Learning from Nature: Goossens ss17

A philosophy, a kind of self-evidence, a state of mind rather than a defined style. For this spring and summer 2017, Patrick Goossens explores the possibilities of a jewel seen through the favorite themes of the house: beautiful natural materials, beveled stones, colors and smoke crystal, the preciousness of metal work, and that special touch as if each creation had already been worn.

The Bayadère necklaces in pink quartz and bubble gum amazonite (a rare shade that exists only in Madagascar) convey that little bit of frivolity. The Stones bracelets and ring-pendants confront Italian white or black marble and quartz with their clean-cut facets. The models from the Cabochons line are made of dyed rock crystal featuring the famed medieval tarred crimping, while Woods is wrought from natural wood and natural tinted wood into organic convict chains. And of course, the Boucle line – the brand’s signature motif – which punctuates this sea-son in black or white gold.

Striking to the eye, the wide or thin Skins cuffs, with their yellow patina, white or grey gold metal, imitate the texture of precious leathers – “it is almost impossible to reproduce nature’s motifs by hand, says Patrick Goossens. For Skins, we used a process for python, shagreen and crocodile skin prints, and worked the metal using the lost wax casting technique.”

There is also a nod to Robert Goossens Origines in the form of a necklace and brooch, made of crystal and  pearl warmed with yellow gold or citrine, very light smoke quartz or smoke crystal on grey gold. A lovely way of telling the Goossens story of know-how and transmission.

For the first season, the House of Goossens invited Isabel Encinias to imagine a theme that would revisit the codes of the house, called Half Moon. Inspired by the Sky Mirror of Anish Kapoor and the details of the brutalist architecture of Mario Botta (especially that of the Wohnsiedlung in Novazzano, Switzerland), the jewelry designer interprets in her own way the marble and rock crystal in a palette of warm browns. Her bracelets, rings and buckle-clasp pendants translate the idea of continuous movement with an infinite lightness.