For the benefit of both designers and retailers, the Design Quarter at The Jewellery Show 2011 has undergone a complete transformation. And it is quite dazzling. New initiatives will give exhibitors more exposure, including a separate element on the catwalk specifically dedicated to designers. The Design Quarter will also look different from the rest of the hall, enabling retailers to find their favourite new designers with ease. This year’s Jewellery Show will also introduce the first Houlden Group Designer Award, a title given by the group to one or more of the designers who are new to the show’s Design Quarter.

The Jewellery Show is excited to feature inspiring and edgy new designers in this year’s revitalised Design Quarter. “Every industry has a duty to support innovation,” says Jewellery Show event director Julie Driscoll. “Britain is famous throughout the world for its brilliant design, so let’s put our UK jewellery designers on the map globally.”If you are looking for something new at this year’s Jewellery Show, check out the Design Quarter.

She may not have dreamed of working with metals while growing up, but designer Katie Rowland has always loved jewellery. “I inherited a box of 1940s and 1950s diamanté jewellery from my Great Aunt Bea when I was little and fell in love with all things sparkly,” says Rowland.

After originally studying graphic design at Kingston University in 2003, Rowland explored her desire to create high-end jewellery and shocked fashion critics when she released her collection Love & Faith, a typographic range renown for the provocative phrases “C**t Struck” and “Pr**k Tease” that adorn its silver knuckledusters. Since then, Rowland has solidly established her self-titled, award-winning brand within the jewellery industry, basing her ranges on the female form and psyche.

Bold and audacious, Rowland’s daring approach to self-expression is the very definition of edgy. She integrates typography, works with clean lines and pays close attention to the details of her pieces. She plans to display her autumn/winter 2011 collection at The Jewellery Show. She describes the range as a “true celebration of the diamond, which also questions the nature of beauty”. Rowland will also be exhibiting Lilith, an elegant yet seductive range inspired by biblical references to Adam’s first lustful and disloyal wife.

Rowland decided to involve herself with the Design Quarter because she felt that London Jewellery Week - which runs during the summer - has achieved great things over the past few years, and she believes the Design Quarter at The Jewellery Show reflects a continued industry-wide support of designer jewellers. “It’s a great opportunity for exhibitors,” she says. “If the industry doesn’t support emerging talent, or even existing talent, then how can we move it forward? To support and nurture designers in this economic time means that we keep the industry going, celebrate new ideas and be at the forefront of British design.”

So what one thing would she advise up and coming designers? “Never, ever give up and don’t be afraid to invest yourself.”