Label: Eddie Borgo
Need to Know: Eddie Borgo is a bookworm, a history buff, and “big into referencing.” This season, the book Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff, prompted the CFDA Award-winning jewelry designer to revisit a legend he’s loved since childhood. “When men wrote about Cleopatra, they were always depicting her as sinister, a sexual deviant,” he said at a small gathering in his Palais Royal apartment-cum-showroom. “But when I read [the book], I found her even more incredible. She was the most powerful woman in the world. And today there’s not a young person who doesn’t know who she was.” Admittedly obsessive about research, Borgo dug up documentation about what the Egyptian queen actually owned. And he fused his findings with a little Stargate futurism to create his Fall ’13 wares. The resulting collection is an Egyptian revival with a twist. Take for example a chunky scarab cuff in onyx with carnelian inlay, or his first-ever mask, which picks up on the Eye of Horus but is fitted with back combs to double as a headband. Borgo channels the Isis headdress on a massive quartz necklace, the largest of a handful of pieces that mix the queen’s favorite stones (jade, onyx, howlite, and carnelian). Graphic shapes and ombré plating lend a distinct twenties vibe. (Footnote: Egyptian-revival jewelry had a major moment after King Tut’s tomb was discovered in 1922.) Borgo’s Ancient Egypt-meets-Art Deco combo makes for some serious statement pieces.
He says: “It’s easy to get obsessive about Cleopatra, because there’s so little information and so much mystery.”
Where to find it: Bergdorf Goodman, Fivestory, Net-a-Porter.com, Eddieborgo.com, and other select retailers.
—Tina Isaac
Photo: Courtesy of Eddie Borgo
No comments:
Post a Comment