October 2026

Sydney fine jewellery label Serpent & the Swan creates heirlooms for those who prefer to make their own rules.

Founded in Sydney by Hayley Smith through a love of nature, symbolism and craftsmanship, Serpent & the Swan is jewellery for the graceful anarchist. Pieces are designed not simply to adorn, but to be lived in and eventually passed down.

Crafted in sterling silver and fair mined 9K solid gold, the designs draw inspiration from history, symbolism and the natural world, with every piece created as a unique, one of a kind treasure.

Each piece is handcrafted by an all women artisan team in the brand’s Sydney studio, with a commitment to slow, deliberate production. Working to a made to order model, Serpent & the Swan rejects the pace of mass production in favour of jewellery that carries intention, individuality and meaning.

That philosophy has resonated with musicians around the globe, including Sombr, Taylor Swift, 2 Hollis, G Flip, Alex Cameron, Sarah Blasko and more.

Among the label’s signatures is the Burning Heart Necklace, a symbol of devotion and inner strength, alongside the brand’s instantly recognisable Safety Pin Earrings.

Designed to be layered and worn effortlessly throughout the day, the earrings have become one of the label’s most loved pieces, with each design featuring its own unique symbol and meaning.

The brand’s commitment to individuality extends into its bespoke work. Clients are invited to bring their own gold or gemstones to be transformed into something new, or simply arrive with an idea.

From a sentimental heirloom to a completely imagined piece, Hayley works collaboratively with each client to bring the concept to life.

Now entering a new chapter, Serpent & the Swan has recently opened its new studio and showroom at 16/43–53 Bridge Road, Stanmore, Sydney.

The space offers clients the chance to experience the collection in person, try on pieces and meet the women behind the jewellery, alongside the studio’s resident pups.

At its heart, Serpent & the Swan is about jewellery with no rules. Pieces with history, symbolism and heart, made slowly and intended to be worn your own way.

Studio and showroom at 16/43–53 Bridge Road, Stanmore, Sydney

SHOP / WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

For more than four decades, Lucas Blacker has worked at the intersection of jewellery, design and the visual arts, developing a practice built around making things by hand. A Master Jeweller, Designer and Artist, Blacker designs and crafts each piece himself, taking the work from its initial concept through to the finished object. His career, which began in the late 1970s, has been defined by experimentation, craftsmanship and an ongoing interest in what can be achieved with precious metals and gemstones.

Blacker established his first jewellery business in 1985, beginning a professional path that would eventually take his work into galleries and creative communities across Australia and overseas. In 1989, he travelled internationally and immersed himself in different artistic communities and disciplines. The experience influenced his direction as a jeweller, and he returned to Australia with a renewed perspective on both design and making.

Jewellery, however, was never the only creative discipline occupying Blacker’s attention. He explored painting, sculpture, ceramics and printmaking, looking at the ways those practices could inform his own work. Rather than treating jewellery as an isolated craft, he brought elements of those disciplines into his approach, experimenting with precious metals, unconventional forms and coloured gemstones.

That broader artistic investigation became an important part of Blacker’s development as a contemporary jewellery designer. In 1993, he was awarded Fellowship of the Gold and Silversmiths Guild of Australia. Around the same time, he developed his first major jewellery collection and began exhibiting through galleries in Sydney and Melbourne. He later established a studio gallery in Balmain, where he spent a decade exhibiting his own work throughout Australia and Asia while also representing the work of up to 50 artists.

For Blacker, the distinction between designing a piece and actually making it is an important one. Every work begins with his own design process before being constructed by hand in his studio. He remains involved throughout, from developing the initial concept and selecting materials to forming, constructing, finishing and refining the final piece. The process keeps the designer directly connected to the object being produced.

That hands-on approach extends across his jewellery practice, including manufacture, remodelling and restoration. More than 40 years of working at the bench have given Blacker an extensive base of practical experience, while his interest in experimentation continues to push his work beyond conventional jewellery forms. The result is a practice where technical skill and artistic exploration operate alongside each other.

In 2021, Blacker opened Black Cicada Studio, bringing together a working jewellery studio, gallery and creative space. The studio was conceived as somewhere jewellery could be made, exhibited and discussed alongside contemporary art. Collaborations with local artists and organisations have also seen the space host workshops, exhibitions and demonstrations, opening up aspects of the creative process to the broader community.

