I was intrigued the other day when my daughter showed me an article in Vogue about an up and coming clothes designer called Mary Katrantzou. Here are some of her designs:


The reason it caught my eye was the obvious influence of cloisonné enamels on the prints that she has used.  
Look at a these cloisonné objects which illustrate classic cloisonné designs:


 
Cloisonné is the technique for creating designs on metal with coloured glass paste within wires of copper that have been bent into a design often of animals such as birds or fish or just an elaborate floral pattern, and soldered on. These wires are called 'cloisons' and are French for partitions. The whole thing is then fired and the process is repeated numerous times until all the gaps between the wires are filled. 
Apparently it is a Chinese art form that dates back to the 1400's - exactly when seems to be a bit of a debate, but there is general consensus that there is a Muslim influence. The items were generally used to decorate palaces and temples and occasionally thought to be suited to 'ladies chambers' and not a scholarly environment! 

What has this got to do with Rohanna jewellery? Well I have been using cloisonné beads for about 8 years now in my designs and they have always been popular. Here are just two examples of the designs I have created. The jewellery designs are simple because the beads themselves are the attraction.

  


 
So if you would like to be right up there with the latest from Vogue, go to my home page and have a closer look!