My research interest into the body and the idea of a precision design or bespoke making, as opposed to traditional tailoring, led me to collaborate with the jeweller Michael Milloy, with whom I developed several collections with large structural jewellery for runway shows.

This work originated with garments that explored the boundaries between body and cloth by seeking to integrate them more completely through the use of external structures that were positioned and suspended away from the body's surface through supportive structures and moulded garments. I experimented with several different materials for this project, such as powder-coated brass, acrylic, Perspex, silver and chromed steel, which were incorporated into the 'frames' of garments. The realisation of these large-scale jewellery pieces that I had conceived was made possible by Milloy's hands-on making skills and mechanical expertise. Following the introduction of a clothing concept, the designs were intended to work together in a symbiotic relationship encompassing cloth, colour, a physical action and an engineering solution. Referring to concepts of structural support, exposure and concealment, my research was inspired by orthological references, information gained on the structure of the body, biomechanics, and surgical intervention. Ultimately, the challenge was to produce work that melded the opposing materials of metal and cloth, but which retained a streamlined elegance that only reveals itself as structured when closely observed. The silhouette and external forms developed for this project directly influence the dynamics within my other clothing ranges.

The results of this interdisciplinary collaboration is the collections of around 20 or so human-scaled artefacts that investigate the interaction between clothing and jewellery have been exhibited at several venues, as well as catwalk shows, including, Fashion in Motion at the V&A, London, 2001, and the Oxo Tower Open, 2002.