Both trained at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium, the two comrades have been exchanging as in a game of ping-pong for almost fifteen years.
By Valentin Perez
D'HEYGERE
Return to the boarding school of young girls with D'heygere /
Stéphanie D'heygere, winner of the 2018 ANDAM accessory prize, returns to the boarding school of her youth in Belgium to shoot students in uniform accessorized with her latest collection
In January 2018, Stéphanie D'heygere surprised with a first collection of semi-jewellery and semi-leather accessories, double-function pieces, diverted as Dadaist. Earring-flower, necklace-cigarette, glove bracelet, eyeglass case bag, chain stitching, jewellery box earring etc. : at D'heygere accessories use Trompe-l'œil effects, out of context that make the salt of the brand. The designer uses everything and is inspired by everything around her to create: BIC pen, metro ticket, shirt sleeve ... Like so many bases for her future "readymades". "It's sacred because it's chosen” said Marcel Duchamp, one of the leading figures of the Dada movement and one of the first artists to amalgamate his work notes to his work, an inspiration for the Belgian designer. Stéphanie D'heygere graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp and received ANDAM's Fashion Accessories Award. It was by chance during an internship at Lanvin that she discovered the world of accessories. In 2011, she joined Maison Martin Margiela as an accessory designer until 2015. She was then appointed senior jewellery designer at Dior before launching into freelance and collaborating with several fashion brands including Y / Project.
The designer unveils her latest campaign, shot by Arnaud Lajeunie, with Ursina Gysi in style. For this occasion, she returned to her Belgian boarding school in Loppem to photograph the last year students accessorized with parts of her collections from SS19 and FW19. On navy blue uniforms, the accessories stand out - accentuating the contrast between the rigour of the clothes and the creativity of D'heygere jewellery.
"Once, during an interview, the reporter asked me where my passion for accessories came from. Very spontaneously I replied that it was perhaps related to my years of internship, where I had to wear a uniform. The only elements that were not part of it were the accessories: backpack, little jewels, shoes, socks that allowed to reveal a little personality. It gave me the idea to go back to school to do something. I was afraid the management would be reluctant to this project but she loved the idea. We photographed girls between 17 and 19 years old: all those who wanted to participate could, we did not make a casting. When we arrived at school, we had never seen them before. They were born about the year I left school. Nothing has changed except that the skirts are much shorter than in my day!“
No makeup for the photo shoot:
"We wanted it to be as natural as possible, not a disguise. The girls were able to choose what they wanted to put on, we wanted to make sure they were comfortable.”
Always in the spirit of the brand, practicality and aesthetics are mixed, worn and features multiply.
"We find a very slender bag, inspired by a flea-chipped model created to store woollen balls and knitting needles; detachable earrings accumulated on a Creole that remind us of these jewellery presentation stands; horn comb charms: you can comb your hair and attach them to your belt or bag; a silver scarf holder with a detachable wool scarf reminiscent of the idea of a coat rack.”
The designer has fun codes, hijacks the symbols as with this silver engagement ring set with Zirconia which shines like diamond (fruit of a collaboration with Swarovski) and which can be worn as an earring, this necklace support bra or this ankle jewel connected to the waist inspired by a wallet chain.
"My aesthetic is realistic, I'm not in fantasy and I'm not trying to sell dreams, so to speak.”
By Sophie Abriat for i-D
New York Times: D'heygere /
Brand to Know: An Innovative Jewelry Line Inspired by Flowers
In Paris’s Fourth Arrondissement, on Île de la Cité, a little island between the Marais and the Jardin du Luxembourg, is a small flower market. Recently, it was the unexpected site of a jewelry presentation: Stephanie D’heygere launched her eponymous accessories brand in one of the market’s hothouse-like green steel pavilions where a variety of seasonal and exotic flowers are sold daily.
“I really wanted a showroom that represented the heart of the collection and brand,” says the Belgian-born, Paris-based designer, who has spent the past seven years at an array of major fashion houses. Laid out on the flower shop’s shelves were D’heygere’s designs: a line of diminutively sized leather bags, semitransparent belts and cleverly conceived jewelry — pieces that feel playful and delightfully idiosyncratic. “I’ve had this idea of designing jewelry that can carry flowers for a very long time. It never really felt right to propose this idea to one of my clients, which made me realize that it’s a very personal idea that I’d rather keep to myself.”
This first collection is titled “The Flower Shop,” and flowers are central to the D’heygere brand. “I love buying fresh flowers,” says D’heygere, “and I kept on thinking, how cool would it be if I could go to the flower shop and just pick a flower to match my outfit?”
D’heygere is something of an industry insider. She studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp with hopes of working at Chanel. Then, she recounts, she “accidentally ended up at Margiela, a brand I would never have considered at first. It turned out to be the best opportunity ever. When I left school, I was trained to be a fashion designer — it never occurred to me that I would become an accessories designer.”
From 2011 onward, she progressed from intern to assistant at Maison Martin Margiela and then became head of jewelry. After a yearlong stint as a freelancer in 2015 — she counts Y/Project among her clients — D’heygere took on the role of senior jewelry designer at Dior.
Then she chose the freelance path once again. “The time seemed right,” she says of her decision to branch out on her own. “I had a few ideas and some money in the bank. It took me about a year and a half; I postponed the launch of the collection twice because I really wanted it to be perfect.”
A glance at her pieces certainly makes clear how thoroughly D’heygere has thought through her brand. Instead of trying to create the next “it” bag — the era of which is arguably over — she offers accessories that one can integrate into outfits, in the most literal sense. Several designs have keychain fastenings that allow the wearer to attach the piece to garments or other accessories. Some of her small leather goods are based on the archetypes of jean pockets and sunglasses cases. There are pairs of gloves that can moonlight as chokers. And one fanny pack could easily be mistaken for wrapped-around sweater sleeves. “I really like ordinary objects and transforming them into luxurious accessories,” she says.
D’heygere also values functionality. She describes a leather cardholder from the collection that doubles as both a necklace and portable mirror. “I always wear lipstick, so I find it super handy to be able to look at the mirror in case I need a retouch,” she explains, “I don’t think I would be able to design something that I wouldn’t wear.”
But perhaps her most distinctive pieces are the Canister Hoops: oversize earrings with a circular opening at the bottom that can hold small items like flowers — or cigarettes, as the brand’s Instagram page demonstrates. “Accessories are meant to accessorize your outfit,” says the designer with a smile, “But now with D’heygere, you can actually accessorize your accessories.”
Article by Siska Lyssens for The New York Times Style Magazine