With an almighty roar, the new collection from Erstwilder is here! Out of Africa is the hotly anticipated and long-awaited range featuring a host of African wildlife, all crafted by Erstwilder’s in-house designer Sally Land. You asked, they delivered – this elephant-sized (see what I did there?) lot covers brooches, necklaces, and earrings, with so much amazing fauna (and flora!) from the deserts, savannahs, and tropical jungles of Africa. And in case you needed another excuse to buy, for all of August they’ll be donating $2 from each piece sold to the African Wildlife Foundation. That’s enough to cause a stampede! Check out the first half of the collection after the jump.

The Giraffes

I am loving the amount of yellow in this collection, my favourite colour! So naturally I’m all over the giraffe designs, the Heart of Africa brooch and Long-Neck Lovers earrings. The former features a gorgeous giraffe couple in a loving embrace, forming a literal heart – too cute! Their markings are unique (just like the real ones) and there’s even a soft pink resin for their ears. The earrings are another adorable giraffe pair, this time with one to dangle on each ear! The golden yellow tones in both pieces are so bright and beautiful. Fun fact: the scientific name for giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) came about because the ancient Greeks thought they looked like a camel wearing a leopard’s coat!

The Zebras

Next on the list of animals that couldn’t possibly be missed from this collection is zebras! If you’re a fan, you’re in luck – there’s both a necklace (Zebra Crossing) and a brooch (Zesty Zebra). The necklace is a really large size, making it a great statement piece. This is definitely one joyful zebra – maybe he’s just seen his friends and he’s galloping towards them! The brooch is such a clever design, with a quirky cutout along the zebra’s neckline and another happy face! Fun fact: when faced with an attack, if the predator is colourblind then a group of zebras will bunch together to confuse them, as they’ll mistake the pattern of their stripes for grass!

Bright Colours

One of the many (many!) things I love about Erstwilder is their designs featuring crazily colourful animals, and there’s a few of these in this collection! You might not see a lilac rhino (Life by the Horns) or purple and red okapi (Okapi Of Course) in the wild but that doesn’t mean we can’t wear them in brooch form! With his gentle smile and glittery horn, this rhino is a stand-out guy who’s also helping out his little pink bird friend with a ride. And this okapi is serving sass! The bold colour combo on this brooch is so stunning and the design is so majestic, just like the real thing. Fun facts: the bird on the rhino’s back likely represents an oxpecker, who keep rhinos free of parasites and raise the alarm if danger is near, something especially useful as a rhino is very short-sighted! The okapi is the only living relative of the giraffe, and their party trick is that they can lick their own ears and eyelids with their super long tongue!

Three’s a Crowd

Three is said to be the magic number, and that’s definitely the case for these two new pieces! Three’s a Manner features a trio of meerkats, all unique and made with a whopping four layers of resin! There’s so much detail in these little guys, from their stripes and shimmering marbled resin bods to their sweet hand-painted faces. Then we have the Safari Squad necklace, featuring three party animals – the elephant, zebra, and giraffe. This is another huge statement necklace, and these guys are ready to hang! A fun fact about meerkats: just like humans, when the grown-ups go out they appoint one to babysit the young ones. They also recognise each other’s voices!

Embracing the Curves

There’s two brooches in particular in this collection that are all about curves! Kubu the Cutie is the most adorable hippo you’ll ever see; she’s blue with pink ears, sweet eyes, and she’s waving at you! Bulbous Baobab Tree has so much texture, from the mixed resins in the trunk to the layers in different shades of green that make up the leaves. Baobab trees can grow to very old ages (one recently collapsed at over 1000 years old), and their giant trunks have been used as jails, post offices, and pubs! And a fun fact about hippos: they secrete an oily red substance while basking ashore, which people once thought of as blood! Turns out it’s a kind of moisturiser and sunblock which keeps their skin fresh.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour through the first part of the Africa collection! Thank you so much to the ever-amazing Erstwilder team for doing such an outstanding job with this collection, and thank you to @cmjsnz for taking these pics. I’ll be sharing the rest of the range early next week – until then, let me know your favourites in the comments!

Miss Hero Holliday

xo