GILDING THE RED CARPET

MUSIC ROYALTY LAURYN HILL MAKES HER MET GALA DEBUT IN STYLE

For her debut appearance at the esteemed Met Gala, international music icon Lauryn Hill opted to wear a suite of custom-made creations by British-Ghanaian jewellery artist, Emefa Cole.

Entirely crafted in SMO Gold sourced from the Ity Endeavour Mine in western Côte d’Ivoire, the jewels included sculptural earrings and a pendant necklace that referenced the silhouettes of calabashes – voluptuous gourds which are hollowed out and used as vessels across Western Africa.

Often highly decorated and used for ceremonial and ornamental purposes, including being given as wedding presents, these calabashes are of significant cultural importance.

For Cole, who often draws inspiration for her designs from African diaspora and nature, the void within each calabash can also be seen to represent the feminine form: a space capable of holding “magic, secrets and generating growth”.

Since launching her eponymous brand in 2012, the jeweller has been lauded for her commitment to sustainability and ethical craftsmanship.

In 2020, Cole travelled back to Ghana to fulfil a long-held ambition to undertake an apprenticeship with Nana Poku Dwumfour, the chief goldsmith to the Asantahene (King and Supreme Ruler) in Kumasi.

Whilst there, she studied ancient Ashanti goldsmithing techniques that continue to inspire and inform her practice to this date. Since Hill’s Met Gala look – which answered this year’s theme of

“Superfine: Tailoring Black Style” - was designed as a tribute to Ghanian royalty, “it was extremely important that the gold that she wore came from the region, and the people, the culture that she chose to represent,” explains Cole.

VISIT EMEFA COLE