DesignPhiladelphia’s Festival has been a staple in the city's creative scene for 20 years creating beautiful friendships and thought-provoking conversations along the way. In 2023, two participants took it a step further. John Wind and Cimone Kind Burman crossed paths and found inspiration in each other's craft. As the two artists discovered an appreciation for each other's work, the idea of a collaborative venture sparked. 

John Wind is a prolific jewelry designer and artist.  We share some history with John, as he and our DesignPhiladelphia Festival founder Hilary Jay, started a jewelry company called Maximal Art. Since then, John and his company created beautiful and widely successful jewelry designs. Over four decades, John has been able to adapt and create innovative and commercially successful designs over and over again. In 2017, John took a big leap into the future by deciding to focus more on artistic, signature, hand-made designs, rather than on the higher volume strategy of the past decade. He physically moved the company from the suburbs to an awesome 100 year old converted stable in South Philadelphia. There, working closely with Jennifer Rubin and a small team of artists and marketers, they got through the pandemic by reinventing yet again—this time online, direct to consumer. We love John’s work and continue to be impressed with his seeminglingly limitless ideas.

Argent Mirror began as a collaboration with parent glass and mirror company, Philadelphia native Gordon & Sons. When Cimone Kind Berman, the daughter of the Gordon & Sons owners, with over a decade of experience in the glass industry, realized that that silvered and antiqued mirror was highly sought after, yet hard to find.  Cimone capitalized on this opportunity and founded Argent Mirror.  Argent works directly with designers, helping them incorporate silvered and antique mirrors into their projects, as well as has created custom art pieces.  

Wind admired Argent Mirrors’ talent to transform mirrors into unique pieces and believed a fusion of their work might be exciting. He remembers this moment fondly as he states, “I asked Cimone if she ever considered scaling down her mirrors and creating jewelry with these unique ‘gems’. She had not, but was open to testing it out and ARGENT MIRROR X JOHN WIND was born!”  

The duo experimented with elements to create a collection that stands as a testament to their creative synergy. The jewelry collection features a range of pieces, from statement earrings, to intricately designed necklaces, and rings that honor the Earth’s natural inspiration. Each item showcases the blend of the artists' styles, creating a collection that appeals to jewelry enthusiasts and art connoisseurs alike.  

The meeting of John Wind and Argent Mirrors at the DesignPhiladelphia Festival is a testament to the festival's ability to bring together creative minds, which impressed Jermaine Jenkins, Director of Development and Strategic Partnership DesignPhiladelphia. "Their partnership and new friendship is not just a nod, but an exclamation, that sums up DesignPhiladelphia’s mission to ignite thoughtful connections and collaborations within our local design community,” claims Jenkins. The resulting jewelry collection stands as an example of what can be achieved when two artists combine their talents to create something extraordinary.  

Click here to check out some of their amazing pieces. 

Their jewelry collab will be a featured collection at this year’s InLiquid benefit, March 9-23 (both in-person at the Crane Building, and online). The duo has generous plans to donate 50% of sales to InLiquid, furthering another tenet of the collaboration and giving back to the community.