The contemporary jewelry line, [AGMES](https://agmesnyc.com/), is the brainchild of Morgan and Jaclyn Solomon. Each collection is influenced by facets of urban landscapes, architecture, and modern art. The geometric and sculptural, metallic silhouettes reflect modern heirlooms, meant to last a lifetime. Handcrafted in New York, the sisters provide local jobs and utilize recycled metals, which is central to their code of ethicality. With the release of their Fall 2019 lookbook, Flaunt spoke with the Solomon gals to chat all things AGMES.
**_Tell us about the inception of AGMES._**
**Morgan Solomon:** We hadn’t anticipated starting a line together years ago, it all happened naturally and kind of fell into place this way. I was working as a buyer at Bloomingdale’s at the time but always felt like something was missing in my life. After catching up with an old friend, I was re-inspired and decided to pursue jewelry design full-time.
Meanwhile, Jaclyn had just resigned from her job as a sweater designer at Proenza Schouler. She had planned to take a little time off, but as I was getting ready to launch my first collection, I was asking her for more and more input. It started out with small projects, to larger projects like producing our first lookbook, and naturally led us to form a partnership.
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**_What aspects of urban landscapes, architecture, and modern art inspire the geometry of your designs?_**
**MS:** Our collection is very sculptural in nature, so we’re often inspired by sculptors such as Jean Arp, Henry Moore, and Barbara Hepworth, to name a few. We’ve also been greatly inspired by the designs of Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Jeanneret, and Mies van der Rohe. For our most recent SS19 collection, we drew from Ellsworth Kelly’s plant drawings.
**_What dedications has the brand made in regards to sustainability?_**
**MS:** Sustainability has always been very important to us, but we feel that now more than ever, it’s crucial to keep our environmental footprint as small as possible. There is so much waste in this industry, and we think it’s our responsibility to make sure we’re not adding to the problem. All our products are made locally in NYC, which helps keep our carbon footprint small, and we use only recycled metals for all our jewelry. Any excess metal that hasn’t been used in our jewelry is melted and repurposed for new pieces.
**Jaclyn Solomon:** We recycle and reuse everything we can. We’re always bringing in bubble wrap, packaging materials, boxes, etc. from packages we receive at home so that we can reuse them instead of letting them go to waste.
**_What are some of the ideas and concepts behind your Fall 2019 collection?_**
**JS:** We drew from one of our favorite pieces from the existing collection, the Gabriela Bangle, which we had hand-formed from clay. We love the weight of this piece, the feel of it, and the look. So we wanted to continue playing with this sculptural hand-formed look, but play with the proportions and symmetry further. Most of this collection came from pieces we hand-formed from clay.
**_Do you have a favorite piece from the collection?_**
**JS:** My favorite is the Gabriela Hairclip!
**MS:** I’ve been wearing the Medium Celia Hoops almost every day lately. And I’ve also been wearing our Domed Ring layered with the Cara Ring from last season. I love being able to build off the styles I already have.
**_What’s next?_**
**MS:** We’ve only just begun expanding into the accessories category – first jewelry, and then we introduced some home and hair accessories. We’ve been exploring the idea of expanding further into these categories, in a way that stays true to us – beautiful organic forms, all of which will become modern heirlooms and embody a sense of timelessness.
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Photography: Arno Frugier
Creative direction: Ashley Helvey
Model: Audrey Marnay
