Washington ? Red coral has surfaced. The rocklike marine deposit is appearing with necklaces, shoes and bags this season. Its form has inspired everything from coat hooks to patterns on beach towels.

“It truly is a found object — yet one with implied value,” says New York-based designer Jono Pandolfi.

“I have no real control over the forms. I’m simply throwing a few found objects together and letting them just be their own little beautiful selves,” he continues. “I can get excited about almost anything from the sea, but I love the randomness of the coral’s shape. No order like you would find in a shell. That’s beautiful, too, but nowhere near as cool as the random beauty that you get with coral.”

Pandolfi has paired the hard stony skeleton with ribbon cuffs, bangles and pendants for a brilliantly saturated jewelry collection.

Best of all, says Pandolfi, “It’s red. Really, really red.”