Swarovski crystal: An ingredient supporting conscious design
Discover a world of collaborations with sustainability at their heart
By Commonwealth Fashion Council
Swarovski
SWAROVSKI’S
HISTORY
The Swarovski story began in 1895 when Daniel Swarovski invented a machine for cutting and polishing crystal. This machine not only revolutionized jewelry manufacturing, it has inspired the worlds of art, design, fashion and cinema for over a hundred years. Today, Swarovski is the world’s leading producer of precision-cut crystal and gemstones and operates over 2350 retail outlets in about 170 countries.
ADVANCED CRYSTAL
Advanced Crystal is an innovative, lead-free* formula which is patented by Swarovski in the US, Japan and 16 European countries.
Following 12 years of intensive research, all Swarovski crystal is now produced to the Advanced Crystal standard. Advanced Crystal has raised the bar for quality and sustainability in the industry, offering crystal of the highest quality, whilst ensuring products meet and surpass legislation, regulations and industry standards. *Crystal glass and all other materials containing 0.009% lead or less.
CREATIVITY
AND CONSCIOUS DESIGN
Discover collaborations which reveal how today's creatives are integrating Swarovski crystal into their sustainable designs and practices.
Tome, Spring/Summer 18Commonwealth Fashion Council
NEW YORK FASHION WEEK S/S18
As part of its aim to drive positive change and create a more responsible fashion industry, Swarovski supported two leading brands, Tome and Creatures of the Wind to create collections with sustainability at their heart.
“For Spring 2018 we recycled designs and crystals from past seasons in an effort to sustainably use our resources. Sustainability already runs top-down in our business, and we’ll continue to innovate on different ways we can approach it. Sustainable and ethical fashion should not be considered a luxury but a given.”
Ryan Lobo and Ramon Martin, Creative Directors, Tome
Drawing inspiration from NYC dance icon Pam Tanowitz, who also choreographed their show: models wore slip-dresses, leotards and voluminous pants. The details, however revealed striped and pleated cottons and silks embellished with crystals to create a subtle shimmer, and geometric crystal designs were placed strategically on garments to accentuate the movement of the body.
“We’ve always tried to take a very careful and conscientious approach in our process of making and manufacturing. We go to great lengths to ensure that we are not wasteful in our development and in our material consumption. For our Spring 2018 collaboration with Swarovski, we chose to focus on one technique that we developed specifically for this season. We are using Swarovski Crystaldust as a ‘paint;’ applying it as a repeat pattern over leather coats, skirts, and boots. As it’s a by-product of other Swarovski components, it’s inherently sustainable.”- Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters, Creatures of the Wind
The Creatures of the Wind collection was painted with a custom lacquer developed by the designers, made up of over 1.7 million Swarovski Crystaldust pieces—a by-product of Swarovski’s cutting process—the sparkling lacquer was applied as a repeat-pattern finish to reworked, one-of-a-kind leather coats, skirts and boots.
Hand dyed yarns at Faustine Steinmetz's studio by Faustine SteinmetzCommonwealth Fashion Council
FAUSTINE STEINMETZ
The London-based French designer Faustine Steinmetz, winner of the Swarovski Collective Award 2017, is known for her collections which are created using artisanal techniques. All of Faustine’s pieces are made in accordance with her belief in craftsmanship over trend. Pieces are created using processes that have a lower environmental impact than mass-market fashion production.
Swarovski crystals applied to Faustine Steinmetz jeans by SwarovskiCommonwealth Fashion Council
Known for her handwoven denim pieces, Faustine Steinmetz hand-weaves her own fabric in her east London studio. For Autumn/Winter 17 Steinmetz created a denim jacket and jeans completely embroidered with Swarovski crystals.
Designer Faustine Steinmetz at work in her studioCommonwealth Fashion Council
Each bead on the jeans was individually embroidered, with the final piece taking 25 days to finish.
Designer Jimenez Lai in his studio (2017)Commonwealth Fashion Council
TERRAZZO PALAZZO BY JIMENEZ LAI
Asked to design the unifying installation for the Swarovski Designers of the Future installation at Design Miami 2017, Los Angeles-based Jimenez Lai created Terrazzo Palazzo, a palazzo-style architectural environment. Inspired by the idea of reusing, reducing and upcycling, Terrazzo Palazzo gives crystal new life.
Terrazzo Palazzo by Jimenez Lai prototype (2017) by Jimenez LaiCommonwealth Fashion Council
The deconstructed palazzo is formed by freestanding structures, created with a new pioneering material that incorporates upcycled Swarovski crystal.
Terrazzo Palazzo by Jimenez Lai for Swarovski Designer of the Future Award, Design Miami 2017 (2017) by Jimenez LaiCommonwealth Fashion Council
Inspired by the idea of reusing, reducing and upcycling, Terrazzo Palazzo gives crystal new life. The installation uses so-called ‘second quality’ crystal which has not passed Swarovski’s stringent quality control due to minor imperfections, not usually visible to the naked eye.
Production of Terrazzo Palazzo using 'second quality' Swarovski crystals (2017) by SwarovskiCommonwealth Fashion Council
'Second quality' crystals which have not passed Swarovski's stringent quality control due to minor imperfections were used to create the material for Terazzo Palazzo, seen here in the production process.
Terrrazzo Palazzo detail, Jimenez Lai (2017) (2017) by Jimenez Lai and SwarovskiCommonwealth Fashion Council
Clutch Baguette by Ruby Parker (2017) by Ruby ParkerCommonwealth Fashion Council
VANISHING WORLDS
Swarovski supports key design schools such as Central Saint Martins in London on design projects which challenge students to create pieces underlined by the use of crystal and gemstones from Swarovski’s upcycling program which seeks to re-purpose unused products into new materials. Students from the BA Jewelry Design course explored the design brief set to the theme of Vanishing Worlds.
This content has been specifically curated for the Google Arts & Culture platform on behalf of the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange exhibition that launched on the 19th of February at Buckingham Palace in partnership with Swarovski, The Woolmark Company and MATCHESFASHION.COM.
The project, created and managed by Eco-Age, with the support of The Commonwealth Fashion Council and The British Fashion Council.
More information about the images is available by clicking on them.
Read more about the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange at http://eco-age.com/commonwealth-fashion-exchange/
