Toronto, January 4, 2018 – Homegrown creative force, Anne-Marie Chagnon, is celebrating a career milestone that places her eponymous line of avant-garde jewellery at 700 retailers, in 19 countries, across five continents. With 60% of her sales generated abroad, Chagnon’s international success is largely uncharted territory for a Canadian jeweller. To commemorate the momentous achievement—along with more than 20 years in business—Chagnon designed her Spring/Summer 2018 collection, Point of Origin, as an homage to her brand’s beginnings.
With 320 retailers in the United States including 41 museums and galleries, 270 retail outlets on home soil (with the majority located outside Quebec), as well as 30 in Japan and several in France and Russia, Chagnon has defied the odds— and redefined what it means to be a Canadian jewellery designer —by remaining true to her unique aesthetic and values. It is her idiosyncratic style and her reputation for innovative, transformable jewellery (whereby a necklace can convert to a bracelet and again to a pair of earrings), that have propelled her career, garnering the attention of Cirque du Soleil back in 2003, for instance, for whom she designed exclusive collections sold worldwide for a decade. More recently, Chagnon was selected by none other than fashion icon, Iris Apfel, to be included in the collection of artwork sold at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.
For Chagnon, staying true to herself has been key to her success and she believes that the women who wear her pieces reflect the same conviction. “We don’t need to wear jewellery,” the designer explains. “We choose to wear it to convey a visual message. It’s a way of asserting your individuality and your style without speaking a word.”
Spring/Summer 2018: Point of Origin
Available worldwide in February, Anne-Marie Chagnon’s new Spring/Summer collection is inspired by the circle motif and is aptly named, Point of Origin (which, mathematically speaking, is denoted by the letter “O”). But the name is also quite literal as the designer pays tribute to her company’s beginnings. For Chagnon, the circle represents life and unity; the line with no beginning and no end is symbolic of her continuing dialogue with the women who wear her pieces.
Notably, freshwater baroque pearls make their debut in the collection of bracelets, earrings, adjustable rings and necklaces, alongside Chagnon’s usual materials including pewter, glass, marble, leather and wood. And like all AnneMarie Chagnon collections, Point of Origin is entirely handcrafted by her team of more than 20 artisans at the designer’s Montreal-based studio and art foundry.
Point of Origin features 139 styles available in all the hottest colours of the season including gold, raspberry, lagoon blue and sulphur.
About Anne-Marie Chagnon
Trained in visual arts at the Université du Quebec à Montréal (UQAM), Quebec native Anne-Marie Chagnon has been creating wearable art since she was old enough to hold a welding torch. Since 1995, her modern and minimalist aesthetic has captured the attention of customers all over the world. Chagnon’s contemporary approach to jewellery design has been the driving force behind her career, resulting in high profile collaborations with companies like Cirque du Soleil, for whom she created several exclusive collections. She was also awarded with the Étoile de Mode award, at the Bijorhca Paris trade show among numerous other honours and accolades the designer-artist has received. Since giving back is in Chagnon’s DNA, she designs two fundraising collections each year, for causes that she is passionate about. As a result, she was honoured with the YWCA Montreal’s Women of Distinction Award in Entrepreneurship in 2015.
With the conviction to remain true to herself firmly in mind, she continues to create two seasonal collections each year for her like-minded customers the world over.
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For high-resolution images, photography samples, or to arrange an interview with Anne-Marie Chagnon, please contact The PR Department at 416.535.3939 or [email protected].
