Earlier this year at the fall 2004 Fendi show, if you looked very closely, you would have noticed that alongside space-age silver-heeled croc shoes and satellite-shaped it bags, there was a smattering of equally otherworldly jewelry. Struck by the alchemical aesthetic — heavy leather hand adornments, intricately engineered ebony rings, and a selection of “rings” that rest between the fingers instead of around them (some trumpet-shaped and reaching centimeters away from the hand) — our antenna for spotting innovation was raised. Fendi never produced the jewelry collection, but that didn’t stop us from seeking out the talent behind the creations.

The mastermind behind those crafts, we learned, was Edward Griffiths, who worked on the concepts with Eric Wright, Karl Lagerfeld’s right hand man. A visit to Griffith’s atelier in London’s East End this past spring, had us quickly realizing that we were already familiar with this maverick’s huge body of work. Remember those Ungaro leather floral pins and bracelets that spawned a massive trend a few years ago? Or, Kylie Minogue‘s robot costume for her Fever tour? Griffiths was also the mysterious man behind the much photographed leather skeleton head for one of Boudicca‘s earlier shows, has done countless pieces for Alexander McQueen, clear leather for Manolo Blahnik, and a myriad of other one-off creations including a recent teaming with Showstudio‘s Nick Knight to create the performance art/dining experience called The Feast. For spring, Griffiths (and Tim Magdalino, another London-based accessories hotshot who makes dainty silver jewelry) partnered once again with Fendi for some top-notch designs. Aerodynamically cut wood and silver asymmetric bracelets, feathered leather cuffs, silver-lined leather belts and coral rings are only some of the selection. Fendi’s Spy bag (a particularly hot entry for spring) and leather slip-ons are sure to compete as the season’s coveted accessories. Let’s hope they actually produce them this time.

-Jason Campbell

Photos: Edward Griffiths designs for Fendi 1)fall 2004 2,3)spring 2005