Sustainability by Lauren Kulchinsky Levison

During these days of the show, there has been much talk about sustainability and, above all, how to be responsible entrepreneurs and designers in the jewelry sector. However, first and foremost, it should be pointed out that there are many definitions of this concept, which is now often used almost like an advertising slogan. My family was already recycling back in the 1970s, I would say on a global scale, at home as well as in our Mayfair Rocks stores. The force behind our philosophy, which, at that time, was decidedly cutting edge, was mainly my mother who managed to separate and re-use materials of all kinds. In this way, we produced very little waste, we even made organic compost, while in Mayfair, we only used packaging made with retrieved materials and we never used industrially-produced boxes. In short, we were a slightly hippy company, even if I like to think of us more as pioneers of what is now defined as “responsible thinking.” For some time now, however, customers have begun to return the jewelry boxes they got from us and we have been re-using them. A small example, just to show how far we have come in recent years, and how each link in the jewelry production chain can make its contribution to this necessary process. The panelists at the VISIO.NEXT Summit, the round table that, last Friday, opened this show, witnessed a comparison of the various ways of making responsible jewelry: there are those who love to collect vintage jewelry and leave them as intact and authentic as possible, like, for example, Lynn Yaeger, the “pen” of Vogue America. And those like Lydia Courteille, who sees a “mine” of precious materials in an antique item that she can breathe new life into under another more contemporary and ingenious form without having to use any additional raw materials. Then there are those who began designing jewelry by chance, inspired by micro-elements such as nanoparticles, like entrepreneur, Paola Ferrari from Nanashapes LLC, who collects funds to support cancer research through her jewelry sales. And lastly, there are businessmen like Massimo Poliero, CEO of Legor Group, who is investing in researching high technology machinery to eliminate waste from metal processing and the intermediary phases, such as phosphate chalk and silicone, all extremely pollutant. Different ways to interpret a now common need at all levels to build the future for coming generations. In regard, however, to what this show is putting on display, I have already picked out some pieces and collections that I would like to have in my stores: the Cento100 collection by Antonini is one of the best things I have seen, not to mention my favorite, while in the Design Room, the dreamy and always unconventional creations by Lydia Courteille and Alessio Boschi, two of the designers that I appreciate the most. 

Lauren Kulchinsky Levison
Vice President,
Chief Style Officer & Curator of Mayfair Rocks