Concretions with a metallic luminescence, halfway between fossils from a remote past and potential visions belonging to an imaginary future. Relics endowed with an aura outside of time but drenched with the present. Mutual nourishment and influence between disciplines fuel the handcrafted process of jewellery design. Virginia Evangelista's collections bring forth objects in flux that are imbued with ancient sacrality and at the same time act as heralds for sustainability's values in the current era. Creatures in their embryonic stage become prostheses of an ear, rocky clusters embrace fingers, cavities morph into dwellings for gemstones. These otherworldly and yet mesmerising shapes adorn the visage and limbs with silvery gleams. Grace and science interweave and generate elements sublimating the motion of matter with an alchemical and archetypical scent. The potential for creating forms in perpetual evolution resides in the organic textures: Virginia Evangelista's pieces are fragments in the making that incorporate the spirit of exploration and dedication.

Where did your first attraction to jewellery making originate, and what was the first intuition towards the brand's foundation?

The interest in jewellery was a natural consequence of the fascination with the material. Mass that transforms itself, bearer of meaning which, extending over the body, integrates strengthening it. The first intuition was actually two years ago, right before the pandemic started. Was one of those moments that we remember now while a melancholic smile finds its space on our faces.

It was summer, it was dark, music was loud, cars were passing by fast, lights faster, people dancing and talking even faster than lights. Me and my partner Clarissa (Chareun) were going clubbing and she saw me wearing what then became the first Embryo piece of many, and she said: “you better do something big out of it, it’s incredible, this is you!”, and I somehow already saw that coming. It was actually an intuition for both of us, as if it was meant to be. That’s when our journey began between sketches and clay, studies and lots of researching, 3D imaginary worlds, real foundries in Como, meetings, shootings and so on.

Could you tell us more about your background? And was there a milestone moment in your growth as a designer?

My path has moved in similar fields but with a diametrically opposite approach. Right after graduating in art history at the Brera Academy, my training in the field of jewellery was completely artisanal and 'self-made'. In fact, the fusion techniques and processing of materials have been learned - and still continue - thanks to a direct link to observation, teachings and individual practice with my father and the artisans of the small town where I was born, on the shores of lake Como. Each piece that comes out of new trials represents a milestone to me as a person, artist, artisan or jewellery maker - however people like too see me or the brand. Me and Clarissa - who has been working in fashion communication over the last 7 years - agreed immediately on this project of ours not being a jewellery brand only and we strive continuously for more. What began as an intimate two-person project has since expanded into a label with a series of great collaborators under its belt. However, I believe that, to date, the most important step has been the one that has seen the production and processing of the pieces move from an external foundry to the 360-degree realisation in our studio.

“‘’Each piece that comes out of new trials represents a milestone to me as a person, artist, artisan or jewellery maker.’’”

How would you define your approach to materials, and how do you connect to the experimentation process?

Exploratory, curious, immersive. The creation of each piece becomes an all-encompassing experience made out of research and study of the narrative behind each piece, manual experimentation with the material and observation of the change of state, and shape.

What is the leading principle that bonds all the collections realised so far?

Evolution and transformation are the brand’s main cores in terms of both processing techniques and choice of materials, for these reasons all our jewels are produced fully handmade and in limited editions only. The creative process is the result of my researches and studies in fine arts, design, materiality, science, archaeology and technology. This makes the conception and the production of each jewel more similar to that one behind artworks than fashion items. Each prototype on the other hand is thought to establish a particular relationship with everyone’s body adapting naturally to each person’s physiognomy as well as being characterised by an unusual shape and wearability that establish a new relationship between each person and what I called “fashion object”.

Our collections are also completely eco–friendly and contribute the reduction of emissions and environmental damages. We like to think that we are a brand in touch with our times and needs - and such sustainability must be a priority. For these reasons, each piece is made with recyclable or regenerated materials. This allows us to achieve production mechanisms that defy the overproduction, seriality and fast-paced dynamics of the fashion industry aiming to create a fully sustainable concept of “new fine jewellery”.

How does the dialogue between archaic and high-tech realms unfold within your creations?

The project rises from the will of creating body ornaments inspired by my studies in palaeontology, biology and geology - combined with a futuristic dystopian visual approach. Shapes and structures remind of fossils, extinct organisms and ancient objects with a focus on the aura and the sacredness, whether textures resemble natural aggregations and rock stratifications. The artisanal manufacture and the unique and individual yield are the principles underlying the processing techniques used for the production of each piece. For these reasons, the production combines ancient casting techniques - such as cuttlefish bone casting, to more contemporary ones such as lost wax casting. Each piece is then hand blunted and polished in order to guarantee its individuality and comes in a limited edition of twenty pieces only.
Finally, we recall new technologies. The 3D prototypes and the hi-tech virtual scenarios contrasting the jewels rough shapes and structure have always shed light on the anthropomorphic characteristics of each piece, which interweave with and follow the human body just as alien prostheses, expanding the idea of simple ornament concerning jewels and transforming them into otherworldly techno-futuristic extensions of the body.

What do your upcoming future projects aim to convey?

It is essential for us to continue to research and explore. Being able to come into contact with new, innovative and sustainable materials in the field of jewellery that we aim to be considered as an alternative to the barrier imposed by those well-known considered more precious and traditional. Finally, being able to range and expand into other fields, as we previously mentioned, to keep creating pieces that won’t be just classified as jewels. Perhaps objects, maybe sculptures, who knows? But you will sure be able to tell straight away: “that’s a Virginia Evangelista!”.