One to Watch: Lily Kamper

London-based jewellery designer Lily Kamper graduated from the Royal College of Art, reading Mixed Media Textile Design, in 2012 and founded her company that same year. She was also commissioned by WGSN to design and make the awards for the 2012 Global Fashion Awards Ceremony and returned the following year as a judge of the panel. Her pieces are both beautiful and bizarre, featuring true innovative style that doesn’t sacrifice sophistication.

First and foremost, Kamper seeks inspiration away from the usual topics. Her first collection stretched as far as the abandoned swimming pools of Miami for ideas, and her A/W ’13 collection was born as a new beast of perfectly mismatched materials and clean-cut, angular shapes that are riddled with colour. Her collections feature a combination of dip-dyed Perspex which is turned on a lathe, sometimes using a variety of stonework to highlight certain pieces.

Each piece is cut so specifically and with such accuracy that the whole collection gives off a very purposeful vibe. Her S/S ’14 collection appears to feature a larger range of materials, with an increase in metal work and vibrant colour. If anything her recent work has grown into a more mature form, whilst still retaining the fun and playful aspects of her style. The colours are fresher, more crisp and typical of summer trends.

Her initial aim was to embody modern luxury within her work, and given the response she’s received from the fashion industry, she’s achieved just that. We particular love her later metal pieces, which are all gold and silver plated brass, also handmade. The square cut shapes combined with such careful attention to detail in terms of the dying process have contributed their uniqueness to this already innovative style, and we can’t wait to see what’s next in store for Lily Kamper.

Elizabeth Finney

For more information on her work, visit Lily Kamper’s website. Her work can be bought from Liberty London, Colette, Start London and Young British Designers.