Behind the scenes: Our upcoming collection 'Of Earth'

A tribute to Mother Nature

Some of you may know what goes into creating a new collection, but for those of you who don’t, we thought we’d share a little bit about our process. Besides the actual jewellery design – which Karin does herself – there are many other ins and outs that need to be considered.

Deciding on creative direction, location, models, clothing, and hair and makeup is a very important part of our process – an intentional curation that is never rushed. Amy Keevy, our Brand Curator and Art Director explains: “On all Dear Rae shoots, we place great emphasis on capturing the unique magic of each collection, but we also want to have a lot of fun while doing it.”

For this new collection, we were fortunate enough to work with photographer Caroline Mackintosh again – the same incredible human we collaborated with on ‘Ode to the Ocean.’ Favourite photographer? On board. In one of our pre-production meetings, she suggested that we shoot on her family farm just outside of Barrydale. Dream location? Confirmed.

“We had never shot any collections in the Karoo before, but I’ve always wanted to. With its vast open landscapes, interesting rocks and colours, the Karoo has always inspired me. Caroline offering us her farm as the location of this Earth-inspired collection felt like a sign from the Universe. Everything was starting to come together.” – Amy

Slowly, we assembled our dream team that would all join heads and hearts in the Karoo:

Caroline Mackintosh – Photographer

Heinrich Benjamin – Photography assistant

Jane Jakobi – Makeup artist

Karin Matthee – Jewellery designer

Amy Keevy – Art director

Taylor Fahrenfort – Jewellery stylist

Zelti February – Model

Mira Jaan – Model

Graydawn, Akina, Asha : Eleven, Atlas Label, HempLove, – Clothing

After heading down the N1 through Barrydale, we took a few dust roads and drove through a couple of farm gates, only to arrive at the most magical little corner of the Karoo. Our camp was simple and beautiful. The ground was scattered with desert plants and unusual rocks, while the surrounding landscape looked like a Pierneef painting.

That afternoon, the rain fell while we were scouting for locations. It hadn’t rained for years and we celebrated with Mother Nature. The smell of the wet soil was intoxicating. It smelled like life. Bouncing around in the Land Rover, we wowed and pointed at our favourite places: A large red rockscape; an area that looked like the moon; shapes and colours unlike we’ve ever seen, emerging from the rocks and earth.

The next morning was all about wardrobe. Our two beautiful models tried on items that we sourced from local brands or our own wardrobes. Instead of assigning certain outfits to each of them, it was important to us that they tried on what they liked and felt most comfortable in. As Amy mentioned, “I’ve always believed that whoever is in front of the camera should feel powerful in whatever it is they are wearing.”

The rest of the shoot flowed as organically and seamlessly as we had all imagined. It really was an unforgettable three days with the most talented and amazing crew, on the most magnificent piece of Earth.