Jewellery

Blue summer- creating mood and harmony with a limited palette

Outdoor Photography : Brian Minkoff

Since the first UK lockdown in March 2020 I have been developing our jewellery, handbag and small leather ranges based on limited colour palettes. I choose a palette that I feel fits the current season and the current mood.

Prior to lockdown my colour schemes would have been ‘fashion led’, I would have covered a broad spectrum with a mixture of both cool and warm colours with varying hues and intensities.

I now choose to explore a limited palette, I have discovered that exploring a limited palette creates harmony, clarity, evokes strong feelings and gets the absolute best from a colour.

Those who know me know Blue is probably my favourite colour, choosing to limit my palette not only to Blue but also to a ‘cool colour’ might seem an odd choice given that it is officially summer now ( I say officially as it doesn’t quite feel like summer in the UK as yet).

However, my association with Blue is one of warmth: blue skies, blue seas, blue horizons. Full of depth, never disappointing, dynamic and optimistic.

My design sensitivities have gone from ‘fashion led’ to ‘mood led’ over this past year, my colour palette tells both my story at this moment as well as my outlook.

Simply, this means that my first story for Summer 2021 is dynamic and my outlook is optimistic. Blue Summer, not Summer Blues.

The Limited Edition Blue Summer collection is now available from Nadia Minkoff London and leading stockists online and worldwide

After the Frost

Those of you who follow this blog will know I have documented my views of London in Lockdown since March 2020. London has been my source of inspiration since setting up my label way back when, but of course I never expected to see London during a pandemic: eerily quiet, empty, shut down, dystopian.

For us Londoners, local walks have been an opportunity to see London bare, an architectural backdrop without the crowds.

And just when I presumed this London landscape which was now becoming my familiar ‘new normal’ February 2021 arrived with heavy snow swiftly followed by a frost so deep I can’t recall ever seeing London like this.

Regents Park was frozen, with seagulls perched on the icy lake and ducks wondering along the frozen canal.

The reflection of the sun on the ice made for some beautiful metallic hues, so much so that it inspired my ‘After the Frost’ collection.

But…there was also warmth and happiness it came with music and Salsa right in the middle of the park, who would have thought? A nod to colour and life after the frost

What we did during lockdown /by Sawako

The view from my desk has changed considerably, as it has for most people over the last few months. Whether you’ve finally got into the swing of working from home, are noticing and appreciating birdsong with new ears, or slowly going back to work at the office, we thought we’d let you know what the NM Team got up to up to whilst in lockdown.

As a close-knit team, it has been strange not to see each other every day. We have however, been enjoying keeping up to date on how we are filling our time at home. Here are just a few of the gems which I thought were worth sharing

Nadia’s Garden

Nadia, as most of you may know, is a keen gardener. Finally, she has a bit of extra time to tend to the previously “overgrown jungle” (her words, not mine). There is now space for some new plants plus there are big plans for the ever growing vegetable patch, just in case the lockdown returns. That’s forward planning for you!

Karla’s blanket

Karla, our jewellery designer, has been keeping busy with a crochet project… which was first started a mere six years ago. Between starting and finishing this project, she did have a baby who is now six and modelling the blanket for us, so understandable why it’s taken so long.

Andrea’s multi tasking

Andrea has definitely been a busy bee, making scrubs bags for her local GP as well as trying out new recipes.. such as raspberry cake . Among all this activity Andrea’s daily walks are of course accompanied by little Lulu, looking as cute as ever.

Sawako’s colouring in

As for myself, a lot of cleaning has been going on but I don’t think anyone wants to see the inside of my sock drawer, as pristine as it is. One thing I have found relaxing and completely absorbing is colouring in. Yes, the kind you used to do as a child, but some creative people thought to make some intricate colouring books for adults. This book had been given to me as a present and was sitting on my shelf for a few years. Now I am at last beginning to fill the pages with colour without feeling guilty for spending time on something that seems a bit frivolous. It is just as fun as when I was a child, and I am just as keen to buy the most expensive colouring pencils now, except this time it is not my mum who has to pay for them.

Our ‘I made it!’ jewellery kit range is growing quickly as we add a new kit every Wednesday! We also have our very own ‘Make jewellery with Nadia Minkoff’ YouTube channel showing complete tutorials for every kit and more. Why not have a go at making jewellery like a pro from the safety and comfort of your own home? It’s relaxing, creative and we’re here to help, you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve.

