Michelle Zwinkels’ Hybrid collection originated from the need to distinguish herself by means of ‘body ornaments’, or what she refers to as everything that is ‘not naturally present on the body and added to it’.
Zwinkels seeks the boundaries between jewellery, accessories and fashion, proclaiming her work as a new ‘branding religion’ that preserves authenticity through creation of handmade, complex body ornaments.
Historically, body ornamentation indicated status and social standing of an individual, and heavily relied on its material value, technical excellence and authenticity. Today the symbolism seems to be shifting, disrupted by the manufacture of replicas and mass production. Greater accessibility blurs the implicit function and value of body ornamentation and its distinctive character evaporates. In her work Zwinkels seeks to bring back that authentic function of body ornament.
The collection observes a shift in the way a brand’s logo, for example, is gaining value and becoming a form of expression in itself. Logo is seen as a self-contained ornament.
Photography: @Ivory van Appeven
Models: @scottelt, @hendrikthetourist, @mies1993, @machaux94, @vvinslovve
Make-up: @annevoets_mua