In September 2026, Black Cicada Studio relocated to Dulwich Hill, moving into the creative environment surrounding Marrickville Road. The new location continues Blacker’s interest in connecting the making of jewellery with exhibition and the wider artistic community, while providing a home for his ongoing practice.

His latest collection, Constructionist Silver, strips the process back even further. Rather than beginning with a particular gemstone or a client’s brief, the collection starts with simple geometric shapes cut from flat sterling silver plate. Blacker then constructs and manipulates the material, transforming those basic forms into three-dimensional objects that sit somewhere between wearable jewellery and miniature sculpture.

After more than four decades at the bench, Blacker’s approach remains grounded in the same ideas that have shaped his career: design, craftsmanship and experimentation. Constructionist Silver is another chapter in that exploration, but the underlying process remains unchanged. From the first line on paper to the final polish, each piece is conceived and handcrafted by Blacker himself, leaving the finished work directly connected to the jeweller, designer and artist who made it.

SHOP / WEBSITE

INSTAGRAM

What inspired you to create the new Natural Fibre Collection, and how did the idea come together?

A natural fibre collection has been in the works over the last few years and we have been testing and trialling it with different bases. For this collection we wanted to move into more core colours and so finding a constant supplier of tones that work within our beautiful colour palette was the challenge. We love working with earthy natural tones so it felt like a bit of a tall order trying to find firstly a natural fibre & secondly in organic plant based and thirdly with the dreams of that production method being circular**.** The main inspiration behind our natural collection is the planet, for close to a decade now we have been making changes to become more and more sustainable and our core range was the last key piece for our brand that needed to be more earth friendly.

After working with the same velvet factory for 13 years, how did its closure influence the way you approached this new collection?

In a way it gave us a lot of freedom being able to start again from scratch after doing it for 13 years with our classic velvet fabric. It was really exciting once we found the fabric, the lead up to and the searching for it was very challenging but when it came to the final product being ready for sampling and then our photo shoot it just all flowed very naturally. We wanted to showcase it in a very casual, fun, light-hearted manner because that’s how the new Fabric feels as well and we were lucky enough to be able to do our photoshoot with some wonderful babes in Greece.

You explored fabrics and production methods across Europe before discovering Organic Bamboo. What made you decide it was the right fit for Flare Street?

We’ve been wanting to work with circular suppliers and so we have in our little black book the contacts and creators of some really amazing fabrics that are circular in Europe. Some of the production methods that are happening over there was just incredible in terms of recycling, circularity and top quality product and they’re moving millions of metres. Watching that process always leaves this feeling within me that reminds me that this could be the case in Australia and in Melbourne in terms of our rag trade, so wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could be a part of sustaining our Australia textile economy… and so with that in mind, we went back to Melbourne and began to start from the ground up again – and things are really changing year after year in Australia in terms of Ethical fashion and fabric manufacturers. Our organic bamboo comes from one of our favourite suppliers in Australia that we’ve been working with for 13 years and we’re also sampling with one of our favourite mills that made our organic Australian cotton. Another amazing company we’re working with in Melbourne is Circular Sourcing, and they’re connecting deadstock fabric from mills with brands!

How does the Organic Bamboo feel and wear differently from your signature velvet pieces?

I’ve been a velvet lover personally since the 1990s so that Fabric and me go way back, but in saying that they’ll always be a place for beautiful velvets and it didn’t make sense any more to work with polyester fibres, so organic bamboo is in a class of its own, it is such a top quality Fabric that we’re working with. We know there’s other bamboos on the market and I think what makes our organic bamboo stand out is that it feels so silky, it’s so lightweight or lighter than a cotton. It’s so breathable, moisture wicking, durable. It’s great for travelling. It’s great for a night out dancing and it does everything that our velvet does in terms of how it sits on your body, how it makes you feel so we’re incredibly fortunate to have found it and we’re so excited to be working with it… and we’re really excited to see our customers grooving around in it.

Sustainability has been an important part of Flare Street from the beginning. How does this collection build on that philosophy?

This collection feels like the final piece of the puzzle. It’s been something that we have been working towards for over six years and we know that customers are changing in terms of what they want to wear on their bodies as well natural fibres. It Just feel better, they breathable, they’re better for the environment, better for your skin and so knowing now that there is zero part of production that pollutes our waterways, ends up in landfill, uses harsh chemicals really feels like something to celebrate and 13 years ago really felt like quite an impossible task. We have been slowly working towards this year after year so it’s incredible to be here now. With this gorgeous garment and still made in Melbourne!

