If it’s true that when you let something go and it comes back to
you, then it’s really yours, Hazel Cox belongs to Portland. By last
fall, Cox had become one of the most prominent fixtures on a local
fashion scene that was brimming with activity, her line of jewelry and
accessories for men and women setting the tone for the wild,
earthy-but-modern feel that was a visible influence on the streets as
much as in artists’ studios.
While Cox’s return gives her a blank slate and a chance to reset,
her absence wasn’t long enough to have erased the memory of her as one
of the founders (along with Genevieve Dellinger) of Denwave, an
influential boutique that was the first of many in the musical retail
chairs that are still being played at 811 E Burnside. There, she and
Dellinger made headway on progressive streetwear options in Portland,
and her jewelry and accessories steadily proliferated around the city
into other boutiques and wardrobes, recognizable for their uniquely
blended materials (a single piece might commonly employ a hand-forged
clasp, oxidized metals, vintage charms, snakeskin, and hand-dyed yarn)
and reference to nature without being preciously bohemian.
After Cox and Dellinger ended Denwave, Cox briefly held court at her
own studio/retail space, Hazel Grayslayer, and shortly after closing
that, disappeared to San Francisco. While there, she regrouped and
acquired new ideas as well as vintage dead stock, like Italian
cabochons and pressed metal pieces from Rhode Island, which she tells
me was once the capital of pressed metal. She makes these prefabricated
materials her own by combining them with her own hand forging, now
favoring traditional Native American cold-forging techniques that
“follow the metal,” pounding it into new shapes.
Many of these pieces were conceived out of a friendly collaboration
with Giovanna Parolari of Una, and will be exclusive to the store.
Inspired by mélange of evocative references that include both
bullfighters and Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge (not to mention Bruce,
Cox’s female pet cat and muse), there are small god’s eye charms
fashioned into cuff links, earrings, necklaces, and lapel pins; strong,
everyday chains for men (though women always end up gravitating to
Cox’s men’s jewelry, as well); colorful feather necklaces to be worn
over the chest; beautiful fernlike strands of copper that hang
lace-like down the ears and on chains, some pieces delicately
punctuated with tiny cubes of gold. Demonstrating no small amount of
new direction without abandoning her signature, Cox’s second run in
this town is off to a rich beginning. The new work debuts this week at
Una. (Hazel Cox Jewelry Trunk show, Una, 2802 SE Ankeny, Fri July
24, 7-9 pm, free)