Brooches Make a Hot Fall Comeback
As a kid, Julie Berman used to hide the ornate brooches that her mother gave her, hoping she'd never have to wear them. "I hated them because they made me look old -- like my mom or my grandma," says Ms. Berman, a 20-year-old college student from Beverly Hills, Calif.
But now, Ms. Berman often can be found rummaging through her mother's jewelry box, searching for one-of-a-kind brooches that none of her friends will have.
Once considered a dowdy ornament worn by grandmothers, the brooch (pronounced like coach) has become one of fall's hottest looks. "In the must-have sense, it is the No. 1 accessory item for the fall," says Helena Krodel, a spokeswoman for the Jewelry Information Center, an industry-trade association. Ever since designers such as Prada, Versace and Marc Jacobs featured brooches prominently in their runway shows in January and February, demand for the ornate pins has taken off.
"I don't think that brooches have ever been this popular," says Chris Sheppard, vice president of sales at Kenneth Jay Lane Inc., a New York-based jewelry manufacturer. Orders at the company, which has added 30% new brooch styles this fall, have been "off the wall," he says. "It's the most incredible thing. It's freaky."
At a time when consumers are looking to individualize fashion, brooches provide almost infinite opportunities for personal expression. Rings, necklaces, bracelets and even earrings don't allow for as much self-expression as a brooch, which can be shaped like anything from a chrysanthemum to a violin or a frog.
"For consumers, a brooch is a way to individualize their styles and to say, 'This is who I am.' A brooch can reveal what personality you have, what you're like," says Sunny Diego, accessories market director for Saks Inc.'s Saks Fifth Avenue.
From high-end jewelers such as Tiffany & Co. to affordable chains such as Urban Outfitters Inc. and Ann Taylor Inc., retailers are pushing the jeweled pins to fuel sales in the $54 billion jewelry industry this fall. Gap Inc.'s Banana Republic started featuring the jewelry in its spring and summer 2004 ad campaigns. Urban Outfitters has made both unique antique brooches and reproductions a focus of its collections for fall.
"We've always shown a very nice assortment of brooches. But I think there will be a lot more interest this fall," says Melvyn Kirtley, group vice president of Tiffany, which will offer a range of pins from $235 for a sterling-silver starfish brooch to $94,000 for a sapphire-and-diamond flower-shaped version.
The brooch's comeback is, in large part, a result of fashion's current focus on vintage glamour, designers and retailers say. With fall looks inspired by the 1940s and 1950s, brooches are a rather obvious accessory. Tweed blazers, below-the-knee pencil skirts, mink stoles and gloves all lend themselves to a brooch, fashion experts say.
"We're going from a very messy, unpulled-together look that was much too casual, into a period of more elegant looks," says Joan Kaner, senior vice president and fashion director for Neiman Marcus Group Inc. "The accessory of the season is the brooch. That's what completes the whole package."
Brooches may date back to ancient times when women fastened togas with decorative pins, says Caroline Rennolds Milbank, a fashion historian. Art Deco brooches were popular in the 1920s and 1930s and bolder designs, such as big floral brooches, were popular in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, several styles are popular, particularly those with a lot of stones and color.
Yet in contrast to the past, when brooches traditionally were worn on the lapels of jackets and dresses, today's pins are being worn differently. Women are sporting them on the shoulder, elbow or waist. No longer limited to jackets, they also are being pinned on sweaters, shirts, skirts, dresses, purses and even shoes.
"It's not Joan Collins wearing rhinestones. It's nothing like your mother's jewelry -- that interpretation of the brooch is completely gone," says R.J. Graziano, owner and designer of jeweler R.J. Graziano Inc., who says orders for his brooches, ranging from $55 to $225, are up 30% from last fall.
"Our lifestyle allows us to have more fun. Now, it's all about movement, women are active today. You're not posing for a portrait, you're running off to a board meeting," says New York designer Peter Som, who featured Verdura brooches on mink stoles, evening dresses and sweaters in his fall fashion show.
Even teens are getting in on the trend. Actress Anne Hathaway, from "The Princess Diaries 2," wore a brooch on the cover of August's Teen Vogue. Stores targeting teens and young women, such as Claire's Accessories, are pushing brooches this fall.
胸针成秋季时尚先锋
茱丽?波曼(Julie Berman)小时候总爱把妈妈送给她的华丽胸针藏起来，不想戴出来。“我那时不喜欢胸针，它们让我看上去很老 -- 像我妈妈或是我奶奶”，二十岁的加州大学生茱丽说。
但现在不同了，茱丽经常去翻妈妈的首饰盒，想找出一个她的朋友们没有的胸针来戴。
胸针曾经一度被认为是只有老年妇女才戴的陈旧饰品，但如今却成了今秋最引人注目的装饰品。“如果说今年秋天有什么饰品是必不可少的，首先就属胸针了”，珠宝信息中心(Jewelry Information Center)发言人海伦娜?克勒德尔(Helena Krodel)说。珠宝信息中心是珠宝行业的一个联合会。自从普拉达(Prada)、范思哲(Versace)和梅克?雅各布斯(Marc Jacobs)等的设计师在一月和二月份的时装发布会上都十分突出胸针装饰后，市场对胸针的需求马上多了起来。
“我觉得胸针从来没有这样流行过”，纽约珠宝生产商Kenneth Jay Lane Inc.的销售副总裁克里斯?史帕德(Chris Sheppard)说。该公司秋季胸针的款式又增添了百分之三十。公司的订单不断。“真叫人难以相信。时尚总是变幻莫测”。
在消费者追求个性化时尚的年代，可以说胸针为人们彰显个性提供了无线的空间。戒指、项链、手镯甚至耳环都无法赶上胸针对个性的诠释，因为胸针可以有各种形状，从菊花到小提琴到青蛙，什么都有。
“对消费者而言，胸针提供了展示和表达自我的方式，就像在说'这就是我'。胸针可以显示你的个性”，Saks Inc.旗下Saks Fifth Avenuesays的饰品市场总监桑妮?迪高(Sunny Diego)说。
从高端珠宝商Tiffany & Co.到Urban Outfitters Inc.和Ann Taylor Inc.等低价珠宝零售商都通过促销胸针来提振销售收入。预计今秋珠宝市场销售额可达540亿美元。Gap Inc.旗下Banana Republic在今年春夏的广告宣传中就已经开始突出胸针饰品。
“流行服饰正从休闲向讲究雅致的时代迈进”，Neiman Marcus Group Inc.高级副总裁兼时尚总监琼?凯纳(Joan Kaner)说。“这个季节的主流饰品就是胸针”。
与过去人们常把胸针戴在上衣或裙子的翻领上不同，现在胸针有了更多可以戴的地方。女性可以把胸针戴在肩膀上、肘部或是腰间，而且胸针也不一定要戴在上衣上，还可以戴在毛衣、衬衫、裙子、钱包甚至是鞋上。
“现在的生活方式可以让我们享受更多的乐趣。如今的女性也都非常活跃，你不会在那儿摆什么造型，匆匆去参加董事会议才是你要干的事情”，纽约设计师彼得?桑姆(Peter Som)说。他的秋季时装发布会主要突出在貂皮披肩、晚礼服和毛衣上佩带胸针饰品。
少女也来赶这个时髦。《麻雀变公主2》(The Princess Diaries 2)的女主角安妮?海瑟薇(Anne Hathaway)就戴著胸针出现在八月份《少女时尚》(Teen Vogue)杂志的封面上。Claire's Accessories等商家都瞄准少女和年青女性展开秋季胸针促销攻势。
