Katherine Pichulik has always been vocal that ”great, brave and gutsy women” are at the core of her designs. Her latest collection is no different: “It is amazing that this journey has really been about a glorious community of women – the women I work with, my friends and the women who wear the pieces.”
“We design jewellery that is imbued with messages and symbology to honour self-acceptance and self-mastery,” says the designer, who got her big start as an Emerging Creative at Design Indaba Expo in 2013.
Pichulik’s Autumn/Winter 2015 collection is inspired by Italy – the Santa Maria Novella church in Florence, Italian cinema from the 1960s and Italian art movements such as the Transavantgarde artists in the 1970s.
The collection, called “Pietra Terra” (meaning “rocky ground” in Italian), is also inspired by the Santa Maria Novella pharmacy – a fully operational pharmacy housed in the original 13th-century building complete with frescoes, stained-glass windows, glass-stoppered decanters full of colourful potions and antique apothecary scales and mortars.
Pietra Terra marks the end of a cycle for Kat: when the last winter collection was released she’d just gone through a break-up and this winter collection “feels like a personal healing of sorts,” she says.
The collection is rendered in classic Pichulik style using coloured rope and gold threading in a lavish, sculptural way but introduces new elements. Large stones feature in a big way and deep red and orange tones predominate, combined with the occasional appearance of sky blue stones.
With a residency in Italy on the horizon and “a lot in the pipeline” we look forward to seeing how the Pichulik label evolves.
The campaign was shot by Kristin-Lee Moolman, and styled by Ceri Muller. The hair and make-up was taken care of by duo-Alet Viljoen and Nandi Kai.
