Welcome to Africanews

Please select your experience

Watch Live

This is Culture

this-is-culture

The art of eco-friendly jewelry

The art of eco-friendly jewelry

Fashion

These are not just ordinary necklaces. They are more than you can imagine. They are beautiful, right? Imagine what they have been made of? Paper! Magazine paper, toilet paper. It’s paper jewelry!

The brains behind this creative initiative is Julita Gorgeous, a Cameroonian fashion designer with a passion for beauty for all the sexes. She lives in Pointe-Noire, in the Republic of Congo.

Her creations have been inspired by the shortage of precious gems that require conventional initiatives in the making of high end jewelry.

But what does she require to make the pieces?

“All the things you are seeing here are objects that you have the habit of throwing. I collect them and work with them. For my jewelry, I collected newspapers, magazines, whether used or not…it doesn’t matter, it depends on what I want to obtain.”

In addition to paper, Julita uses a few more ingredients like acrylic paint and a few more secret ingredients. The recipe seems to work since her jewelry collection has indeed appealed the public eye.

Julita invited me to the very first launch of her signature “Mind Nature” jewelry collection, a fashion event that brought together fashion lovers and I must say they are thrilled.

It all started with an idea and after this fashion show, Julita is optimistic about the future with her jewelry collection. She says the positive remarks and encouragement from the public have greatly motivated her to forge ahead in the protection of the environment.

At the moment, she works alone but she hopes to get more support in order to encourage such kind of vocations to the younger generation.

But did the event turn out to her expectation?

This is what she says:

“I think the event has been successful. A lot of people were impressed with the jewelry, a lot of people wanted to know how they were made and how the idea came about. I think that the message has been passed.”

Her clients are also full of praise for her creative innovation.

“I found the jewelry to be great, creative because they’ve been made from recycled materials. When I see the beauty of what they recycled, I’m very touched, “said one client.

“It’s a discovery for us who are here in Congo and…frankly it was top of the game,” said an expatriate who works in the country.

So there you have it. Paper jewelry is soon going to be the latest fashion trend. At least I got mine just in time.