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subscribe to style file blog via RSSAngela Lindvall’s Photo Diary From Bali
June 30, 2010 3:46 pm
Angela Lindvall—who’s balanced modeling with a steadfast commitment to environmental issues and awareness—recently signed on as the new face of John Hardy and the collaborator for its new sustainable jewelry collection, Hijau (”green” in Balinese). “My mission,” she says by phone from her farm in upstate New York, “was to take environmentalism to a new level—not the green-and-brown crunchy [style], more fluorescent pink graffiti—to really engage people in an inviting way.” Hence Hijau’s sparkling pink and orange stones and sliced-bamboo designs, a nod to Bali’s abundant bamboo crop. (A percentage of the profits from the new line goes to Forest Ethics, a nonprofit fighting deforestation worldwide.) Lindvall recently visited Bali with John Hardy creative director and designer Guy Bedarida, to see the new production facilities and meet the Balinese artisans working on the line. Below, she reminisces about her trip with Style.com.
“It’s so sustainable, these bamboo structures that almost look like some weird James Bond film. And beautiful rice paddies throughout the whole compound, and a farm—they’re growing food, and they have some animals. I’ve never seen anything like it. You would imagine a manufacturing facility to be this big square, dark sculpture, people sweating. It’s just beautiful the way they create an economy for the local community by employing all these people, [and] they all work on this land in this beautiful environment.”
“You’ve got the artists that are drawing out the designs, and then you have the carvers who are making the wax carvings, and then you’ve casting, and then you’ve got the people working with the silver, and so I got to see the whole process of how it was made.”
“It was just beautiful, the way all these people worked together. And then at lunch time, there was a big, long table, and all the workers would come together and sit down, and someone would speak always before each meal. And I just thought that was a beautiful way to run a company, and it be all inclusive, and it be supporting this community, and the people.”
The John Hardy Hijau collection, including rings (above left) and bangles (above right), $295-$3,000, available at Saks Fifth Avenue, www.saksfifthavenue.com.
tags: Angela Lindvall, Guy Bedarida, Hijau, John Hardy
