About
My interest in jewellery design accentuated as a teenager when I started helping my auntie Nina at her jewellery shop just before starting a graphic design course in my city. In 2003 I travelled from Mexico to London to attend university followed by one year of the two-year Jewellery MA Degree at Central Saint Martins.
During my Jewellery BA at London Metropolitan University, I started developing a graphic language inspired by my love of graphic illustration, Mexican Folk Arts in combination with the simplicity and fun of 1960s Graphic Design. Throughout my time at University, I was introduced to non-traditional techniques and materials produce jewellery. I immediately fell in love with acrylic sheet and rubber because these materials translated my graphic style successfully.
The design process of my work is a lengthy evolution from the research, gathering of information on a particular topic; then followed by the development of initial ideas through sketching, illustration and prototyping. After the completion of this stage, I arrive to the final product which is one of my favourite parts. Depending on the brief, a new project can take up to six months or more.
I consider thoughtfully and consciously every aspect of the design of a piece to ensure that it will have presence and longevity, so that the owner would love to keep it and look after it forever. I don’t follow fashion trends, but instead I draw inspiration from nature, history and life experiences that are close to my heart.
My jewellery is mainly made by Perspex acrylic sheet; a recyclable material. I plan my work very well so that there is absolute minimum waste of materials. I assemble all pieces by hand in my Surrey studio with materials sourced, laser cut and digitally printed by my suppliers in the United Kingdom.
My aim is to produce an innovative graphic design narrative through my work and make a finished piece of jewellery design, object of illustration of which I am proud and embodies fun hope and optimism.
To see more of my work and little snaps of my design life visit my Instagram or Facebook or you can join my mailing list. If you have any questions please get in touch via my website’s contact form.
My name is Iris De La Torre and I design colourful and playful graphics which I transform into jewellery, accessories and objects. My work is inspired by Mexican Folk Arts and Crafts and the magic of 1960s graphic design.
I was born in the city of Guadalajara in Mexico into a very artistic household. Both my parents were very creative: my mum owned several wedding shops where she would hand dye and make floral arrangements and headpieces, wedding and first communion dresses from scratch. My dad was an architect and he would explain to me the purpose of each of his drawing tools and sometimes he would let me draw on his drafting table.
As a child I was mesmerized drawn by the beauty, the vibrant colours and the ingenuity of Mexican traditional Folk Arts and Crafts. From a very young age, my parents instilled in my siblings and myself the importance of the arts, education, our cultural identity and diversity.
In the school holidays, my parents would take us to different states of Mexico where we visited Folk Markets and we would touch and observe the vast variety of decorating techniques applied to folk toys, ceramics, textiles and furniture and homewares. My love of jewellery started from an early age when my mum let me look at her jewellery box and let me touch at her rings and charms and the stories behind the pieces.
Work highlights
In 2018, I was commissioned by the V&A Museum to design a collection of jewellery for their landmark exhibition “Frida Kahlo: Making Herself Up” Exhibition.
In 2019, V&A Museum asked me to create another exclusive collection of brooches to celebrate one of the most important romances in history: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s love story which coincided with Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s Bicentenary in 2019.
During the same year, I was selected for the Crafts Council Hothouse Programme for their Talent Development.
In 2020, and inspired by David Hockney’s colour palette from his works shown at his current major Exhibition “Drawing from Life” The National Portrait Gallery selected my floral jewellery to showcase in their shop in conjunction with the show.
I had huge privilege and honour to design The Royal Mint’s ‘100 Years since the Discovery of Insulin’ 50p coin which lauched October 14th 2021. This is the fifth coin in the Royal Mint’s Innovation in Science series and it celebrates the discovery by the researches: Dr John Macleod, Sir Frederick Banting, Dr Charles Best and Dr James Collip in 1921.
My work has been featured on the The Financial Times , the Evening Standard, the V&A Museum Blog , Vogue México, Grazia UK Magazine, to select a few.
Photography by Tamara De La Torre & Laura San Segundo.
