Thank heavens for peacocks, those male birds with crested head sand extravagantly long tail feathers marked with eye-like, iridescent spots that gracefully rise and descend like psychedelic curtains. While avian peacocks are cool, human peacocks are even cooler. We’re talking about guys who wear such well-designed clothing and superb jewelry that they are distinctive, super-stylish and unforgettable.
Human peacocks attract attention and delight onlookers with their highly individuated; creative and memorable approach to coordinating their clothes and jewelry.
Some peacocks we know attire themselves and bejewel their bodies with such original spirit, style and magnetic cool that they move through the world like living works of art.
In praise of peacocks, we are inaugurating a regular feature, “Peacock of the Week.”
Our first peacock is Brazil-born Carlos Souza, a world traveler who designs and wears precious bijoux from faraway lands with swashbuckling élan. Carlos is founder and creative director of Most Wanted Design (www.mostwantedesign.com), an ultra-refined line inspired by traditional jewelry from various cultures.
Although Most Wanted Design is a super-fine jewelry line, every piece embodies meaning, aspirations and life force that also makes certain types of ethnic and religious jewelry so graceful to wear and behold. This is because Most Wanted Design pieces transcend mere ornamentation by embodying ancient traditions, spiritual philosophies and talismanic protection. By the alchemy that springs from his inspired sensibility, Carlos’s bijoux emanate a respect for all living things that allows the wearer (as well as those who behold the bijoux) to connect with and EXPERIENCE the DIVINE in everyday life.
Particularly successful suites within Souza’s collection include “Mother India,” “Crossed,” which comprises cross designs, “Good Luck Charms,” “Om Namah Shivayah,” (consisting of ancient prayers incised in metal cuff bracelets), “Let’s Get Pearlized,” (big, baroque and lustrous pearls strung on silken cords), and “You are My Queen.”
Along with designing his remarkable jewelry, Carlos is also the Worldwide Brand Ambassador for the house of Valentino, the Rome-based high fashion firm with boutiques all over the world. Carlos started out modeling for Valentino back in the 1970s and worked his way up through the company in different departments. An international art fair and gallery habitué, Carlos is also a contributing editor-at-large at Architectural Digest and a contributing editor at Interview.
Carlos mixes and matches random jewels with bijoux from his own line. He’ll wear a two noble metal and gemstone rings on one hand, two or more precious necklaces and then he’ll amp it all up with a handsome pile-up of sterling, 18-karat gold or leather bracelets. Sometimes, Carlos adds precious metal and gemstone shirt studs and cuff links into the mix.
It takes guts, and panache, to carry off this bejeweled peacock style. Carlos’s jewelry savoir-faire is doubtless based on his 25 years of experience in fashion, working in major European, U.S., South American and Asian cities. The jewelry Carlos makes for Most Wanted Design, as well as other pieces he wears, reflect his nomadic, prismatically cultured, polyglot existence.
As it happens, Carlos’s P.R. work for Valentino regularly takes him to super-cities like Shanghai, New York, Sao Paulo, London and Los Angeles. An inveterate Instagrammer, he recently authored the travel and lifestyle book, #Carlos’s Places. Published by Assouline in October, 2014, #Carlos’s Places is a visually rich photo essay highlighting his favorite cities and resorts, along with his lush rural property in Fribugo, Brazil. (There are also some wonderful images of Carlos wearing his own designs as well as other pieces he has collected.)
The most touching elements in this book, however, are photos and captions relating to Carlos’s visits with his ex-wife Charlene and their two grown sons, Sean and Anthony. Carlos obviously considers these three people to be the most meaningful jewels in his life. Between his family and the successful collections for Most Wanted Design, along with the way he wears jewels and works wonders for Valentino, Carlos Souza reigns as one of today’s pre-eminent peacocks.
Photo by Ronald James. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
Carlos at home in New York, wearing Most Wanted Design jewelry in front of a sculpture draped in his bijoux. Photo by Ronald James. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
The bold sterling cuff and tasteful, gemstone-studded rings harmonize to create a classic Carlos jewelry composition. Photo by Ronald James. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.
One of Carlos’s unisex necklaces for Most Wanted Design. Baroque pearls shimmer with rich iridescence and organic exotica. Strung on chartreuse silk, the elegant strand terminates in a luxuriously fringed tassel capped in gemstone-studded noble metal. Bravo! Photo by Most Wanted Design. Frame courtesy of EKDuncan.