ARCHIVE: : Christopher Kane for Atelier Swarovski

It's actually quite hard to make something nice out of Swarovski crystals. Despite Nadja Swarovski's best efforts to develop the 'couture' arm of the over one hundred year old brand, it still manages to carry a certain 'home-made-and selling-on-Etsy' kind of feel...

Well it did until Christopher Kane produced these necklaces (and smaller bracelets) for the AW2007 Atelier Swarovski collection. Padded 'Bolsters' - chunky material covered in a mesh of crystals - with a golden functional key-ring style clasp - banish thoughts of naff figurine animals the brand was once famous for, and definitely bring Swarovski back in the game for high-end costume/catwalk jewellery.



Whereas they still have a long way to go (you can still find a very nasty store on London's Oxford Street selling the aforementioned crystal covered deer etc) this is without a doubt a step in the right direction.

With subsequent Atelier Swarovski collections from serious fashion players Jonathan Saunders, Giles ('3 Stake' necklace from SS09 pictured above), Erdem and Rodarte, as well as London jewellery superstars Stephen Webster, Mawi and Pippa Small, it's clear that Nadja knows exactly what she's doing.

View the current and archive collections at www.atelierswarovski.com

Image copyright Christopher Kane / Swarovski 2007, Giles / Swarovski 2009.