Welcome to the Dreamlike World of Stephanie D’heygere

You won’t find anything as simple as earrings or necklaces at the heart of jewelry designer Stephanie D’heygere’s practice. Instead, she’s preoccupied with how we look at and understand the world, unlocking the joyful potential contained within what we find around us.

On D’heygere’s website, you’re greeted with images of people utilizing everyday items as makeshift accessories: a cat, a pair of headphones, a donut and shaving cream. All find themselves perched around ears and necks, fashioned into makeshift socks, bracelets or hair ties. It’s this transformation of the prosaic into the decorative that gets to the heart of what makes D’heygere’s work so interesting, and why her innovative approach to jewelry commands a cult following.

D’heygere studied design at Antwerp’s Royal Academy with the ambition of working in fashion. A chance internship in Lanvin’s accessories department led her to change course. After graduating, she went on to work at Maison Margiela before collaborating with brands like Y/Project, Dior and Vetements. In 2018, she launched her eponymous label.

There’s a classicism to D’heygere, refracted through a playful imagination and a Dadaist sensibility. It subverts, but is not necessarily subversive, instead emphasizing humor and ingenuity. She turns everyday objects inside out: a pair of gloves might become a necklace, a DVD might become an earring. Pieces are adaptable: see the necklace with space for the wearer to put a flower in. Not content with expanding the possibilities of the category, she wants you to accessorize your accessories.

At MANIFESTO, a three-day festival presented by Kaleidoscope and GOAT at Espace Niemeyer during Paris Fashion Week, D’heygere unveils a nail salon installation and exclusive capsule collection. We caught up with the hardware surrealist to learn more about her creative philosophy, her time at Margiela and branching out to interior design.