This Ilk or the quintessence of lace

Tamara Bavdek founded This Ilk in 2008 following her bachelor's degree in industrial design. The Montreal company devotes itself to making lace jewelry, a central component of its creations.

A step-by-step journey

The designer obtained her degree in industrial design at a time when the economic crisis was raging, particularly in the United States. The employment sector offers few interesting possibilities, especially in its field. Looking for a way to express her creativity, the recent graduate turned to jewelry making after getting a drastic haircut. She works the lace to make it take on various shapes under her fingers. From this moment, a succession of adventures begins to finally lead to the realization of the company. After several remarks about her new jewelry, the founder of This Ilk was offered the construction of a platform for her creations, participated in a first event and was then spotted by actors in the field of sales, thus giving the real kick-off to the company.

Inspiration at the crossroads of places and times

The designer with a deeply artistic spirit finds a great feeling of work accomplished in the development and realization of various creative projects. Jewels have imposed themselves while their relatively short production time allows easy access to this feeling of success. This preference for jewelry overlaps with an idea of ​​omnipresent femininity in the creative process and wanting to be expressed through the jewelry created. This idea is heavily influenced by actress and model Edie Sedgwick. This icon guided the models of earrings designed by Tamara Bavdek when she herself had adopted a boyish haircut and sought to feminize this new style with imposing jewels, as Sedgwick had done. Concretely, the work of the artist then focused on lace, both for more aesthetic reasons coming from the luxurious and decorated facets of this textile and for practical reasons resulting from a search for comfort and lightness, despite jewelry of considerable size.

“Their style is a combination of what inspires me in the moment, travel craftsmanship, my interests in architecture and design, my fascination with the 60s and 70s, etc. The guideline is lace and I don't create with subtlety. -Tamara Bavdek, Founder of This Ilk

Changing perspectives

Tamara Bavdek's inventive vision can be found at the confluence of different worlds, be it fashion, craftsmanship, entrepreneurship, etc. Through these different spectrums, the entrepreneur has evolved both personally and professionally. It was through an approach, the full extent of which she was initially unaware of, that the artist grew and learned, taking up one challenge at a time and then realizing the importance of what she had accomplished. These upheavals also saw changes in the ambitions of the artist; a desire for expansion was replaced by a desire to consolidate achievements, an idea of ​​development was replaced by an idea of ​​stability, a desire for prestige was supplanted by personal satisfaction. This change in his point of view is embodied in particular in the artist's view of social media, the growth of which has taken place in parallel with that of his business. The idea of ​​brand image and the resulting mode of promotion are principles that have been partially rejected by the entrepreneur in her concern for a creation centered on herself.

“I had the chance to evolve and to have been able to take advantage of the arrival and rise of social media as an opportunity for visibility. I think I never took advantage of this opportunity enough. Marketing has never been my focus, however, and I think we forget today that a business is not just about branding. The product can speak for itself. -Tamara Bavdek, Founder of This Ilk

A design according to the currents

This Ilk's jewelry design is intuitive, if not instinctive. It is through both the diagram and the draft, the storms of ideas and the compilations of fragments of inspiration that the various models found in the company's online store are developed. Materials, textures, reliefs, lines, patterns and asperities guide the artist through his reflexive process leading him to explore the infinity of possibilities offered by lace. The designer dives in search of old pieces which, through a perpetual quest for originality, become contemporary ornaments with a few bohemian accents. The creations are intended to seek a balance between style and utility, the imposing shape of the jewels being compensated by the lightness of the material that composes them, a combination ardently sought after by lovers of large earrings. The jewels, which stand out for their uniqueness, express the audacity that seems to animate their designer.

“Apart from the often “vintage” materials that I use, my jewelry looks like me. I like to surprise in shapes and materials. I most often seek to innovate. I do not create jewelry to create jewelry. I create jewelry to create something that is functional, aesthetically pleasing and that I want to wear. I want to be proud of what I create” -Tamara Bavdek, founder of This Ilk

This Ilk is a company specializing in the design of jewelry which, in its unclassifiable authenticity, happens to be out of time and out of place, at the confluence of various currents and sources of inspiration. Exuding a style that is both monumental and delicate, the pieces designed by Tamara Bavdek represent true ornaments all in femininity which result from a work to push back the limits of what has already been done.

" certainly a pride and gratitude, but it's such a part of me at this point I can't see myself living any other way. One of my favorite parts is the opportunity to interact with other designers at events and to have the chance to see my clients go crazy when they come to choose a piece. Don't we all want to bring joy to others, especially through the fruit of our efforts? »

For more information about the company, see its member profile .

Reviewed by Sandrine