Each year jewellery brand Alighieri commemorates another turn around the sun in a meaningful way. Founded the day before her 25th birthday and inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Infernodesigner Rosh Mahtani created the brand during a particularly dark period in her life. In the 10 years that followed Mahtani has become renowned for her literature-inspired creations that serve as modern heirlooms, and in 2020 became the first jewellery designer to be awarded The Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. Over the past 12 months, Mahtani has reflected on a decade of Alighieri with a series of collections and collaborations, this month celebrating the Alighieri Zodiac with collage artist Mat Maitland.
The Alighieri Zodiac consists of 12 medallions depicting the signs of the Zodiac, hand carved by Rosh Mahtani herself in either 9kt gold or bronze plated in 24kt gold. Recalling a particular refrain from Dante’s Inferno:
and then we went out to see the stars again
“and then we came forth, to see
the stars again”
Rosh Mahtani credits the Zodiac collection as symbols of the stars and hope that carried her through a difficult time in her life, and the imperfect individuality of each design representative of an incredibly human nature in the brand.
With this latest campaign, Mat Maitland brings new life to each design through a series of ethereal artworks, one for each sign of the zodiac. The collection was created when the brand was in its infancy and still finding its footing, “I wanted each sign to be a subtle hint of the zodiac elements, not prescriptive,” remarks Mahtani. “… just a hint of what you may have been and what you can become: an invitation to find your place in the universe.”
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