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- Accessories
From top: Tod’s silver and calfskin cuff, $465, alligator wrap bracelet with silver detail, $1,595, calfskin wrap bracelet with silver detail, $325, alligator wrap bracelet with silver detail, $995, calfskin wrap bracelet with silver detail, $325, and calfskin wrap bracelet with silver detail, $1,095, at Tod’s, 800.457.TODS.
Lam Piles It On
Inspired by painting and sculpture, Derek Lam takes Tod’s into jewelry
November 2008
If you looked carefully at those re-cent Tod’s ads featuring a relaxed
and sun-kissed Gwyneth Paltrow curled up on a couch under a cozy fur
coat, fringed bag at her side, you might have noticed the hardware on
her wrists: specifically, thin leather bands centered with silver
rectangles. Evoking the nautical sportiness of raffia and leather
wristbands, the bracelets are elegant in a
just-threw-these-on-before-boarding-my-very-big-boat sort of way. Turns
out that’s exactly the vibe Tod’s creative director, Derek Lam, had in
mind for his debut jewelry collection for the Italian label—the
company’s first, in fact, that includes those aforementioned bangles as
well as rings, key chains, belts and cuffs. “Casual chic,” Lam dubs it,
and calls the line an inevitable “next step after small leather goods.”
Drawing less upon the house’s storied past and more on the clean,
classic shapes of work by artists Piet Mondrian and Tamara de Lempicka,
Lam’s collection boasts that classic Tod’s-ian toffee hue and less
expected shades—violet, black, navy blue—with stark silver
embellishments. (Not missing a logo beat, Lam has applied a “T” to
several styles.) And for those Gwyneth bracelets, Lam took his
inspiration from a Pilar Olaverri sculpture and invited its creator to
collaborate on the design. “Our idea was to have a strong support around
the wrist in the form of thin, multiple laces holding on to a little
sculpture,” Lam says. Currency—as in modernity—was key. “We preferred to
not look at the archive,” he says, noting that “the informal image of
the jewelry was a specific choice.” Loosen up, yacht lovers.
