PHOTO BY KAVA GORNA

At some point in the past year, pop stars became mystics, and somebody's gotta dress 'em. Florence Welsh channeled Kate Bush's sylvan rock poetry, Fever Ray made dark shamanism hip (improbably, with opera), and whoever is behind the recent phenomenon the Iamamiwhoami project  has pushed a nation of music bloggers to research paganist folklore. New Age's pop moment proves timely for jewelry designer Michelle Lane, whose "mysticism meets physics" (her words) style has proven a hit with whimsical musicians Victoria Bergsman and Eleanor Friedberger. Lane's "rope necklaces," made from special Japanese cording, are soft, tactile, but pleasingly weighty and coil with almost preternatural ease against the wearer's neck.  "They aren't really jewelry in the traditional sense, but almost an extension of a piece of clothing," says Lane. To create that sense of intimacy between object and wearer, she sculpts and sews each by hand—like an artist, or a witch.