Beautiful and sustainable jewellery: an award for young creators

Imagine jewellery made from the leather scraps of a traditional Korean musical instrument. And then imagine jewellery made from fractured opals and imperfect gems to be transformed and reassembled.

The creators - Lee Min Seo from Korea and the Chinese brand Ianyan - are the winners of the first Kering Generation Award X Jewelry, awarded at the Jck Show in Las Vegas, one of the most influential events in the jewellery industry. If the Kering Generation Award was launched in the fashion sphere in 2018 to support Chinese start-ups with a positive environmental and social impact and then spread to Japan and Saudi Arabia with the support of the Fashion Commission, the version dedicated to jewellery is in its first edition and was announced last November with the collaboration of CIBJO - the World Confederation of Jewellery, and with the scientific coordination of Poli.Design - Politecnico di Milano. The aim is to promote a new generation of innovators committed to sustainability, also in the jewellery sector.

Focusing on the theme 'Second Chance, First Choice', the award challenged participants to turn waste into value by designing a piece or collection that gave new life to waste materials through creative excellence and sustainable thinking. The competition brought together 22 start-ups and students from 10 world-renowned universities and academies.

Lee Min Seo presented Rhythm Reborn, a collection created from leather scraps of the janggu, a traditional Korean percussion instrument. With the project, the creative woman valorised Korean music while promoting sustainability and cultural preservation. As a student in the Department of Metalworking and Jewellery at Hongik University in Seoul, Lee transformed the worn-out skin of the janggu - often discarded after prolonged use - into beautiful jewellery. This not only prevents environmental waste, but also symbolises the enduring beauty and emotion of the country's musical heritage. So Rhythm Reborn is more than a collection, it is a statement. It combines sustainability and tradition, giving a bold and modern interpretation of cultural identity.

Ianyan, a Chinese brand start-up, presented a collection made of fractured opals and unusual stones often overlooked in conventional jewellery for their raw beauty. The brand promotes a circular economy by designing each piece to be repaired, transformed or reassembled. Each piece tells a story of nature's cycle: born from the earth, reshaped by human creativity and destined to return to nature itself.