PARIS — Having worked with creatives ranging from John Galliano to Virgil Abloh and Pharrell Williams, jewelry designer Alix Ferracci is used to channeling bold ideas. 

With the launch of her own line, she hopes to bring some disruptive energy of her own to the jewelry segment. Her debut collection under the Alf label features a symbol both iconoclastic and as old as humanity itself. 

Worn as amulets or status markers, teeth have been used as ornaments since prehistoric times. Now, Ferracci is giving the ancestral symbol a chic makeover.

Her debut presentation, staged around a vintage dentist’s chair, featured silver or gold-plated molars strung into necklaces and bracelets with colorful enameled links, or worn as earrings set with semiprecious stones.

“The idea was to really go back to the essence of how we expressed ourselves as humans at the very beginning, and to turn it into something contemporary and, I hope, a little new,” she said.

Trained in jewelry design at Central Saint Martins in London, she began her career at Maison Margiela under Galliano. Since then, she’s worked alongside Abloh and Williams, helping to redefine the codes of men’s costume jewelry.

Alf — a contraction of the designer’s first and last names — is a unisex line that aims to bring some fresh energy into the segment with tongue-in-cheek symbols and unexpected materials, like her baby head rings sprouting tufts of colorful fake fur. 

“Jewelry can be a little scary and intimidating,” Ferracci explained. “The idea was to make it more approachable and encourage people to have a little fun with the pieces.”

A case in point is musician Theophilus London, who posted a video on Instagram in June that showed him wearing a molar necklace wrapped around one wrist, and an Audemars Piguet watch on the other. 

Prices range from 350 euros for a cord bracelet with an 18-karat gold vermeil tooth set with green tsavorite, to 2,300 euros for a gold vermeil molar necklace. A baby necklace goes for 960 euros, and the rings for 1,300 euros.

Made in France, the pieces incorporate semiprecious stones such as aquamarine, amethyst, peridot, citrine and topaz. Ferracci hopes her designs act as talking points.

“What’s interesting is that when I show the teeth, everyone has a story, either about teeth they’ve worn in the past, or dental problems they’ve had,” Ferracci remarked. “There’s something very emotional about jewelry and teeth.”