Meet the Naarm-based designers who have collaborated to create a scented locket
IMAGE VIA @CALICO.WHORE/INSTAGRAM
WORDS BY DEANA STEPANIAN
“There’s a balance of softness with hardness, old and new, heavy and light.”
Like fragrance, jewellery, whether a family heirloom or personal piece, has long evoked a sense of nostalgia and sentimentality. Now, just imagine adorning your body with a tangible, more tactile scent; a scent that sits inside a locket that’s worn around your neck.
Multidisciplinary artist Jac Lombardozzi is the designer behind the creative entity Calico.whore and founder of the production house Five.One.Six, whose set to launch her new scent line, Home. The unique collection is comprised of three tiers: a mainline, exclusive designs and a collaboration with Melbourne fine-jewellery label, Vincent.
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The founder of Vincent, Marlie Reinhard, creates genderless jewellery using recycled and consciously sourced materials. By merging contemporary and more classical influences, the experimental duo have collaborated to launch a made-to-order scented locket. Below, Jac and Marlie delve into the collection and share more about the line and their collaborative process.
Can you share more about the influences behind your scented locket collaboration?
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Jac: The initial source of inspiration that sparked the idea [of] the locket in the first place for me was the need to implement a solid scent into the Home line, and one that was wearable… The interior of the locket is filled with the Home scent in solid beeswax form, studded with two pearls and is to be applied to the skin like a lip balm… For me, the scented locket necklace is an amalgamation of influence and adoration of material and sentimentality.
Marlie: A locket is such a classic piece of jewellery that instantly stokes up antiquity. To me, it felt like a natural choice for a wearable fragrance vessel, especially once I came to understand Jac’s vision of modern antiquity. Once we had designed the locket, Jac went about sourcing its stronger elements based on found objects that resonated with the Calico.whore brand.
How would you describe this collaboration aesthetically?
J: In two words: modern antiquity. This is C.W [Calico.whore] at the core of everything anyway, but I especially feel it with Marlie and… when our two worlds collide. There’s a balance of softness with hardness, old and new, heavy and light.
M: It’s an aesthetic expression of our shared brand values and, of course, modern antiquity.
What was your collaborative creative process like?
J: When Marlie and I get together it honestly feels electric. Separately we bring our own ideas to the table but together it’s explosive […] It started off with a meeting, a sketch, some hardware samples and the scent. We would meet sporadically over months to check in with how the sampling was tracking and made necessary adjustments along the way. Marlie is so accommodating and made the process really easy for me as I was working within a tight budget and deadline, managing the rest of the project and finalising the scent.
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M: Working with metal is great in the sense that it can be changed and reused again and again, which comes in handy when your ideas are constantly evolving! The locket was 3D printed, which enabled me to make something that was more like a vessel than a traditional locket in its function. The rest of the necklace was either cast or hand fabricated…
The Chinese box (quite literally a Chinese takeaway box) where I keep my scraps and pieces that just didn’t make the cut somehow ended up playing a role in our creative process too. Jac would paw through it on her visits to my studio and pull out scraps and things that inspired her.
Can you share your favourite piece from the Home line?
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J: That’s a hard one! Hmm, well of the exclusives I think my favourite would have to be the Christian Dior bottle. It is just so beautiful, and I can’t believe I found it. I like the shape [and] frosted glass texture and the little silver charms on the ends from Marlie’s broken stash. It feels so regal and classic yet contemporary.
M: The scented locket and the scent itself. So divine. So much love went into it making the locket and it really drew something out of me that was laying dormant creatively. I loved bearing witness to the process of the fragrance being formulated and perfected. The first time we decanted the fragrance into the locket and experienced it in its completed state was such a proud moment for us both.
How can we buy one of your pieces?
J: Once released at my showcase in Feb, Return To Self, the whole Home line will be available through me via calicowhore.com and my selected [as yet unannounced] local stockists.
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The mainline will be sold as a small run of roll-on oils, which I will release again. The exclusive line is a set of seven one-off antique bottles with the scent, once these are gone they will never be re-created again. And lastly, the made-to-order scented locket will of course be available only as a made-to-order piece. Marlie will produce these for me.
M: The locket will be made to order after its release and will be available through select stockists, as well as through vincentjewellery.com.
The Home line will be available from February 23. You can find it at calicowhore.com and vincentjewellery.com.
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