I thought the nude colour palette would work best for this. All of the garments feel close to wearing almost nothing, like wearing only jewellery out in public.”
All pieces are made to order and hardware is available in solid sterling silver or powder-coated bronze. For more information visit Herasaabi.com and Catherineboddy.club.
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