From Head To Heart To Hands

New York-based artisan and designer Rose Berger defies the norms of traditional fashion design. Her metal creations, while labor-intensive and intricate like those of many couture houses, do not adhere to the conventional modes of jewelry design or dressmaking. Instead, she works with metal chain links, jump rings, and rubber O rings, creating pieces that blur the line between clothing and art, offering a unique and intriguing perspective on fashion. 

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Rose's love of jewelry stems from the role it plays in propagating aesthetics while being an intricate vehicle for all human cultures. And that underlying realization prompted her to create designs that are more than just accessories – they are “wearable art” pieces, functional by design but philosophically close to a performance statement. In other words a form of functional couture.  

Rose's work has garnered significant recognition, being highly recommended by the runways of New York Fashion Week and featured in prestigious publications such as Vogue Mexico, British Vogue, British GQ, and House of CoCo UK. This widespread acclaim is a testament to the unique and compelling nature of her designs.

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Since 2005, Rose's primary focus has been on designing handmade sterling silver jewelry, body chains, and unique statement jewelry & headpieces from different types of metal.  She found a certain sense of levity and love in chain mail.  The process of taking just one small metal ring and connecting thousands of them together for her seemed cathartic and intriguing. The dresses Rose designed for fashion week are made with metal mesh and chains. What it means is that all of these dresses are bespoke. It is worth pointing out that sometimes, this process takes about a month or more to produce a single piece, and such labor-intensive work can only be labeled as couture by any rational standard.

Her holistic approach to creating each piece is deeply rooted in her identity as a silversmith and jewelry designer. As a designer, as she dissects her own methods and finds what is right for her creative expression, she creates designs as strong as the metals they are made from. The timelessness of her philosophy translated into her creative expressions bodes exceptionally well for Rose Berger and her unique creations. 

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https://youtu.be/NOzXI2rvr-8?si=NDKFjjcDQLMpy5j3​

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