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Mercedes Salazar
If you were a fruit, what would you be?
“A mini pineapple.”
Happy, powerful and handmade are the three words to describe Mercedes Salazar’s bold and beautiful collections. Sometimes a jewellery designer comes along that embodies so much artistry you don’t really need to wear anything else.
Launching in 2001 in a small room within her and her husbands apartment at the time in Colombia, where she was born and raised, Mercedes is now a global brand with 19 stores all over the world, offering statement contemporary jewellery and fashion accessories handmade by master artisans in Colombia.
When it comes to inspiration, Mercedes simply turns to life. Known for her bright colours and sizeable jewellery, her inspiration often wonders in many directions, but with the same intent - she invites women to believe in themselves. When her children were very young, they used to believe so much in fairy tales and magic that it inspired Mercedes to make a collection called “Enchanted Forrest”. This was an appeal to women to believe in the power inside their hearts. She also
Statement Earrings
made a collection called “Writings”, where she engraved self-esteem sentences into little hearts. For her, it is important to tell women that they are beautiful and that they can do anything.
Throughout her 17 year reign, the visionary designer has incorporated specific weave techniques and craftsmanship from indigenous communities of Colombia. “Colombia inspires 100% my work – the colours, the Latin power, the fauna and flora, the markets, everything…”, says Mercedes. Her love for the way indigenous artisans use their hands, colours and materials has made her incorporate their ancestral techniques into her manufacturing process, such as these: crochet straw weaving, iraca palm weaving, the werregue palm weaving and the weaving of the Guambian women - made only by women due to their delicate and small hands.
From tousled and woven florals to brightly hued pineapples and magnificent green bugs, you won’t have enough of these the statement-making accessories that will go with your best holiday wardrobe.
