Jaki Coffey’s Skips
Add your own “garbage” to the miniature steel dumpsters in the Dublin designer’s jewelry
Based in Dublin, Jaki Coffey is a designer who is drawn—you might say magnetized—to rubbish. It’s her muse, or as she puts it: “Lust in Found.” Basing her latest project “Skips” (on display last week at London’s New Designers show) more directly around the theme than previous pieces, she has managed to combine recycling, luxury and a detachable aesthetic.
Made from powder-coated steel, the pieces are forced perspective and individually made to look like dumpsters. While the piece is also wearable in this state, the real beauty (and fun) comes when garbage starts being added. The wearer obviously chooses what goes in their dumpster—so each day’s look can be different. From rope to wood each accessory is unique and can be chosen at time of purchase, although (unlike real dumpsters) there will no thievery occurring as each piece is magnetized to stay firmly in place. In essence, the wearer becomes their own curator and can show the world a little bit of themselves with each arrangement.
Coffey says, “Found objects are a passion of mine. I wanted to go back to the source. Skips are a huge source of inspiration for me, both for materials and ideas so I felt that it was different way of interacting with the objects. Playfulness is an important feature in my work. Jewelry doesn’t have to be so passive!”
Coffey has gone even further to increase the wearability of the design with two additional versions; a gold-plated copper (or “Midas”) version and a necklace attachment that transforms each piece into a much larger statement made with bigger (slightly nautically themed) items that have been hand-crafted and restored to provide a larger canvas for the piece to truly shine.
Pieces start at £300 and are available from Jaki Coffey’s website.
Images courtesy of the designer
