Heaven Tanudiredja changed my mind about my previous connontations of jade. Jade for me, meaning mother and grandmother's necklaces and trinklets, in a pale green colour that is usually carved or embossed with a motif - the Far Eastern version of mother/grandmother's pearls as it were. Heaven's S/S 09 collection mined his supply of black jade to make these pieces, combining other elements such as frayed ribbon, gold chains and crystals to make pieces that get as far away from my own vision of jade as possible and are of course beautiful objects in their own right. When I went to see his collection at the FFI showroom in Paris in October, he said that once the black jade been exhausted, he would explore another material, making his collections a sort of natural exploration of Earth's minerals. The shapes themselves looked a little like underwater creatures, especially as the basement of the FFI showroom was quite dim, making the pieces glint and snake about in a mysterious way.
Heaven also I believe designed Dries Van Noten's jewellery last season (hence the wonderful pic shot by the Sart) but I'm glad he's also got the opportunity to do his own collection at the side too.
