Photos: Courtesy of Anndra Neen; Dean Neville/BFAnyc.com
Sisters Phoebe and Annette Stephens, the design duo behind jewelry line Anndra Neen, have an artistic streak that spans generations. Their grandmother, Annette Nancarrow, was an artist who ran with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo’s inner circle; their father, Luis Stephens, is a Mexico City-based painter. Given that lineage, it’s no surprise they’ve taken to the family “business.”
Inspired by the concepts of new beginnings and celebrating spring, they worked with silver, brass, and copper to create organic shapes that could easily be considered wearable art. Geometric breastplates, mini cage clutches (an Anndra Neen signature), and light, thin chokers with oversized agate and onyx stones were on display in the hollows of a custom-built Trojan horse where Greek soldiers would have hid.
“We wanted to create a space that was unique for the jewelry to live in, so we decided to encase it in this sculpture,” Phoebe told Style.com. “After all, the Trojan horse ended a period of instability and began an era of prosperity,” Phoebe told Style.com.
The sisters have had their own odyssey of sorts. Born in Mexico and educated in the States, they took a trip to Japan in 2009. They were so inspired, they joined forces to create Anndra Neen. Now based in New York, they travel back to Mexico every few weeks to oversee the production of their collection, which now counts Michelle Obama, Drew Barrymore, and Anna Paquin as part of the fan base.—Laurie Trott