Amor jewelry more than decoration
Local designer’s pieces become a vehicle for self-expression
Amor Carandang’s necklace marks a spot in the centre of her chest.
Crafted in her signature chevron shape, the shiny arrow-like pendant points downward, inward. Its unique chain wraps around her body and arms instead of her neck, embracing the local designer as she cradles a cup of tea in her hands at a 124th Street coffee shop.
Carandang’s line of triangular-shaped jewelry, handmade from metals such as brass and copper, is less about ornamentation than it is about signification. While most baubles and gems decorate the wearer in beauty, Amor Jewelry points to it like a pin on a map.
“If I think about what I love most about jewelry, it really is the process,” Carandang says. “It’s the process of getting to know the people I’m working with. It’s getting to know what they’re really like, and customizing a piece that’s going to make them happy.
“Everyone that I’ve seen wearing (my jewelry) has suited it to their style. They’ve totally made it personal to them.”
Carandang, 29, first started making jewelry at the age of 18 when she picked up a pair of her dad’s pliers.
The hobby continued throughout her post-secondary schooling in Red Deer, where she completed a diploma in social work, and reached its current esthetic while she was working in Australia in 2011.
Captivated by the architecture of the land down under, she began to mirror its clean lines and designs. Her resulting chevron shapes also captured a feminine edge, mirroring the female body — an hourglass shape of broad shoulders and tapering waist — and emphasizing the beauty of Everywoman.
Carandang’s pieces became a ubiquitous sight around town almost immediately after she returned home. Last year saw her selling in stores like Bamboo Ballroom, Foosh and Meese.
She collaborated with Suka Clothing’s Gothic Cowboy collection at Western Canada Fashion Week in the fall. And in November, she designed a custom chain for Canadian electro-pop musician Diamond Rings during his stop in the city.
“Part of my inspiration is the community everyone is trying to build (in Edmonton), and the energy that comes out of that. Having people around you who are just as energetic and just as creative, and people who are forward-thinking and a little bit wacky as well, you kind of want to put an idea to paper to show off what you’re thinking of. It’s testing and exploring.
“I’ve had a lot of bad pieces,” she laughs, “so it’s about finding what fits.”
Carandang finds it “shocking” and “crazy” to see Edmontonians walking around wearing her pieces, each person finding a different way to wear a body chain or bracelet and express themselves.
She says many people have a hard time portraying what they want to reveal about themselves, but it’s inspiring to see that she’s helped them create it.
Her ability to act as a fashion spirit guide via delicate geometric treasures may have a lot to do with her occupation as a social worker. She wonders why she makes jewelry and why she works with kids, and how the two match up. But the connection soon becomes clear.
“(Making jewelry) is taking an idea and personalizing it, looking at the process, enjoying it and seeing what comes out of it. The same thing with the kids.
“They have all of this energy, and I’m just trying to guide them to see what the end result can be.”