Islandista on the rise: Haitian-American jewellery designer Monique Pean

Islandista-descended jewellery designer Monique Pean has been getting plenty of buzz in 2010.

From Michelle Obama wearing her designs to being featured in O Magazine as one of ten women on the rise to profiles in Essence, New York Magazine and Businessweek, Monique's star is on the rise.

A former Wall Street banker, Pean, whose Haitian father is a former UN diplomat , turned to jewellery making in 2005 after her little sister Vanessa, was killed in a car accident at just 16.

Out of the tragedy came the Vanessa Pean Foundation, which provides scholarships to students at the Centre D’Etudes Secondaires in Haiti and recently completed a spring-fed well in Cabestor which is now providing clean water for over 6800 people.

The tragedy also led directly to what is now Monique Pean Fine Jewellery as her creative form of therapy eventually became a business when a boutique store manager asked about a one-of-a-kind necklace she was wearing which was made from - get this - fossilised wooly mammoth tusk from the Artic Circle.

When Monique said she'd made it herself, the manager asked to see her line sheet.

"I had no idea what a line sheet was," Pean told Businessweek in a profile on her that is out this week.

However, the interest led her to approach more boutiques and within six months, she had left her position at Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs to start doing jewellery full-time.

And from there, she has progressed by leaps and bounds. She received the CFDA/ VOGUE Fashion Fund prize in 2009, and is the recipient of the 2009 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation Award for Accessories.

She has also expanded her production staff so they are up to producing 1000 pieces a year - doesn't sound like much unless you consider that their prices go as high as USD$203,840 for a recycled rose gold, 33.4 carat diamond bracelet.

Photo credit: Reuters/Eliana Aponte

Still, between Mrs. Obama's frequent appearances in Pean's designs - at a state dinner and on an April visit to Mexico, business is booming. Business has grown 136% in the past year and high-end retailer Barney's carries her line in eight of its national stores.

A good look indeed!

Bring back the 90s!

It's inevitable isn't it?

Just like how 70s fashion came back in the 90s with bell-bottoms (flares anyone) and afros being ok again and the 80s has hideously resurfaced in recent years with everything from acid-wash to shoulder pads and (urgh*) Hammer pants, being regurgitated, we figure the 90s has to be the next decade of fashion to come back in fashion.

In fact, we're already on the border of late 80s/ early 90s style anyway.

Yes, it's a rather scary prospect to us here at Islandista too since that fashion moment will officially mean that we're... not so young anymore. Truth be told, having the 80s come back into fashion is pretty horrifying to us too. It's waaayyy too close for comfort.

But it is surely inevitable.

In fact, we spy signs of it already. The August issue of US Vogue talking up velvet as a key trend for fall was a hint. New York Magazine is also trumpeting velvet as a fall trend too.

And surely we can all remember how big velvet was in the 90s. Long velvet skirts and long velvet dresses in rich colours like ruby red, forest green, deep blue, purple and jet black were the thing in the early to mid 90s.

And to be honest, this is one 90s trend we don't mind seeing come back. Velvet looks and feels good and is more forgiving than other fabrics. Plus - no ironing!

Fellow bloggers are also foreseeing the return of the 90s - Jezebel had a hilarious post about it and Fashion Bomb chronicled the mostly stylish tv students of  (mostly) the 90s.

So without further adieu, here are the Top Ten 90s trends we here at Islandista want to see come back - just for shits and giggles.