On Wednesday morning, nine participants of the inaugural Tiffany & Co. x CFDA Jewelry Designer Award convened at The Landmark, the House’s historic Fifth Avenue flagship, with their final design presentations.

The moment marked the culmination of their journey in the program, where, throughout the course of four months, they had monthly mentoring sessions with the House’s design team and in-depth lecture series on varying topics to gain knowledge and experience for their assignment: to create a five-piece capsule collection that pays homage to the House’s heritage while bringing modernity and inventiveness, appealing to a Gen Z audience at a price point between $500 to $80,000.

On the highest floor of The Landmark – at the Tiffany Private Club – the selection committee went to and fro from the Schlumberger and Drawing Room, where the participants set up their capsule collections and presented their final assignment in under 10 minutes.

Angie Marei

I feel that today is a big door opening to new opportunities. While I was working on this project, I was going through a lot of stuff in my personal life, but this was my shining North star and focus target. No matter what was going on, I believed in this program, in this project and whole experience. It energized me.

I presented a collection that fuses the Art Nouveau style from the Tiffany archives, in particular, pulling references from Louis Comfort Tiffany and Tiffany Studios. They used to make these beautiful glass vases, and I took inspiration from the iridescent glass they used and references to nature, Japanese watercolors, dragonfly motifs, flowers and fusing this old traditional style, but making it modern.

David Perry

This is the most significant thing I have done in my career. I think my biggest takeaway is how deeply I was pushed as an artist. I won’t look at myself the same as a jewelry designer. This process has helped eliminate the inner saboteur. I can confidently say I am a jewelry designer and own that.

I presented a sport collection because I am a runner and that is my background. My brand is really about investing in yourself. All these pieces are symbols of my investment and I presented what I think Tiffany does well as a sport brand. Gen Z is continuing to reinvest differently into their health and sport and identify differently with sports teams. It’s the largest growing population in running, and that’s where my focus was.

Jameel Mohammed

My biggest takeaway is: enough is enough. From moment one I wanted to be as extra as possible in this presentation, throw in all the bells and whistles, and in the end, I felt like I had to edit. And because of it, the message was clear and strong, and I feel so proud of myself.

My collection is called Wildflower. It’s a story of resilience as Gen Z has lived through a number of significant societal shifts. My silhouette is mod-art inspired floral silhouettes with a thorny stem. I really thought about the soft silhouettes that Tiffany and Elsa Peretti pioneered in the 70s and bringing that back for a new audience that wants softness but knows toughness, and wants something that can balance the two extremes. How can you create a piece that acknowledges the reality while also encourages joy and hope?

Ian Delucca

My biggest learning is to continue to experiment. This was a lot of firsts for me, my first time painting in gouache, first time producing a book, first time working in titanium and first time creating a display for my jewelry, and I think it came together wonderfully. All of it was done with lessons from the Tiffany team in mind.

I think when we think about future generations and younger people, we have a tendency to flatten them. Jewelry is such an intimate experience that the most profound thing we can do is tell meaningful stories. In trying to tell as broad and deep a story I could, I centered my book around a fable of young love, and each jewel was an icon that was representative of some feeling of yearning or intimacy. I did a lot of listening to the Tiffany stories, and its obviously all about the facets of love, and I just wanted to broaden that and speak to younger people.

Hi Vu

I’m so grateful for this opportunity, to meet everyone that has come into my life. It’s a nice change after working solo in a studio. Connecting with others and networking and challenging my skills and knowledge has been everything.

I wanted to present a new mascot for the House of Tiffany. My whole concept is the black swan. When you think of a black swan you think of independence, strength and individuality, but there is still romance there. Tiffany is a House from New York, and a lady from New York is strong and powerful, just like the black swan. She will be unapologetically herself, and that’s my inspiration.

Malyia McNoughton

I learned so much about as a designer. I pushed myself harder than I have ever done before. I wanted to give it all I had.

I presented a collection that was a love letter to New York City. It represents the bridges, fasteners and rivets that hold the city together, creating bold pieces that illustrate steel softened to jewelry. I wanted it to feel like you were wearing a piece of the city with the resilience of the city on you. I wanted to reimagine the T by Tiffany icon and reimagine it as an architectural 3-D voluminous piece that takes on different visual representations depending on how you look at it.

Marvin Linares

What I gained the most from this was learning how to design at the highest level possible. These are things you can’t look up on TikTok or YouTube. All my life I’ve felt like I had to work my way into places. I wasn’t able to go through the traditional education route, and because of this program, I’ve gotten that valuable information. This experience was four months, but for me, it’s been 10 years in the making. I worked as a sales professional for Tiffany & Co. at the Westfield Topanga mall, I spent countless hours staring at the cases dreaming for an opportunity like this.

I couldn’t present my collection without telling my story. It’s what got me here, and without my story, there would be no collection. It’s called Tiffany Touch; it’s about the experience you get when you walk into Tiffany. The first time I did was for my job interview because I was always intimidated by it. My capsule was about the feeling of Tiffany and what it embodies. Gen Z is often considered out of touch, but this is a reminder to come back to it.

Pamela Zamore

It’s been a serendipitous honor for me because I have long been a lover of the legacy of Tiffany. To even find out this program was offered for the first time, I was thrilled to even begin to imagine being a part of it. To come this far has been fabulous.

The collection I developed was inspired by Tiffany T1. The concept explores the numerous facets of love. My modern take on love, through a inclusive lens, is two beings merged to become one across racial and cultural divides, sexual orientation, friends and lovers. My pieces’ shape and sculptural qualities intuitively convey this in a way I think is universal.

Symoné Currie

Through this program, my design communication has developed. I have been pushed to places I never thought possible.

I presented an orchid line, my favorite flower and I grew up around lots of orchids, so when I realized that orchid was such a strong motif, I was so excited. I designed a line that featured convertible, modular pieces that are very fluid and soft. It features a bracelet that converts into an earring. It’s all about versatility and having more than one way to wear a piece.