Fashion / jewellery designers
Jewellery designers collaborate on a unique new collection
Statement Jewellery designers Rosa Pietsch & Dakota Rae Dust have teamed up with the new fashion collaboration RP X DRD
Sharing a design aesthetic for statement jewellery, bold colours and textures, both designers blend their own handmade, creative techniques by incorporating Rosa’s strong, laser cut acrylic abstracts with the soft, upcycled textile designs of Dakota Rae Dust.
Since meeting, a few years ago, as stallholders at a London Christmas Market, Rosa and Dakota Rae Dust designer Bec Denton, recognised similarities in their style and decided to work together, following Rosa’s move from London to Bristol in 2018.
is needed now More than ever
Bec from Dakota Rae Dust at her market stall
“I was instantly drawn to Bec’s work” explains Rosa, who now runs her self-titled brand as a full-time business. “I’d never seen anything like it before – the bold patterns and shapes combined with the softness of the fabrics, it stood out among everyone else’s work. I just loved everything I saw!”
“Rosa has an incredible work ethic and a really distinctive style,” adds Bec. “There are many acrylic jewellery designers but Rosa has a unique take on this material, sourcing rare acrylics and combining them with resin cast components.
“We both come from a fashion and textiles background and strive to create work that is really different to anything else. The fact that we now both live in the same city was the push we needed to explore working together.”
Geometrical acrylic earrings with tassel, RP X DRD £38
It is easy to see why the collaboration works so well, with both designers being influenced by art deco and psychedelic references, that really show in their work. The RP X DRD collection is the perfect blend of both styles with a captivating, more-is-more aesthetic in summery shades of purples, corals and pinks.
“We wanted to create pieces that are as fun to wear as they were for us to make, focusing on the idea of adornment, by adding decorative fringe trims, tassels and jangling acrylic charms. Each piece is a collaboration of our individual techniques and materials,” says Bec.
With Dakota Rae Dust already flying the sustainable fashion flag, the RP X DRD collaboration continues this ethos by repurposing second hand fabrics into their creations.
“This collection features a second-hand floral fabric dress we rescued from the sale rail in The Salvation Army shop on Gloucester Road,” says Rosa.
Bubble earrings by RP X DRD £42 (left) created using an upcycled vintage dress fabric (right).
“We have been conscious of reducing waste wherever possible, while prototyping and constructing our collection,” adds Bec.
“Rosa came up with the genius idea of threading small clusters of our unused, vinyl printed shapes and laser cut components on to wire earring hoops, creating our mix and match charm earrings.
“Our design backgrounds cross over in a variety of ways, yet our individual styles are unique. The shared interest in textiles and bold, geometric, art deco-esque patterns links our work. We just knew a collaboration would be a great project to work on.”
Beautiful and fun tasselled necklace £80 (left) and tasselled pendant £25 (right)
With both creatives working from their home studios at both Lawrence Hill and Montpellier, the RP X DRD collaborative meetings often take place in Bec’s local pub.
“We have done most of our design decision making at The Cadbury!” says Bec. “We began by collecting imagery and creating mood boards, then started experimenting with ways to combine our materials and techniques bringing prototype shapes and design ideas together to play around with together in person.
“After each meeting we’d take away new ideas, sketches and shapes, and develop these further from our own workplaces ready for the next meeting! We are so pleased with the designs we have come up with that we’ve decided to release a black, gold and metallics version later this year!”
The Neon Sunset collection by RP X DRD is available both the Rosa Pietsch and Dakota Rae Dust online shops from Saturday, August 31
Read more: Creative Upcycling with Dakota Rae Dust
Read our fashion editor Emma’s blog No Debutante
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