Tessa Packard knows a thing or two about the essential elements that make up exquisite jewellery. The self-taught jewellery designer merits individuality and artistic integrity as cornerstones of her designs. “I’m not wholly prim, punk, androgynous, feminine or avant-garde,” says Packard. “I don’t follow one particular genre.”
Brought up in the UK, the Brazil-born designer studied fine art and worked at an art gallery before launching her eponymous label in 2013. Having spent the majority of her childhood and teenage years fashioning accessories of all kinds, she knew that she wanted a career that put her design skills to work.
Packard’s approach to jewellery is very much inspired by her time in the art world. “I am a huge fan of the Brazilian concrete art movement, in particular the works of Hélio Oiticica,” she shares. Her Latin American heritage has also greatly influenced her work. Packard looks up to Brazilian art and architecture such as those created by the Campana Brothers, Lygia Clark and Niemeyer, who, she says, have always challenged the norm and embraced innovation.
Each of her bi-annual collections is inspired by a theme, which provides the creative backdrop of every piece. “I would like to be known as the jeweller who shows the utmost thematic ingenuity and design integrity in each of her collections,” she enthuses.
Launching this April, Packard introduces the Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining series. Her latest spring collection was inspired by conversations on weather patterns in Britain shared between friends, colleagues and strangers. A common topic claimed to be “an identifiable trait of the British”, Packard takes on meteorological symbols and set them with different gemstones to represent the ever-changing weather.
Packard believes narratives are the key to any creative collection. She ensures that while each piece of jewellery stands out, it is understood as part of a whole. “My dream client would appreciate the research that goes into each collection, and would enjoy telling the story behind the pieces to admirers, almost in a way a true art collector knows all his artworks by name and their content by heart.” www.tessapackard.com
