Please allow 16 weeks for creation.
A Secret Garden in Bloom: Inside the Claire Pettibone x The North Way Studio Collection
A Secret Garden in Bloom: Inside the Claire Pettibone x The North Way Studio Collection
Victorian-inspired romance meets modern-day elegance with the Trellis gown by Claire Pettibone.
The Primrose gown by Claire Pettibone embodies a blend of vintage elegance and romantic charm.
Some stories begin like ancient spells, waiting for the perfect moment to unfold. This is one of them.
The Secret Garden Collection is a meeting of two worlds, couture bridal design and fine jewelry artistry, dreamed up by Claire Pettibone and Maria Bray of The North Way Studio. It is an ode to hidden beauty, to intricate carved leaves and richly colored stones, to romanticism and whimsy grown together into talismans of love.
We sat down with Maria to hear more about the story.
Where two worlds meet
How did the collaboration with Claire Pettibone come to be, and what was the first spark that made you think the two worlds belonged together?
Ever since my wedding over ten years ago now, I have adored Claire’s creations. They are such ethereal gowns that they truly look like they were created by a faerie. She has been such a muse over the years, I finally mustered up the courage to shoot my shot and email about a collaboration. When she emailed back I let out the biggest pterodactyl screech. I could not believe it.
Working with Claire has been effortless. She is incredibly kind, and has the most brilliant eye for colorways and textures, which translated so easily over to fine jewelry from her couture gowns. Meeting her in person during New York’s Bridal Fashion Week was truly a dream come true for myself.
A realm bejeweled in full bloom
Both your work and Claire's have such a romantic, otherworldly language. When you sat down to design alongside her, what feeling were you chasing?
For the first part of the Secret Garden collection, we've been focusing on creating a realm bejeweled in full bloom, just all the rich, lush colors and all the carved leaves we can fit on a ring. More than anything, I wanted someone to feel like they were holding a little piece of an enchanted garden in their hand. That flush of wonder you get when you stumble onto a hidden corner of green and everything is overgrown and blooming and alive. I kept coming back to the idea of a ring as something you fall into, not just something you wear. When you slip one on, for it to feel a little like magic, a little like being loved.
If this collection were a place, or a season, or a moment in a story, where would it live?
Absolutely at the height of summer, golden lighting, humid with the sound of insects all around. The air itself would be perfumed by roses and other green things. A grotto with a babbling fountain hidden in lichen, cobblestones meandering off. And all the birds flitting by.
The Larkspur
Is there one piece in particular that feels like the heart of the collection?
I would say the Larkspur. The lushness of the coloring between the teal and rose colored sapphires, the tangible heaviness of the carved golden leaves, it just made for a completely sumptuous ring. It is by far my favorite piece of the collection.
Knowing it when we saw it
Were there any happy accidents along the way, a stone that surprised you, a design that went somewhere you didn't expect?
We brought in quite a few stones to choose from for the collection, some that weren’t quite right and others that we’re going to use in the future for the next season of the collection, most likely because they are just that magical.
Claire has such a beautiful sense of color, which you can really see in her gowns, that it was both easy and hard to find the perfect stone. We knew it when we saw it, we just had to get our hands on enough of them to choose.
Creatures of light and love
When someone sees one of these pieces years from now, what do you hope it stirs up in them?
I would want them to feel that ephemeral moment of dappled sunlight on their face, feel the warm earth below their feet, to let the memory of summer just wrap around them. And the giddiness of love. The Secret Garden collection is meant to be a creature of light and love blossoming all around.
The Secret Garden Collection is a small world of its own, where metals and stones, romanticism and whimsy intertwine into talismans of love. Each ring is waiting for the person it belongs to.