What surprised you most while researching new fabrics and visiting factories across Europe?

What’s surprised me most was just how passionate other people were in the Fabric industry and the rag trade around circular production and sustainability. It didn’t really come up when we started 13 years ago and it has felt like a bit of a solo journey for a long time. We know it’s a lot more common now but even five years ago when we released our organic cotton collection it wasn’t as desired or seen in the market as desirable, so excitement from really big key players in the industry was something that we saw a lot in Europe. It was also being backed by some of the biggest most beautiful luxury brands in the world and these countries local governments. It brought me to tears just knowing that companies do influence the industry a lot and are also on their sustainability journey. Seeing the companies that are putting so much time and energy into creating circularity and sustainable Fabrics being backed and supported was absolutely incredible.

How important is keeping Flare Street designed and made in Melbourne to the identity of the brand?

It’s a funny thing designed in Australia because a lot of the time our designs and ideas come to me while I’m travelling, but what is part of the identity is that the brand wouldn’t really exist without our fabulous team of makers in Melbourne. I know we don’t need to be making it here during a time where most clothing is made overseas, but it’s at the core of our values and it’s what we want to do – whether or not that influences people’s decisions when they buy some of our flares, I’m not sure – but we don’t want to be a fashion brand contributing garments to the world without being able to visit our factories and suppliers or Say hello to our makers, or sample in real time and work with some of the most amazing artists and crafters that we have in Australia.

What goes into creating a pair of flares that can work just as well for everyday wear as they can for a night out?

We’ve said for a long time that a pair of our flares are great for lounging around in or on the dancefloor and it’s true. It’s like wearing some of your most favourite pieces of jewelry. You can do your grocery shopping in them or you can wear them out to dinner with your friends and that whole time you’re feeling fabulous – and that’s what our flares also do. We didn’t accidentally designed it this way. It was intended and intentional because we wanted to put something out into the world that showed the internal glamour of a person but on the outside they are constructed in a way that is for anyone, of any gender, with any kind of disability, day or night. They’re comfortable on your body, they move with your changes and they’re not restrictive – this was all intentionally created right at the beginning because these were our customers we were designing for. We made them for people in Melbourne that loved flares, everybody, anybody and they would come to our studio, tell us what they were wanting them for and it just was such an amazing privilege to get to provide such an array of flare- lovers with an item that allowed them to feel amazing. We really only have two products and that is our classic flare and our wide leg flare and we know it’s been copied by so many brands countless times and by direct connections, which has really been disheartening. We have a list of people that have bought it off of our website only to find it in their collection next season, same colour, same fabrics but mainly it’s the same cut which we edited millimetre by millimetre when we were creating it and that does break our heart because we know it’s not just a pair of flares we made, it is a piece of art for an individual to feel amazing in. It’s not just any old pair of leggings that you can walk down to the shopping by it’s so much more than that and we are so lucky that we have such an amazing loyal customer base who stuck with us over the years through all of our changes and time and time again they’ll come back or they’ll say the most beautiful things about how they walk down the street and someone’s told them how great they look that day and it meant the world to them because they weren’t feeling wonderful and at the end of the day if you can make a product or a piece of art and put it out into the world and people enjoy it what more can you ask for really?

After more than a decade of Flare Street, what continues to inspire you creatively?

Our customers inspire us greatly seeing them in our product or seeing how they style them. We design for our clients, and then outside of that I love art and galleries, impressionism, 60’s & 70’s of course, jewellery design, Antiques, history, travelling, crafts people and seeing their process or inside people Studios… that’s what inspires me. In terms of design inspiration for collections, that’s something that comes to me every day. It might just be at a cafe and there’s a gorgeous teacup, it might be seeing a picture in a history book or that one fabric from the 1700s on somebody’s curtain & it strikes a chord with me. Nature also is one of the main inspirations, the ocean, trees… mother nature always fills me with so many ideas.

What’s next for Flare Street, and can we expect to see more natural, recycled or deadstock fabrics in future collections?

