This was done under the ongoing #BlackIsBrilliant campaign.
When Viola Davis stepped onto the red carpet for the premiere of the Showtime series The First Lady last week, she wore a stunning statement on her ears.
The Academy Award winner was Matturi Fine Jewellery, which featured ethically and sustainable sourced natural diamonds from Botswana. The brand is named after its founder, Satta Matturi, a British-West African.
This was done as part of the ongoing Red Carpet Advocacy (RAD) x De Beers Group’s #BlackIsBrilliant campaign. #BlackIsBrilliant provides a platform for Black designers to create one-of-a-kind pieces with natural diamonds from Botswana. It places an emphasis on the red carpet as a powerful forum for communication and visibility in amplifying Black voices and talent.
RAD, as an initiative, pairs talent and brands to use their platforms in advocating for causes at global events as a way to promote social progress and positive shifts in culture.
Matturi has combined deep felt traditions and heritage from Africa mixed with a global view of trends, attitudes, and inspiration to create a brand that would resonate with independent fashion conscious women.
She has traveled the world extensively and has an innate passion for the new emerging Africa, which she brings into her designs. Her vast personal jewelry collection, amassed over the years serves as a true testament to her love for baubles. Matturi grew up with a mother who insisted that women must build an enviable jewelry collection.
The Kwe Earrings, which Davis wore to the April 14 premiere, is said to be a “tribute to a people who continue to live selflessly with nature,” according to Matturio.
“Said to be the oldest inhabitants of southern Africa, the San, also known as Bushmen or Kwe are a diverse group of peoples who historically lived through a hunter gatherer lifestyle,” she says.
Their traditions, dance, and distinct rock art, its product description continues, depict and interpret their views and beliefs regarding landscapes, flora, fauna and living within a sustainable ecosystem, which have been passed through the generations.
Contemporary San artists, Matturi points out, continue to draw on these same ancestral beliefs and traditions using bold interpretations and vibrant colors.
“The design in particular picks on the beautiful landscapes of Botswana, a country that is blessed not just with diamonds but with the natural beauty of the delta, rivers and an abundance of wildlife,” the designer says. “Forty natural diamonds, created deep under Botswana’s soil millions of years ago were selected by De Beers Group for their unique attributes which were cut and polished in Gaborone by Batswana artisans.”
The 18K gold that surrounds and connects the diamonds are left unpolished to give off a raw yet contemporary feel. “Every aspect of these earrings and design pays homage to a country, its people, natural resource and astonishing eco system,” Matturi says.
In support of Davis’s advocacy of Black creative talent, a $25,000 donation will be made to a charity of her choice.
