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Genet fashions dazzling jewellery out of the unlikeliest of objects
by MARK SLUTSKY
Jewellery made of safety pins is not a new idea; since the late '70s, and the fashion upheaval wrought by punk rock, people have been spearing the little metal pins through their ears or leather jackets. But chances are you've never seen the little devices used in quite the same way as Parisian transplant Genet fashions them. She makes each piece of her jewellery--chokers, necklaces, bracelets, rings, watchbands--out of literally hundreds of the little suckers. The effect is startling: her work is sleek and shiny, and only by looking closely do startled browsers realize ("All of the sudden, they jump," she says) that the pieces are made up of objects they're more used to seeing in the stationery aisle.
Genet, who's known to her customers as The Safety Pin Lady, began making jewellery about five years ago, while living in her native Paris. She had tinkered with electronic equipment--bracelets made up of those little gadgets you find on circuit boards, for instance--when she found a box of pins among the garbage in a factory. "I didn't have any money," she says. "I was living in a squat, doing street theatre and puppetry. So I started making things and selling them." Genet met a designer who encouraged her efforts and made her realize that "what I was creating had actual value, that people would like it and spend money for it."
And spend they do--Genet's creations can now be found in boutiques in Paris, London and New York. There they retail for about $150-200 (U.S.). Amazingly, lucky Montrealers can buy them from her for only 40-60 of our impoverished Canadian dollars. Genet is a recent arrival, having spent the last few years working for fashion photographers in France, selecting the photos from their shoots that would appear in magazines like Elle, Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire France. She quickly realized people here weren't willing to shell out the big bucks that chic Paris shoppers have on- hand. So she cut her prices and began to sell her wares at Elle Corazon's Crafty Chick fairs, and is currently in talks with several local boutiques.
Genet spends about two to six hours hand crafting each unnaturally smooth, slinky piece. They're singular creations, startling and unique. Some wrap around the wrist like Moebius strips; others, like her rings, have what look like butterfly wings of safety pins and Czech crystal beads delicately perched on their surfaces. Though you can find her at the Mother's Day Crafty Chick craft sale at Elle Corazon (176 Bernard W.), May 12-13, most of her work is done to order.
For something personalized, genet can be reached at thesafetypinlady@yahoo.com
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