How I keep my son and myself occupied during lockdown/part 1/ By Karla Huang

Karla is Head jewellery designer at Nadia Minkoff London, currently in lockdown with her 6 year old son Joel. Part 2 of Karla and Joel’s adventures will follow next week

Some parents might find it daunting to find things for their kids to do during lockdown. Fortunately, I have only one child to deal with or one could say, unfortunately he is the only child at home so he has learnt to entertain himself while the school is closed and no playdates are allowed.

Being a jewellery designer, I love to work with colours and what I do best is hands-on craft. Hence I’ve allocated ‘creative/ art’ and ‘drawing’ sessions into our weekly home learning schedule.

Drawing and painting are one of the key elements where children can express their feelings. In times like these- lockdown has given us so much negative news that can easily scare a child- it is therefore important for them to be able to express those feelings.

One of the very first resources we looked at together was done by an American illustrator – Mo Willems. He is the current Education Artist in Residence at the Kennedy Center and he releases “Lunch Doodle” videos each weekday to encourage children of all ages to doodle with him. Just two videos later, we were both inspired by Mo Willems’s introduction of doodling and spent the whole afternoon doodling on a large roll of paper.

After we tried doodling, my child was very into all kinds of ‘Birds’ and their habitat. He was encouraged to write an adventure story of three different birds that migrate to London during winter time.

At the weekend, we tried to draw out those three birds. Whilst he was using his imagination to make his story into drawing, I also picked an image of a bird from the ‘National Geographic Kid’s’ book to polish up my very rusty drawing skills.

Here is what I drew of a Hoopoe from an image.

The following weekend we were a bit stuck for new ideas and lack of motivation on what to draw. I then remembered a beautiful colouring book I bought a few years ago by Johanna Basford.

I let my child pick a page so we could both do some colouring together. With so many intricate details and narrow spaces to fill in the colours, I was amazed at how much patience and persistence a nearly 6 years old boy has to accomplish this page.

Here is what we coloured together on one Sunday afternoon and I can say it’s hard to tell which one was done by a child!!

Can you tell??

If you are looking for creative activities to do at home, once your kids have gone to sleep, we now have complete jewellery making kits available to order online.

A new ‘I made it’ kit is released weekly, instruction sheets are FREE to download from our website and there is a YouTube tutorial to accompany each kit

Call the midwife, series 9,the RadioTimes photoshoot

09/07/2019

Hi Nadia,

I hope you are well! Was wondering whether you’re interested in doing the jewellery for this….

I’ve been fortunate enough to work with costume designer Claire Lynch on a couple of films as well as series 8 of Call the Midwife. Her briefs to me are brief, but I am now familiar with her passion for costume and her eye for detail , so we have a great understanding.

For this shoot I was given 3 images taken from the original 1965 Vogue shoot of the YSL ‘Mondrian dresses’ , the accessories were really entirely up to us to create and design at our studio.

‘Escaping’ to 60’s fashion is my happy place in any case, so it was a task my team and I relished.

We focused primarily on two aspects which were geometry and colour. However, instead of echoing the square and rectangular silhouettes we chose circles and curves with geometrical pattern inlays. And then of course there are those extra large 60’s pearl drop earrings, possibly too heavy for a night out but work perfectly on a shoot.

It took a total of 6 months from brief to development to shoot to publication. Having seen the ‘behind the scenes pics’ the hardest thing was keeping quiet about it, but we did.

We can finally shout about, what a perfectly beautiful cover and shoot!

50% off at the Nadia Minkoff London Black Friday event

Enjoy 50% off all Nadia Minkoff London handbags and jewellery ( whilst stocks last) from midnight ( GMT) 29/11/2019 ending midnight Sunday 01/12/2019

An opportunity to buy and gift a unique and beautifully crafted accessory from an independent brand

Finally home again from college

Blog by Ophir

Photography by: Fiona Yaron Field

I’m a creative and preforming arts student and home for the Easter break I went out and about in London Town with my things from the cool Nadia Minkoff.

As an artist I’m in to bright and like contrasting colours and I love the beautiful blue of this bag. I also love the movement of the tassels I feel free,funky and cool.

( I went to the Tate modern to see collections called materials and object’s.)

In my own patterns as artists I am into bright and like contrasting colours and the balance of them.