I’m really excited as we’re doing a pop-up shop this weekend in Collingwood from 2-4th Oct and we’ll be showcasing our new collection of natural fibres, new flares as well as new deadstock fabric that we haven’t released yet! We’re working with some other really beautiful Melbourne based artist, jewellers and vintage collectors to curate the space. And we’ll have a beeswax candle making workshop running with beeswax from local Victorian bees!

This collection marks the change and pivot in flare Street. We started out using all recycled dead stock. Fabrics from some of the biggest design houses across the world Prada Gucci Fendi Zimmerman. We were so lucky to be able to recycle the Fabrics that they were no longer working with but as we grew it was getting harder to find the supply. Now it’s 13 years later and there are amazing companies that we can work with that also want to be working in a more recycled fashion and with natural fibres.

We’re really excited about how far that’s come and what we now have access to , we’ll also be doing a few extra little bits like new tops and dresses and bringing back some of our favourite styles from over the years because as we grow and develop we still want to be true to our 60s and 70s roots and our beautiful textile designs that we’ve created with so many wonderful worldwide artists.

Made in Melbourne

Shop: www.flarestreet.com

Instagram: flarestreet

Spread the Flare Love

You grew up in Marseille and spent around a decade in Bali, where you built Fields of Yarrow. What was it about Bali that drew you in and ultimately gave you the environment to create the brand?

I arrived in Bali quite young, and I think what drew me in was the possibility of living much closer to nature. There was a different relationship to time, to plants, to the body, to ritual. Things that can feel separate elsewhere were simply part of everyday life there.

Fields of Yarrow really grew out of that environment. I had access to incredible botanicals, farmers, traditional plant knowledge and, eventually, the possibility of growing many of our own ingredients. Bali gave me the space to experiment and to build slowly. The brand was never created around a marketing concept; it came from years of touching, smelling, growing, extracting and formulating with plants.

In many ways, Bali taught me to pay attention.

Fields of Yarrow has developed a seed to skin approach, including growing your own plants and flowers. What have you learned from working directly with the plants that has changed the way you think about skincare?

That plants cannot really be rushed.

When you grow an ingredient yourself, skincare suddenly becomes much less abstract. You understand that before something becomes an ingredient on an INCI list, it has had an entire life. There is soil, water, weather, harvest, timing, extraction.

It made me much more interested in the quality and integrity of an ingredient than simply the percentage written on a formula.

Working directly with plants has also taught me that nature is incredibly sophisticated. A flower or leaf contains hundreds of compounds working together. We try to respect that complexity rather than constantly isolating everything.

Our garden has changed the way I formulate, but also the way I think about beauty. Good skincare, like growing something, is often about consistency and patience rather than immediacy.

You’ve described Fields of Yarrow as skincare that is designed to be “experienced rather than applied.” What does that philosophy mean to you, and why is the ritual around skincare so important?

I never wanted skincare to feel clinical or transactional: apply this, fix that, move on.

For me, the few minutes you spend with your skin can become a small moment of reconnection. Texture matters. Temperature matters. Scent matters. The way an oil moves between your palms matters.

That is why we think about our formulas sensorially as much as functionally. A cleanser can change texture with water. An oil has a particular slip. A botanical aroma can change the atmosphere around you.

Of course, the product has to perform. But I don’t believe efficacy and pleasure have to exist separately.

Skincare is something most of us repeat every day. If you’re going to repeat something thousands of times in your life, I think it should feel beautiful.

Your background brings together science, plants, aromatherapy and natural skincare. When you’re developing a new product, how do those different influences come together?

It usually starts with a feeling or a need rather than an ingredient.

I think about what I want the product to do for the skin, but also what I want that moment to feel like. From there, we work backwards: which botanicals make sense therapeutically, which extraction methods protect them best, what texture carries them properly, how the formula behaves on the skin, and what aromatic profile belongs to that experience.

Aromatherapy is important to me, but never as decoration. The scent should have a reason for being there.

And then there is a lot of testing. I am quite obsessive about texture. Sometimes the difference between an acceptable formula and a beautiful one is incredibly small.

It is really a conversation between instinct and science. I need both.

There is a real connection between Fields of Yarrow and the places you’ve called home, from Marseille to Bali and now your growing presence in Europe. How do those different places influence the brand today?

Bali gave Fields of Yarrow its relationship with plants. Marseille gives it another kind of energy.

