Runway jewelry trends are innovative and exciting, but they don’t often work for everyday wear. Your customers might love looking at oversized body chains or gigantic, asymmetric earrings in the pages of fashion magazines or on Instagram, but it’s unrealistic to consider wearing them to an office job or even Friday night drinks. With some creativity and strategy, you can translate high fashion looks into wearable, realistic, and accessible pieces that work for your customers. Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can incorporate runway jewelry concepts into your everyday designs.
Understanding Runway Jewelry Trends
First, let’s explore the best ways to stay on top of the current runway jewelry trends. The exciting thing about fashion is that trends emerge seasonally and they’re always changing. While this pace is fun, it can also be hard to keep up. If you understand how to identify trends and know what to take from them, you’ll be better equipped to utilize them in your own designs.
How to identify jewelry trends
Staying up to date with runway trends can be easy with the right resources and strategies in place. Online publications are really helpful; subscribe to email newsletters from consumer publications like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar to see what trends they’re covering each month. Social media is another great way to keep your finger on the fashion pulse; there are tons of accounts explicitly dedicated to documenting trends. You can also attend fashion shows or industry conferences — not only are these good opportunities to see what trends are making waves, but you can also make professional connections to expand your network.
What to take away from jewelry trends
While you’re keeping tabs on the latest runway jewelry trends, look to identify recurring patterns or motifs. Find the guiding principles of what makes a jewelry trend work (like the use of color, an interesting texture, symmetry, balance, etc.) and then apply those factors to the pieces you know your customers already love. Wondering how to apply trends to your jewelry designs, practically speaking? Read on…
Tips for Translating Runway Jewelry Trends into Wearable Designs
The good news is that there are no hard and fast rules for how to incorporate runway jewelry trends into your own everyday designs. Jewelry design is an art, not a science, so no one can prescribe how to find and incorporate your inspirations. Instead, here are some suggestions for how you might get started:
- Simplify: Most runway designs are larger than life. When you see an iconic trend like oversized bangles that tend to get heavy and cumbersome, you can incorporate the trend into your designs by reducing and simplifying. Scale the trend down to create more wearable pieces.
- Focus on color: Use colors in innovative ways: take the runway trend and distill it down to more affordable applications. For example, if the latest trend is expensive sapphires and you know your market can’t afford the largest, rarest gems sported on the runway, take the royal navy color and run with it. Try enamel or e-coating to stay in touch with the trend without veering too far from your design aesthetic or your price range.
- Experiment with textures and materials: To create intriguing wearable designs, try using more affordable, approachable materials. For example, if heavy dangling statement earrings made of metal are too heavy and impractical for most of your customers, perhaps a lighter plastic material might work.
- Adapt shapes: If there’s a trend that looks enticing but just isn’t realistic consider adapting its shape to fit more comfortably. Triangle bangles are making a splash? Those can’t be comfortable for your customers to wear. But a zigzag bangle that plays on the same geometric theme while making it much more wearable would work well.
Examples of Incorporating Runway Jewelry Concepts into Everyday Designs
For a little inspiration, here are some examples of ways that you can adapt runway jewelry trends into everyday designs:
- Make statement earrings inspired by oversized accessories, but smaller in size for everyday wear.
- Produce dainty necklaces inspired by statement pieces, using thinner chains and smaller charms for a subtle yet stylish look.
- Add delicate bracelets inspired by bold bangles, using thinner bands and skipping embellishments to create everyday staple pieces.
- Develop simple ear cuffs inspired by avant-garde ear jewelry, using smaller shapes and more subtle designs for more wearable pieces.
- Downsize the neck mess look with smaller charms that still emulate the bright, bold, playful nature of the runway trend.
If you’re ready to design pieces that echo runway trends from your brand’s unique perspective, work with a manufacturer that understands the importance of making fashion accessible. MJJ Brilliant has spent 40 years producing millions of beautiful pieces that reach their target demographics, often through major international retailers. Contact us today to see how MJJ Brilliant can help your brand reach new heights.