I thought the earrings were blue crystals and then I discovered the skulls – super cool

Ophir models:

Nadia Minkoff London,The Angel bag in Blue

Nadia Minkoff London ,Crystal Skull & Spike earrings in Metallic Blue

Red Leather coat: My mums red coat is from a Vintage shop in Cheshire St, off Brick Lane

My red nails has been done at my lovely local nail bar

My leopard coat is from Pull and Bear.

I went to Tate Britain , Covent Garden, Paddington station saying goodbye to my friend that been visiting and took her around London.

Also been to the Southbank.

Welcome to my Geo State

‘clean lines, soft hues and functional details are key to our latest offering of bags and jewellery. Sleek and sophisticated with added zest for good measure’

The Richmond midi in yellow

That time of year again, new season, new collection, new journey. So how did I get here?

As ever, so much thought and time goes into every detail of a new range but at the core it’s always the inspiration that dictates.

So here we go, the ‘final cut’ of my inspiration, my heartbeat which led me from the start and culminated in my very own Geo State.

DISTILLATE-IV,-2008-Antony-Gormley

ceramic-glazes-slips

The-Laguna-Garzon-bridge,-Uruguay

Trellik tower, London W10

Erica-Wakerly-Angles-Wallpaper

Geometric print box

secretsoundsecondsun.tumblr

Liubov-Popova-Non-Objective-Composition,-c.1920

Antony-Gormley,-Quantum-Void-III

And so my journey has a happy ending, a Geo state was created, from Geo basics to Geo statements. Made to punctuate and elevate each outfit, each mood and each occasion, finely crafted with a decidedly modern edge .Come join my state!

Geo pendant silver/Opal white

Hoop cluster earrings silver /chrome

Geo earrings silver/chrome

3 stone oblong ring silver/yellow

Square frame ring silver/opal white

Four stone ring silver / yellow

The beating heart of creativity

Unrestrained design is the beating heart of creativity, the rest is about ensuring that all the connections running in an out of it function properly.

It’s a hard act running a successful commercial design enterprise with all the disciplines it requires: commercial edge, on trend, well executed, timely, fashionable, desirable, accessible, aesthetically pleasing, easy to merchandise, functional, well priced

Whilst at the other end of the spectrum, right at the core of the business and the seed that got it going in the first place lies a creative with a desire and innate need to let go of commercial constraints and purely enjoy creating.

Over the years (and to my surprise) I discovered that transforming my creative ‘cottage industry’ into a commercial enterprise in itself is a very creative process requiring vision, understanding, awareness, a whole new set of skills, patience and a lot of stamina.

Still, the desire to keep those creative juices flowing, to make something outstanding, bespoke, ‘one off’, not to be repeated, in no way commercial but purely a statement piece is always there.

I know now and can say for a fact that the best way for my company to be at the forefront of commercial design is to regularly create individual pieces with no restraints. I have made it an absolute prerogative of the business to ensure that every few weeks we immerse ourselves in the joy of creating be it for photoshoots, for stylists, for Red Carpet events, for individuals or just for us to enjoy, recharge and to have at our atelier.

Earrings for Charlene

Morning Nadia!

How are you?

I am getting married next week and have been looking for a pair of clip-on earrings. On your website I love the shower earrings in rose gold and champagne or jet black and diamond. Can you give me some advice? My wedding colours are white and dusty pink.

Thanks X

Wow Charlene, congratulations!! What happy news!

We’d be delighted to make your earrings for you, special bespoke ‘Charlene’ earrings!

I’ve copied my designer Karla as I will get her to make them for you today, she’ll email you directly with some questions shortly and we will get these made so you have them with plenty of time.

Xx Nadia

Nadia it was perfect!!! I couldn’t have had a better day. Thank you so much for the earrings.

The location was great, food was great, everyone had such a good time. I am so so happy. It’s nice being a MRS.

Xxx

Hey Nadia

Hope you’re well and enjoying the sunshine 🙂

Just wanted to say another big thank you for my beautiful earrings for my wedding.

My husband and I don’t want any photos on social media so we haven’t posted anything online or distributed any, we’ve kept them for our personal use. I’ve popped a photo in the post for you, which you should receive over the next couple of days 🙂

They truly were the most fabulous earrings !

Xxx

Charlene Bent is the ‘go to’ stylist for a list of high profile celebs. Fashion Journalist, Presenter, Director of Ms Campbell shapewear, around the clock hard worker, a particularly lovely & beautiful person that I am fortunate to work with.

Wishing you much happiness Mrs & Mrs Bent from Nadia & the team xx