Lucy Folk · Bento

Bento - a collaboration between Melbourne jewellery Lucy Folk and Swedish / Japanese singer Yukimu Nagano of the band Little Dragon.

Melbourne jeweller Lucy Folk has been a busy lass over the past year, and I have GOT to say, the more I see her smiling face pop up in the press and on the web, the deeper I fall into girl crush territory.   I can't help it... every photo I ever see of Ms Folk, she is beaming from ear to ear.  She just seems so endlessly cheerful! A good pinch of that sunny disposition goes into Lucy's food-inspired jewels.  Her latest range is called Bento - a collaboration with Swedish/Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano of the band Little Dragon.  The range includes Lucy's much loved pepper chain bracelets in brand new sushi-inspired colour ways, as well as many new designs - my personal faves are the gold sesame seed encrusted hoop earrings...!  Mmmmm sesame bling. Lucy and Yukimi were joined by a stellar team of creative talent in London to shoot a fabulous and slightly mad little film promoting their collab, which was directed by Antoine Wagner.  It also features a cameo by the amazing Susie Bubble!

The Bento film, featuring Yukimi Nagano of the band Little Dragon and jewellery by Lucy Folk.  Directed by Antoine Wagner.

Lucy launched the Bento range late last year at COLETTE in PARIS!  Encroyable!  The entire range can now be purchased online or from any of Lucy's many stockists across Australia and internationally. We asked Lucy a few questions about how this range came together, the making of the film and her launch at Colette! -

Your latest range, Bento, is a collaboration with Yukimi Nagano of the band Little Dragon. Can you tell us how this partnership unfolded?

Yukimi bought some of my jewels back in early 2012, and I am a big fan of Little Dragon. I was thrilled that Yukimi was into my work and after being introduced by a mutual friend we started talking and decided it would be fun to collaborate. Initially it was going to be a few pieces and then we launched into a full range of goodies. Yukimi provided the ingredients and we cooked it up. We worked through the designs together via email and Skype and the result is our special bento of rice rings, sesame seed hoops, jasmine flower friendships, pumpkin seeds fashioned out of resin and sterling silver and lots of sushi worthy colours in the mix.

Bento - a collaboration between Melbourne jewellery Lucy Folk and Swedish / Japanese singer Yukimi Nagano of the band Little Dragon.

You recently spent some time in Paris where you launched Bento at iconic French boutique-retailer Colette. Please explain!  How did the launch come about, what did the event entail, and what is this about you also being invited to be involved in one of their famed Cooklettes cooking demonstrations?!

I have just returned from Europe, yes indeed! Working with Colette has been an absolute pleasure. I approached Colette as I wanted to launch the range and the film in Europe with some sort of unique event. Colette is such an incredible store, and I was beside myself when I found out Colette was interested in hosting the event. Antoine Wagner's film was what sealed the deal. Cooklette is a great program that has been in place since 2009. The event consisted of 12 guests, 6 of those were media and 6 were the first to apply via the Colette website. We worked with a Japanese bakery from Paris called Aki Boulangerie and their chefs taught the guests to make green tea eclairs, sesame pudding, strawberry gateau, and to cut fruit in a very elaborate Japanese way. It was a dessert French/Japanese inspired bento, and it was delicious! All the participants took to the challenge and created their own bento box of sugary treats. At the end of the Cooklette I customised special bento friendship bands for each guest and they all walked away with Colette blue and white Kate Rohde resin bento boxes, glow in the dark neon green resin chopsticks, Aki Boulangerie inspired treats and a Lucy Folk memento!

Considering your preoccupation with food, It was only inevitable that one day you would be at the helm of a food fight!  But who knew a food fight could look so glamourous?!  Was making a fashion film something you always wanted to explore and how did you go about making it happen?

The film was on the cards from the beginning of the collaboration. We had loads of different ideas for it,  and it was a lengthy process, chasing different directors and coming up with various ideas. Two weeks before the shoot, we locked in the fabulous director Antoine Wagner, with the help of my dear friend Sophie Edelstein. He is a joy to work with and brought so much fun and passion to the project, plus the idea...whoa! I was thrilled at the thought of a food fight and such a beautiful one with so much colour – it blew my foodie mind! We filmed it in London with a fantastic crew and it was the most exciting day of my career. It ended with the strongest martini I have ever had!

Lucy Folk and Yukimi Nagano of Little Dragon on the set of their little film!