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Philosophy
Jo Thorne's company philosophy is that good design is never fussy or overly fashioned, an idea beautifully summarised by the celebrated American architect Frank Lloyd Wright:
“True ornament is not a matter of prettifying externals. It is organic with the structure it adorns, whether a person, a building, or a park... a realisation in graceful terms of the nature of that which is ornamented.”
With a passion for good design as the starting point, Jo's aim has always been to create collections that perfectly and elegantly serve the purpose they were designed to fulfil. Collections that really work together, and have longevity.
Hair jewellery is the accessory for modern brides, and Jo has defined and popularised the term more than any other designer. She has also given the traditional tiara a much needed update, with cool, clean modernist lines to set off the most refined of dresses effortlessly. There are also vintage and art nouveau touches to Jo's work, perfectly matched to the very latest gowns by designers such as Temperley and Jenny Packham.
Company Story
Jo graduated in 1990 from Sir John Cass School of Art London with a degree in Jewellery and Silversmithing Design and Manufacturing.
During her early years of experience working with jewellery and bridal dress designers, Jo realised that true designer values were nowhere to be found in the bridal hair accessories market. Most tiaras were lacking any identifiable sense of design or style, were poorly made or conceived, and tended to cheapen the rest of the outfit. Worst of all, they resembled the kind of thing one might find in a child's dressing up box - not something a design-conscious twenty or thirty-something woman would normally go anywhere near, so why on her wedding day? What on earth was going on? The answer was simple: there was no alternative available.
Jo then made it her mission to make real, grown up, fashion-aware hair jewellery for weddings. Her designs began to appear in bridal magazines in 2002, and after an extensive period of market testing, Jo Thorne Jewellery was formally founded in 2005. The result is something that defies easy categorisation, incorporating the wearability of a fashion accessory yet too fine to be classed as costume jewellery.
Influences
René Lalique, Carl Fabergé, The Bauhaus, Le Corbusier, Louis-François Cartier, Mark Rothko, Jean Miró, Frank Lloyd Wright, William Morris, Henri Matisse, Claris Cliff, Coco Chanel.
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