Yarborough - exclusive at Kabiri

Former book editor Elizabeth Yarborough began designing jewellery in an effort to re-engage her hands and creative senses. Originally from North Carolina, she studied literature and writing at Vasser College and the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, before moving to New York in 2003. In the Spring of 2006, she left the corporate book world for an arts and crafts spree in her east Village apartment, which evolved into her jewellery line, Yarborough. Her one-year-old collection reflects a design philosophy steeped in curiosity, experimentation, colour and originality.

Inspired by everything from her grandmother's sewing box to the 1930s trompe l'oeil designs of Elsa Schiaparelli, Elizabeth finds unexpected beauty in traditionally unwearable objects. Approaching jewellery as a hybrid of decorative and industrial arts, she culls an unlimited array of materials including yarn, buttons, feathers, horns, ribbon, and upholstery tassels, to name but a few. With a sense of humour, and with an interest in deconstructing materials and stereotypes, she subverts established wardrobe and cultural staples and reintroduces them in surprising ways: translating a cable knit sweater into a bracelet, for example; feminizing a handsome leather button; showcasing spools of thread, colourful platters of food, and voluminous bows as inherently beautiful ornaments.

In 2007, she was selected as a Gen Art Fresh Face for Accessories Design, and also participated as a finalist in the Gen Art International Styles competition. Always inspired and ever-expanding, Yarborough Jewellery is entirely hand-crafted in the East Village studio where it all began.