When I first covered Prismera Jewelry, I remarked on how designer Laura Su's dainty, carefully cut, botanical-themed pieces conjured up images of playful wood nymphs and fairies frolicking in a magical forest expanse. Now, with the launch of PD Couture, a line of one-of-a-kind couture necklaces, Su has continued to embrace the lush floral imagery that has informed her previous work but has pumped up the volume with statement-making silhouettes, garden-worthy colors, and dramatic textural effects.
These handcrafted pieces are made using strips of chiffon, velvet, cotton and satin fabric, sewn together to create sculptural pleats, undulating ruffles, or soft rosette shapes, and adorned with beads, sequins, and thin metal chains. Pictured above are three of my favorite necklaces in the debut collection. At top, you'll find the "Jenesis" necklace, which features an explosion of ruffled green chiffon that creates a lush, grass-like backdrop for rosebud-shaped grooves of mustard yellow and magenta chiffon. To give the necklace a youthful touch, Su incorporated shimmering, navy blue, sequined appliqués shaped like whimsical daisies, and crafted a Boho-flavored necklace strand with three strips of clear beads along one side and, along the other, sliced wooden beads that trickle down the side of the neck like tree stumps in a forest. Another beauty is the "Stella" necklace (pictured second from top), a bib necklace of white chiffon curved in meringue-like shapes, with cylindrical, silver-toned beads sewn along the center of each shape to resemble flowers' pistils.
The most breathtaking piece in the collection is probably the "Aubrey" necklace (pictured third from top), which features strips of chiffon in a range of elegant gray hues, twisted and molded to create a lei-like silhouette, topped off with thin silver-toned chains and feather accents. But the true flash of genius here is, of course, the focal detailing which consists of an arched strip of pleated velvet shaped to resemble a raised collar, and a supple peony-like shape made with layered chiffon and finished with a delicate sequined appliqué with a leafy motif. It's the kind of necklace that would make you feel like Anne Boleyn during her reign (prior to the whole head-chopping incident, that is). Okay, clearly I've been watching too many re-runs of The Tudors, but you catch my drift!
PD Couture "Jenesis" necklace, $230; PD Couture "Stella" necklace, $150; PD Couture "Aubrey" necklace, $230. Available at PrismeraDesign.com
