Lush, bold sets in complementary hues provide the backdrop for Parisian-born, London-based photographer, stylist and publisher Olivia da Costa鈥檚 (b. 1974) vibrant compositions, which showcase her devotion to jewellery and the fashion accessory. Da Costa鈥檚 Please! magazine serves as a compendium of her exuberant vision 鈥 an unabashed and joyous celebration of loud, ostentatious style inspired by the grand dames of the art and design world, chiefly Paloma Picasso, Elsa Schiaparelli and Iris Apfel. The series inhabits a tropical pop paradise 鈥 a retro-futurist world of riotous colour and pattern, gold lame虂, exotic creatures and verdurous palm fronds. Artifice is da Costa鈥檚 guiding principle: she plays with scale and perspective, deftly employing edible props as a focal point in drawing attention to metallic stilettos suspended at unnatural angles or the lustrous gleam of oversized gemstones. .
