PHOTO: Jewellery From Zippers with Diamond Shine

An unseemly object which only serves a purpose in fashion, was turned into irresistible jewellery pieces by US designer Kate Cusack.

What most designers hide inside stitches, New York designer Kate Cusack puts in the foreground. A zipper is famous as an unseemly object, but Cusack has turned it into a piece of art jewellery, which has its place in many galleries and museum shops.

Zipper – endless linear construction

- Zippers are exciting to me right now because of their connection to fashion and to costume design by association, but they are appealing in form because of how the metal teeth sparkle and how the linear construction potential is endless. A line can be shaped into anything. A zipper is simply a line – Cusack revealed why she chose zippers as her material. You can see the results of her work HERE.

Her motto is to give material meaning treating it with colour, line and texture. Ever since she made her first humble brooch from zippers five years ago, she drew attention to her work. In 2006, she launched a unique line of zipper necklaces, followed by bracelets. Elegant and sophisticated design shows this unbecoming object turning into a fascinating piece of jewellery and that it is possible for metal teeth to shine like brilliant diamonds. Jewellery from zippers, to be precise, the base is made from fabric, comes in various colours and teeth come in gold and silver. Brooches cost 85 dollars, bracelets between 110 and 300, while necklace prices range from 400 to 1,000 dollars. They can all be ordered at www.katecusack.blogspot.com or www.katecusack.com.

Chanel flower as inspiration for design

- I was originally inspired by the idea of the Chanel flower, and thrifty/resourceful decoration of fashion from the 1940s. Because of wartime restrictions on materials, designers were forced to be more resourceful with extra pieces of fabric to decorate their garments. I always love these kinds of designs because there is a bit of a self-referential notion, and there is a simplicity when an entire garment from body to decoration is made from only one material. I made a Zipper Pin for myself and wore it on my jacket. I was working in the visual merchandizing department at Tiffany & Company at the time and the woman who I worked for, admired my pin. I was working there to design and create five Marie-Antoinette-style wigs made entirely from plastic wrap (that you’d use to cover left overs with) for the store windows along 5^th Avenue and 57^th Street in Manhattan. I made the second Zipper Pin as a gift for the woman who’d hired me when the project was complete, as a thank you – the designer revealed for Javno, talking about her base of inspiration.

Fighting ideas

Kate Cusack believes the most important thing is to express oneself in 3D or 2D form. According to her, the idea is born only when she holds materials in her hand and shapes them into garment forms, while on the other hand, she may get an idea while drawing sketches – it is important to feel the right moment of creativity. As he put it herself, her brain is only capable of following an idea which was born several months ago and she sometimes dreads the idea of executing an idea. In stead, she would rather create a new one.

Artists whom Cusack admires

Artists whom Kate Cusack admires are costume designer Anita Yavich, who assisted on the project of creating Aladdin for Disney a year ago. Although Anita`s initial material was s cartoon, she managed to create an abundant and sophisticated style, which still pays tribute to the original cartoon. The American designer also admires a good friend of hers, jewellery designer Margaux Lange, who has created a body out of Barbie doll parts. Lange creates unusual, beautiful jewellery, which is appealing and a bit creepy at the same time.

- I admire Margaux for the reputation she has created for herself and her work based on an iconic doll that most girls disregard before they turn into teenagers. She is constantly balancing the creative side with the business side of her jewellery and achieving great success – said the artist who also admirers her mother Margaret Cusack, who was an illustrator with a successful 30-year career. Her most famous clients were Absolut Vodka, American Express, even American Post.

After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Kate Cusack started working with everyday materials and creating unique costumes and wigs. Throughout her career, she worked for Parsons Meares and created Broadway and Disney production costumes at the Timberlake studio, while she also worked for Tiffany & Company.

She is currently working on new jewellery creations. According to her, some pieces are more extravagant in style, while others are subtle and wearable. She revealed that she has just finished designing costumes for a mini-series based on Barack Obama`s life, called `Obama Drama`.

- It is important to copyright your own new designs and never to infringe on someone else’s copyright – the artist and costume designer pointed out, who has of course, protected her designs.