Marseille is raw, Mediterranean, imperfect, creative. There is sea air, dry herbs, old pharmacies, markets, stone, strong light. It has a very particular character, and because I grew up here, returning has also brought me back to parts of myself that existed before Fields of Yarrow.

I don’t want the brand to become geographically literal, though. I am more interested in what you absorb from a place.

Bali taught us how to grow and work with botanicals. France brings another conversation around craftsmanship, design and pharmacy. Now those two worlds are beginning to meet. That feels very natural to me.

The Wild Rose & Geranium Illuminating Face Oil is currently featured among Fields of Yarrow’s best sellers. What do you think it is about that product that people connect with?

I think it has a simplicity that people understand immediately.

Wild rose and geranium are two botanicals I have loved for a very long time, particularly for skin that looks tired, stressed or depleted. The oil leaves the skin incredibly nourished and luminous without making the ritual complicated.

But I also think people connect emotionally with it. There is something very comforting about rose and geranium together. You open the bottle and immediately know you’re going to take care of yourself.

It represents Fields of Yarrow very well because it sits somewhere between treatment and ritual. It has a purpose, but it also gives pleasure.

Sustainability is built into the way Fields of Yarrow operates, from cultivation and composting to water conservation and packaging. As the business grows, how do you make sure those principles remain part of the everyday decisions you make?

I’m trying not to treat sustainability as a separate department or campaign.

It needs to exist inside very ordinary decisions: how much we produce, where something is sourced, how our garden is managed, what happens to plant material after extraction, what packaging we choose and whether something actually needs to exist in the first place.

Growing ingredients ourselves has made this very tangible. You see the resources involved before a product ever reaches a shelf.

As we grow, there will always be compromises and better solutions to find. I don’t think any beauty company should pretend to be perfect. For me, the responsibility is to remain curious, keep questioning our systems and improve them as we have access to better materials and technologies.

Growth shouldn’t mean forgetting how something started.

Fields of Yarrow now has stores and studios in Canggu and Uluwatu, while also expanding internationally. What have you learned from taking the brand from its original home in Bali into new markets?

I learned that you have to understand what is essential to the brand and what can evolve.

Bali is where Fields of Yarrow was born, so naturally there were things about the experience that felt very connected to that place. As we began working internationally, I had to ask myself: if you remove Bali, what remains?

The answer was actually very clear. Plants. Skin. Time. Touch. Ritual. Generosity. Those things travel.

What changes is the expression around them.

It has also taught me not to expand for the sake of expanding. We recently made the decision to simplify our Bali retail presence and concentrate on Uluwatu while putting more energy into Europe. Sometimes growth means adding things, and sometimes it means knowing what to let go of.

Fields of Yarrow now has a growing presence in Europe. What does this new chapter look like for you and for the brand?

It feels like the beginning of a second life for Fields of Yarrow.

After almost ten years of building the brand in Bali, bringing it back to France and particularly to Marseille feels very emotional. We are opening our first French home here, which will be part boutique, part facial studio and part space for consultation and discovery.

I want it to feel less like entering a conventional beauty store and more like entering the world of Fields of Yarrow.

Europe will also allow us to develop the brand creatively in a different way: through collaborations, objects, print, treatments, hospitality and relationships with other makers.

The ambition is certainly to grow, but I want to do it carefully. I don’t want Fields of Yarrow everywhere. I want it in the right places, with people who understand what we’re trying to build.

Your collaboration with Marseille based ceramic atelier Franca is Fields of Yarrow’s first French collaboration, bringing together skincare, ceramics and ritual. What attracted you to Franca, and what would you like to explore creatively next?

I was attracted to Franca because the work feels very human. You see the hand in it.

There is texture, imperfection and warmth, which is something I always respond to. Our products are very tactile, so ceramics felt like a natural first conversation in France. It transforms skincare from simply being something contained in a bottle into something that can occupy a space and become part of a ritual.

I’m very interested in continuing to work with people outside of traditional beauty.

Ceramicists, florists, photographers, chefs, textile makers, perfumers, writers… people who can introduce a completely different language into the Fields of Yarrow universe.

I think the most interesting collaborations happen when neither side is simply decorating the other’s product. You create a third thing that couldn’t really have existed without both of you.

Photography: Annyck Benth

WEBSITE / SHOP

INSTAGRAM