Easy Pieces: Arielle de Pinto

Arielle de Pinto’s delicately crocheted metal pieces swept the fashion world in 2007 and have gained a cult following since. The Toronto native’s handiwork is immediately recognizable. Her work ranges from necklaces to face masks and draws to mind the fancies of baroque armor. These days, when de Pinto isn’t traveling the world, she can be found splitting her time between New Orleans, Brooklyn, and Montreal.

Before you were a designer, what were you doing?
I was in art school in Montreal doing printmaking of all kinds ¬– screen, digital, etching, and lithography. I started playing with jewelry before I finished, and developed my technique and then really brushed up my skills while bored in class. Uh, I mean, engaged in class.

What's the best part of your job?
Creating, learning new skills, exploring, travelling, meeting lots of people. getting recognition by people whose work I truly respect, and sharing things I am excited about with the world.

Briefly describe your strangest travel experience?
Definitely had a few weird ones. I was in Italy visiting a factory in a small village – dirt roads, everything closed by 3pm, bored teenagers. I was dressed fancy and wearing my Bun Box [waiting for the train to the airport]. It never came. I had to go to the ATM to bleed the bank machine, so we could try to find one of the two working taxi drivers to take us to the airport. I guess I looked like a flashy weirdo, and I turned the heads of all twenty teenagers standing around staring, playing with the shocks on their bicycles. ATM didn't work. They started screaming at me, and I had to ask a few merciful tween girls if they knew of another ATM. They escorted me, but so did their hybrid bicycle procession, all catcalling and screaming down the dirt road, waiting for me to take out money, kicking up dust clouds, and then all the way back through town to the train station. I didn't know whether to feel intimidated or like an orchestra conductor. They just kind of dispersed when I got back to the station. Big day. We made the flight.

Best piece of advice you've gotten?
In terms of taste, follow your instincts. If you really feel like something is fresh, stick with it. It can take a long time for people to recognize it, so just have fun and represent whatever you are excited about. Fun begets more fun.

What person, idea, or place will we be reading about fifteen years from now as avant-garde?
Piombino – my favorite Italian port town. Good seafood, hot bikers who wear the same bright and tight clothes no matter the age or weight. Funny teenagers. Everything glitter. Everything.

Learn more about Arielle de Pinto HERE.