I never replicate my work

Accessory designer Mirvat Radwan Cairo - Shimaa Mikkawei When you see it for the first time, you think it's a kind of cloth - either leather or denim. It's actually polymer - and accessory designer Mirvat Radwan is a major aficionado of the deceptive material. Radwan has devised a unique method to make accessories using polymer. In an exclusive interview to Arabstoday she talked about her special craft: Said the designer: "I have loved accessories since childhood, escpecially hand-made ones. I have experimented with different types, but I always looked for something special and new." "My friend brought me a material called polymer clay, it looked like dough...every colour could be separated from the other. I thought of making patterns without using a brush or colour...it's all about drawing with the clay itself," she enthused. "I’ll give an example to explain how I make it: when we make swiss rolls we bring white cake - and chocolate cake- and then we roll them. That's how I create every drawing, very accurately," she said. "I started to make accessories professionally using that material and now, I started to merge it with hand-made copper because it's cheap and has many shapes.I make hand-made copper myself too...I don't let anybody else take part in making my accesories!" she laughed. "The woman who own this piece realises its value...it's a rare piece like no othe, when I create a piece- I don't replicate it." We ask her about matching her accesories with the latest in fashionable clothing, "What characterises this type of accessory is that it can be customised according to clothes." "For example, 'tiger prints' are in fashion of the year so I make tiger-style accessories, to match the clothing. That's not all - you can choose what form suits you and I'll customise it for you," she said. "If you wear blank clothes , then it's important to put curved accessories to improve your look. If you wear a leather jacket- there's a polymer clay accessory with a leather effect." When asked about the lates colours in fashion, she said :"Bold colours like green, purple and orange are in right now."