New York-based brand LL, LLC, designed by Lia Lowenthal, is a rising talent in the jewellery world thanks to two quirky collaborations with Martine Rose
, sitting in her South Bronx studio. “I work with my hands all day so I can’t have a bunch of rings on, meaning I’m super particular about only making things I really want to wear. Doing this has taught me to follow my intuition.” Born in New York but raised between the Upper West Side you see in 90s romcoms and suburban Los Angeles, the artist and designer has assimilated the culture clash that defined her upbringing into jewellery brand.
She studied fine art at UCLA after high school then returned to the East Coast for an MA in photography at Bard College. One project, featuring abstract images of jewellery displays, included bits ofWhen they were exhibited, a friend suggested selling them, so she made up a fake company name just for fun, and accidentally started LL, LLCshe says. “There was no strategy, but it became this thing I had to take care of.
With no formal training, Lowenthal started working at the atelier of legendary 60s silversmith William Spratling in Taxco, Mexico, learning to make everything by hand. Once a boomtown built on traditional crafts, its magic lives on even though the tourism has died out, and Taxco inspired her to turn her new skills into a commercial operation. “It still never occurs to me to allow space in a ring for it to be resized though, I don’t design in a technical way.
Her earrings and necklaces are cultural artefacts, just like the other clothes, art and music that make up fashion.We have a shared interest in cultural and social histories, but I don’t think Martine [Rose] knew anything about that. We only connected because she found my jewellery in a store,” says Lowenthal, explaining how her recent collaborations with the London designer came about.
“That commonality means we work naturally together, and there are lots of parallels. Almost like we were drawn to each other.” This theme of treating jewellery as more than the expected rings and bracelets continued, as working with Rose was like an exchange of ideas, exploring how they could be translated into objects while leaning into a mutual love of research-based design.messed with the traditional expectations of men’s accessories but were also an unapologetic statement.
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