‘I believe beauty can save us’, Susan Rockefeller says as Swarovski jewellery collection on panda theme she helped design launches
- A conversation about sustainability led Rockefeller to work with Swarovski on Beautiful Earth jewellery, sales of which will help protect the giant panda
- Recently in China, the conservationist finds designers there are leading on sustainability. ‘Each one of us has to find a way to make a difference,’ she says
The name Rockefeller isn’t normally associated with fashion, but this month accessory and jewellery brand Swarovski unveiled a collaboration with Susan Rockefeller, wife of businessman and philanthropist David Rockefeller Jnr.
One could be mistaken for thinking that she was chosen because of her high-profile name or love for fashion, but the partnership, she says, was forged to benefit a much greater cause.
“I met [Swarovksi’s head of corporate communications and design services] Nadja Swarovski three years ago at a conference where we both spoke about sustainability and the environment. Since then we’ve been exploring ways we can make an impact and she asked me to design a collection for Atelier Swarovski,” says the award-winning documentary filmmaker, artist, and conservationist.
“I really believe that beauty can save us. When we lead with it, things can transform – this doesn’t happen when you intellectualise too much. This collection is a reminder of nature and our need to protect it.”
Unlike other members of New York’s society set, Rockefeller admits that she isn’t much of a clotheshorse. When we meet during her recent visit to Hong Kong she is wearing a simple, yet elegant blouse and trousers in understated black.