Jessica McCormack and Emilia Wickstead Join Forces

“Reality is bleak,” Jessica McCormack tells Financial Times fashion features editor Jessica Beresford, “so we all need some escapism, right?” The jewellery designer is huddled over a table laden with precious objects – elaborate earrings and necklaces of diamonds and pearls – alongside the fashion designer, fellow New Zealander Emilia Wickstead.

McCormack, hailing from Christchurch, launched her jewellery business in London in 2008. Wickstead, who was born and raised in Auckland, established hers in the same year. Both have found favour in London society – in particular among the royals – which flocks towards their elegant designs, Beresford writes for FT.

This year marks the first time the duo have designed a collection specifically between them. The 10-piece range, which focuses on pearls and diamonds, draws inspiration from a book called Faery Lands of the South Seas.

Both Wickstead and McCormack present a unique kind of New Zealand luxury to the world – one that combines down-to-earth practicality with a hint of glamour.

“Everything that we do – and I know that Jessica does this too – is a play on tradition,” she says. “[Promoting] New Zealand on a global scale is at the heart of what we represent as designers, and what we’ve brought to London.”

Original article by Jessica Beresford, Financial Times, September 21, 2020.

Photo by Edd Horder.