With people increasingly focused on Earth’s fragile ecology and traditional, nature-affirming values, the trend analysts at CRYSTALLIZED™ –Swarovski Elements have returned to the cradle of life – water – for their Spring/Summer 2011 theme. Crystal-clear water is not only one of our most precious resources, it is deeply significant to Swarovski itself. Life-enhancing, pristine, a brilliant reflector and refractor of light, this transparent liquid becomes a perfect metaphor for the life cycle of female nature and beauty.

SOURCE (Harmony)

Ageless, goddess-like and wise, womankind emerges resplendent from the mystic darkness of the SOURCE. Representing both her destination and her point of departure, this theme celebrates a fragile, yet deeply felt femininity, interpreted through a noble, gleaming range of hues with powerful dark and light contrasts. New colours and effects such as Provence Lavender and Ceramics combine with rosy antique gold and silver to suggest a mood of sensual sophistication. Renaissance-inspired influences tempered with soft modern touches – delicate hair adornments, fluid strings of pearls and unconstrained pearl-textile combinations – hint at wisdom and rejuvenation. Crinkled, textured fabrics are embellished with small- and mid-sized drop-like crystals, including the Wing Bead innovation, to create refined accessories and elegant draping gowns with lingerie-like overtones. Gorgeous combinations of crystal and rougher, more natural materials are used to conjure intimate bathrooms and subtly bejewelled interiors.

CASCADE (Romantic)
CASCADE pays tribute to the adolescent girl, at once straightforward yet awkward, exuberant yet melancholic, androgynous yet feminine. Like a defiant, modern-day nymph she provokes and dazzles, displaying the effervescent restlessness of a tumbling waterfall. A fresh pastel palette that includes White Opal and yellowy-green highlights perfectly communicates the spirited, lighthearted mood. Chunky necklaces and rings are juxtaposed with delicately detailed jewels. Outsized and small crystals are playfully mixed; irregular cuts and charm-like symbols such as the XILION Heart Pendant innovation contrast with gunmetal and silicone . With a nod to the 1980s and punk-rock style, denim is paired with lacy, lingerie-inspired tops and leather biker boots; loose shirts in cotton voile and batiste cling to the body; asymmetric touches abound. The rebellious theme carries through to a new segment – gadgets for girls – with crystals adorning scooters, helmets, MP3 players and headphones, even electric guitars.

SWAMP (Progressive)
As girlhood ends, the journey of self-discovery begins. Exuberant free-spiritedness falters, displaced by an existential ache; from the swamp of exquisite melancholy a more pensive disposition unfolds. This transition into womanhood is reflected in deep muddy shades, organic and mysterious, fused with flashes of warm gold and new Fern Green. Jewellery is elegant but earthy, textured and irregular in shape, offering a distorted vision of the future. Hybrid crystals are set in oxidised metals or rubber, latex and silicone; asymmetric shapes – such as the new Zinnia Pendant, one of the three new shapes that complete the Designer Edition “Fantastic Flower” by Andrée Putman – inspired by insects, flowers and vegetation, fuse with base materials. Voluminous, sculptural design statements are crafted from glistening wet-look and metallic fabrics, while textured surfaces suggest aquatic plant life, seaweed and algae. Interior design places vegetal smudge prints and rough surface effects side by side with graphic industrial elements, and metals such as copper and iron.

RIVER (Classic)
Turbulence gives way to calmer waters and a desire to flow with the rhythm of life: RIVER is an acknowledgment of this newfound equilibrium. Serenity defines adornment, expressed in timeless designs inspired by the Berber traditions of North Africa. Favoured fabrics include silks, linens and cottons in earthy and maritime hues. Sarouel trousers, leather sandals and embroidered turbans and scarves are dressed up with clasps and brooches in antique gold, blackened silver, bronze and ceramic. Jewellery is classic but bold, characterised by an ethnic, handcrafted feel; necklaces and bracelets are layered on top of one another, uniting innovations such as Ceramics, Artemis Beads and Ginko Pendants with cord, leather and embroidery. Interior design extends the theme, mixing the simplicity of Berber prints with the relaxed, nautical style of life aboard a houseboat.

OCEAN (Glamour)
Exotic brights evoke OCEAN, opening up a vista of sparkling sea, beach, lagoon and tropical reef. Female beauty – iridescent, magnificent – reaches its zenith in a lush and surreal underwater world. The brilliant colour spectrum, including new Fern Green and Provence Lavender, radiates deep-rooted feelings of ease, confidence, attitude and strength. Opulent, oversized statement jewels are juxtaposed with pieces inspired by aquatic plants, or a range of mix-and-match designs with classic detailing. Bold beach couture reigns: swimwear sporting linear bandings; luxurious beach bags and sunglasses; and abstract patterns embellished with graphic or natural-shaped crystals such as the Wing Pendant and Wing Fancy Stone innovations. Interiors celebrate organic, modern forms, high-tech geometric structures and multi-hued optical effects. The mood is free, dazzling, feminine and pure of soul.

Couture jewellery designer Jenny Manik Mercian interprets new trends
Internationally acclaimed jewellery designer Jenny Manik Mercian draws on the five new CRYSTALLIZED™ trend directions to produce inspirational interpretations of each theme. The designer’s unique creative approach, which combines exotic materials such as amber and marble with antique pearls and CRYSTALLIZED ™ – Swarovski Elements, lends itself perfectly to the new season’s trend. Her opulent, crystal-encrusted creations are available under her Manik Mercian and Sahani labels. She has also designed for Victoria’s Secret runway shows, international fashion houses and celebrities around the world.

In 1895, Daniel Swarovski I, a Bohemian inventor and visionary, moved to the village of Wattens, Tyrol in Austria, with his newly-invented machine for cutting and polishing crystal jewellery stones. From this beginning that revolutionised the fashion world, Swarovski has grown to be the world’s leading producer of precision-cut crystal, for fashion, jewellery and more recently lighting, architecture and interiors. Today, the company, still based in Wattens, family-owned and run by 4th and 5th generation family members, has a global reach, with some 22.000 employees, a presence in over 120 countries and a turnover in 2007 of 2.56 billion Euros. Swarovski comprises two major businesses, one producing and selling loose elements to the industry and the other creating design-driven finished products. Swarovski crystal components, known by their product brand names CRYSTALLIZED™ – Swarovski Elements for fashion and STRASS ® Swarovski ® Crystal for architecture and light, have become an essential ingredient of international design. Since 1965 the company has also catered to the fine jewellery industry with precision-cut genuine and created gemstones, and from April 2008 has strengthened this relationship by revitalising and renaming the product brand ENLIGHTENED ™ – Swarovski Elements. Showing the creativity that lies at the heart of the company, Swarovski’s own-brand lines of accessories, jewellery and home décor are sold through more than 1300 Swarovski stores and concessions in all major fashion capitals, while the exclusive Daniel Swarovski accessories collection has become the company’s Couture signature. The Swarovski Crystal Society has close to 400,000 members worldwide, keen collectors of the celebrated crystal figurines. And in Wattens, Swarovski Kristallwelten, the multi-media crystal museum, was opened in 1995, as a celebration of Swarovski’s universe of innovation and inspiration. The Swarovski corporation also includes Tyrolit ®, manufacturing grinding tools, Swareflex, for road safety reflectors and Swarovski Optik, producing precision optical instruments.