Olivia Hainaut is a brand of accessories created in 2000. In her Brussels-based workshop/boutique, the designer creates jewellery, finery and accessories from leather, created in a limited series (or even in unique pieces) and combining the refinement of a craftsman with a rock and roll spirit.
Baroque or semi-precious pearls, rock crystal, horn, wood, resin, metal, leather are some of the materials that Olivia Hainaut transforms into necklaces, brooch-es, hair ornaments, stoles, tunics or scarves. With her creations, Olivia Hainaut sublimates women with a strong personality, often on the lookout for a unique piece.
Olivia Hainaut has worked with several major brands such as, among others, Natan Couture for the creation of embroidery and pearls, jewellery and accessories and Olivier Strelli for the design of his women's collection in leather, suede and fur. In the designer's workshop, on the wall, up there for all to see, a patch-work of inspiring photos. Romy Schneider,Yves Saint Laurent, Carla Bruni smoking, an anonymous waist, in black and white, the photos of her creations simply signed Olivia Hainaut.
These stars that Olivia never tires of seeing and seeing again in the films of the New Wave. Truffaut, Godard, Louis Malle all works of art that inhabit her to be translated into brooches, bracelets, necklaces, hair orna-ments, belts or stoles. Even if these jewellery and accessories are not identical to those of that era, there is a family resemblance, a refinement, a femininity that she translates into contemporary fashion.
At La Cambre mode(s), where she studied from 1988 to 1993, she embroidered and pearled everything that she could get her hands on already. She dared to use screws, nuts mixed with old sequins, she set out to shock. Resolutely breathtaking and a bit rock and roll. Nothing quite beats marrying the precious with trash, the authentic and the artificial, the old and the new. (Extract from a text by Anne Françoise Moyson)
Olivia Hainaut SS13 @ Showroom [les belges] by Philippe Pourhashemi
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