Rescue mission

So-Le Studio uses discarded leather and metal to bring a distinctive sustainability to jewellery design

- HANNAH SILVER

Rather than precious diamonds and gold, jewellery designer Maria Sole Ferragamo’s materials of choice are leather offcuts and metal shavings. Drawing on her architecture degree from the Politecnico di Milano, and master’s in jewellery from Central Saint Martins, the founder of So-Le Studio produces pieces with sharply defined forms that resist traditional silhouettes: earrings curl around the whorl of the ear or graze the shoulder, while oversized necklaces drape over the body like garments.

Ferragamo moved her brand from London to Milan in 2020, and produces her pieces in Florence. At first, she was fascinated by the possibilities of upcycled Italian leather, teasing the leftover material into sculptural swirls, with the scraps reborn as intricate jewellery pieces. Her 2021 Trucioli collection marked her first time using discarded brass as the main material, transforming the shavings leftover from the production of the metallic components of her leather pieces into spiral earrings dipped in gold.