Elke Kramer
Being hailed as one of Australia’s most important contemporary designers is an unlikely outcome for a girl originally planning to study biology at university, but that’s precisely the title Elke Kramer has garnered for her work. Having apparently devastated her parents by crossing over into the “dark side” of design and illustration, Kramer originally gained notoriety with a jewellery collection for her friend Michelle Robinson’s fashion show in 2004 and, with an inability to meet the influx of orders from said show, launched Elke Kramer jewellery.
Vehemently original, Kramer jewellery combines the playfulness of the plastic jewellery (albeit limited edition with moving parts) you wore and admired as a kid, while at the same time representing everything you wanted to wear but couldn’t from your parent’s more enviable and mature jewellery and accessory collections.
Although Kramer works across many disciplines, creating illustrations for Yen, Russh and Dazed and Confused (Japan) magazine, as well as yardage prints for Kiwi Mala Bracjovic, it’s her jewellery that fully encompasses both her design abilities and her unique world view.
