Last Tuesday night was the SS14 presentation of New York Based jewelry designer Heidi Gardner. Set in a light, airy space at the Highline loft, the stark white minimalism of the dual rooms became the backdrop of Heidi’s slightly dark and macabre aesthetic. Models in nude jumpsuits entered the room  and stood on tall cubes, gesturing slightly with their hands to showcase her work. At eye-length along the white walls were protruding dummy hands or what looked to be driftwood that held up her creations. We saw: a pair of gold majestic looking seahorses that looked to be like hair pins, startling shark jaw pendants, and a gorgeous pincushion of an anemone ring with the darkest pearl laid on top. Another stunner: a gold sting ray cuff with a sharp tail protruding up the arm. Shark tooth rings made a repeat appearance in what looked to be gold, silver and pewter and shark jaws looked like hunter traps but wrapped in gold, still delicate and hanging from a chain. It looked like sea creatures were on the designer’s mind to represent her Spring/Summer collection. Since her past work seemed preoccupied with skulls and human anatomy, it is interesting to see the designer extend her x-ray vision into other exoskeleton worlds.

– Jeanie Kwak

Photos by Charles Gigante