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Wendy Brandes Taps ‘Style Crone’ for New Campaign
The 76-year-old model and fashion blogger is the face of the jewelry designer’s latest imagery.
Model and fashion blogger Judith Boyd of Style Crone is the new face of Wendy Brandes’ jewelry designs.
New York—Jewelry designer Wendy Brandes is known for her bold, unique pieces, and now she’s taking those characteristics and extending them to her latest campaign.
The designer has tapped 76-year-old model and fashion blogger Judith Boyd to be the face of her brand, embodying the fact that fine jewelry is desired and treasured by women of all ages.
The Denver-based Boyd spent most of her career working as a psychiatric nurse and then caring for victims of head and spinal cord injuries, and on her blog said that choosing her outfits was a way to not only express herself but also serve as a form of meditation as she approached her day.
She went on to co-own a hat shop in the 1980s and sold vintage clothing in an antique mall and on consignment from the 1990s onward.
After losing her husband to cancer in 2011, she fully embraced her fashion as a form of art and expression and eventually began documenting how she did that through her blog, Style Crone.
The new campaign featuring Boyd will be released across Wendy Brandes’ website and social media as well as on the Style Crone blog and social channels.
“I’ve known Judith through her blog Style Crone for nearly 10 years, and I’ve watched her look evolve from chic to absolutely regal,” Brandes said. “Certain jewelry themes I work with—like skulls and snakes—are too often dismissed as ‘punk’ when they’ve actually been a basis for high jewelry art for centuries or even millennia. To personify the history and majesty that fuels my work, I knew I had to work with Judith.”
In the images, Boyd models Brandes’ new “Carpe Diem” designs, featuring single black diamonds cut into skull shapes, the largest of which weigh more than 4.5 carats. The collection launched this spring and ranges in retail price from $8,000 to $20,000.
The campaign also features the jewelry designer’s “Memento Mori” skull designs and her “Queen of Scots” serpent set, which includes a solid 18-karat gold tiara with a South Sea pearl.
All pieces are one-of-a-kind or limited edition, available on 1stdibs.com and through brick-and-mortar retailers who participate in Brandes’ concierge service.
This is the third time Brandes has chosen to go outside the norm for the images in her campaign, choosing to illustrate the diversity not often depicted in the jewelry and fashion industries.
Last year she featured models Grace Ming and Tricia Akello, born in China and Uganda respectively, for the brand’s campaign, released prior to the Couture show.
It was used across the brand’s social channels and booth decor, as well as on print imagery sent to all retailers.
Brandes also worked with Sudanese-born model Tina J for her 2012 campaign.
“One of the joys of fine jewelry is that there’s something for everyone, regardless of age, size, or any other characteristic you can think of, and if a customer’s dream piece doesn’t already exist, I can turn that vision into reality,” Brandes said. “I want to make it clear that jewelry is for everyone.”
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