An Oxford handbag and jewelry designer returns to Paris Fashion Week.
Written by Leslie Criss | Photographed by Joe Worthem
Photoshoot Styled by Sarah Godwin | Modeled by Jiwon Lee
For the second time, Oxford artist Timber Heard has played a part in Paris Fashion Week. The designer of bags and jewelry had the opportunity to attend the famous fashion week at the end of September and beginning of October.
Her work was showcased, and, at the end of the show, the designers — including Heard — were introduced as they walked the runway.
“It was so much fun,” Heard said. “It is such a blessing to be able to do something like this.”
Some of Heard’s work, along with that of other local artists, is on display and for sale now through March 29 in a Yoknapatawpha Arts Council-sponsored show, “Gifts of Love,” at the Powerhouse.
Her work is featured on the cover of this issue of Invitation.
Heard, pictured below, right, learned to sew when she was 8 and began making handcrafted bears and dolls. In her teen years, she traded those for handcrafted handbags and jewelry. Later, she added beading to her artistry, and it’s all done under Heard’s business, Talitha Kumi Jewelry & Handbags.
Talitha Kumi is the transcription of an Aramaic phrase found in the New Testament, Mark 5:41. It’s the phrase Jesus said when he raised from the dead the 12-year-old daughter of Jairus, a synagogue ruler. The words mean, “Little girl, I say to you, get up.”
It’s exactly what the 33-year-old Heard did when she started her design business.
“Creativity is a gift,” she said. “If God gives you a gift, you have to get up and go with it, don’t you?”
Visit talithakumijewels.com to see more of Heard’s work.