Jonathan Cohen’s New Upcycled Necklaces Were Made in Collaboration With Refugee Artisan Initiative

Jonathan Cohen hasn’t wasted a scrap of fabric in years. From entire rolls of leftover textiles to the tiny bits left on the factory floor, it all gets repurposed into pillows, patchwork dresses, brooches, scrunchies, face masks, and totes as part of his upcycled, one-of-a-kind Studio Collection. Today, he’s adding an exciting new category to the list: jewelry.

Observant Vogue Runway users might have noticed the bubble-like necklaces in his fall 2021 collection: In some looks, stacks of beads were layered around the neck, while others featured extra-long strands looped over the torso like delicate harnesses. Upon closer inspection, each one was tightly wrapped with the same materials as the clothes: graphic dotted silks, saffron viscoses, abstract florals. In lieu of clasps, the necklaces fasten with an adjustable ribbon tie—a detail found on many of Cohen’s dresses—and were handmade by refugee and immigrant women in the United States through a partnership with Refugee Artisan Initiative.

“We always try to come up with new ways to work with our fabric remnants,” Cohen says. “While we were styling the new collection, we were talking to our stylist Austen Turner about making accessories for the shoot, and we landed on the idea of covered beads. They ended up becoming a major part of the collection and added something so special—people immediately reached out to us to ask about purchasing them.”