Skin Anecdote

Collection short film

About the Project:

This collection delves into the intimate narratives individuals share with their bodies, challenges the boundary between jewellery and the body. The six pieces in the collection each discusses a step in the process of accepting our body imperfections such as being highly self-conscious, hiding the body, and trying to communicate vulnerability. Conventional jewellery often showcases a filtered and perfected identity, whereas this collection brings personal struggles and vulnerabilities into the open, encouraging authentic self-expression.

Skin is the largest organ in the human body that forms a layer between the inner body and the outside environment, it reveals our emotions, health conditions and reacts sensitively to the outside world. The fashion industry has long been criticised for showcasing only models with perfect skin, lacking diversity, and not representing what real skin looks like. The unrealistic portrayal of perfect skin creates anxiety in the real world. People often conceal their skin imperfections using clothes, make-up, plasters, and acne stickers. Additionally, they edit photos to remove pimples, scars, and birthmarks before posting on social media. In response, some contemporary make-up brands are promoting simple, easy, and quick make-up products that focus less on concealing skin. Meanwhile, new social media platforms encourage quick, unedited photo posts of everyday life to close friends, a trend that has gained significant popularity among Gen-Z and younger generations.

Many of the people interviewed by the designer expressed a lack of confidence about their skin and described their struggles to accept their imperfections. Through using jewellery to recreate natural and varied skin textures with extended material experiments, the collection reclaims the inherent beauty. The designer juxtaposes materials that are traditionally considered valuable with those typically viewed as not. Pearls, which are smooth, rare, and even, have often been used as a metaphor for ‘perfect’ skin in many cultures. However, in this design, pearls are used to mimic pimples on the skin. Photographs of real skin textures and body parts are framed or highlighted with fine silver and adorned with pearls.