What looks like this year’s FINAL BloggED INTERVIEW tells us about Yasmin Everley’s jewellery collection, her design aesthetic and what it’s like to be a young jewellery designer. Remember, that 10% of her sales until the end of April will go towards ECFS’ final charity total, so if you fancy a piece, then take a look at her blog and the Joy Everley website.
Name, age, where do you live?
I’m Yasmin Everley, I’m twenty-three and I live in London.
Where and what did you study?
I just graduated in Classical Studies at University of Manchester but now I would like to study silversmithing as well!
What made you want to become a jewellery designer?
My mother is a jewellery designer and I started designing with her when I was about eleven so in hindsight it seems like the obvious choice. I used to want to work at the British Museum and I was only designing for fun but when the Beetle Collection started selling well I realized I could actually make a career of it!
Joy Everley at 7 Newburgh St, London
Bugs seem to be a prominent part of your collection. How come?
Insects are just fascinating, they make up about 80% of the species on Earth. There is a long history of insects being used in jewellery, their iridescent wing cases used like jewels and both Herodotus and Aristophanes refer to the old men of Athens wearing golden crickets in their hair. They also epitomize the mantra of ‘live fast, die young and leave a beautiful corpse’ since so many species only live twenty-four hours. I also wanted to challenge the notions of what is desirable or repulsive. A lot of people are afraid of spiders but once transform it into silver with gold plating and diamonds it becomes something beautiful. I am also heavily influenced by The Mummy.
Do you feel that being so young in the jewellery business is an advantage or a disadvantage? Why?
I am not sure if it makes much difference, it’s more about your attitude.
How do you see your business progressing in the next few years?
I have a new collection based on Art Deco typography which will be coming out in a couple of months and am working on another but I am keeping that one secret! I obviously hope to build up a reputation as a designer but I would rather take my time to grow instead of having short-lived success.
Do you think that social media is integral to design/fashion business these days?
Social media is absolutely integral to the fashion industry, particularly for young designers who have not built up a brand name. It allows you to have a relationship with your customers in a way that is lost with ecommerce. The flipside of this is that some people are very good at manipulating social media and gather a huge number of followers before they have developed their product so you end up with a brand that consists of nothing but hype!
Where can we find you on social media?
I am making a real effort to get involved online though I am shockingly bad with computers. I started out with Facebook (www.facebook.com/yasmineverley) and my blog (yasmineverley.blogspot.com) then Twitter (@yasmineverley). I am really getting into Instagram (@YasminEverley) and just started a Tumblr (yasmineverley.tumblr.com)
Do you have a favourite jewellery designer?
Rene Lalique is an obvious source of inspiration for all jewellery designers. Jordan Askill has shown how boundaries can be pushed using the new developments in jewellery manufacture. Maria Black is just the best example of how to keep your collections simple and balance originality with commercial appeal.
We were sorry to be unable to feature your designs at our show this year. Is there a place for jewellery on the catwalk?
At the moment I am only working with precious metals (gold and silver) which is impractical for the catwalk. This is largely due to the small scale – to create a piece large enough to be clearly visible for the audience it would have to be very large which would make it expensive and VERY heavy! Also my Beetle Collection would be particularly impractical since the little pincers and legs would be liable to tear the garments during the quick changes backstage! There was a great example of a jewellery designer who has adaptions for the catwalk at the ECFS. Eleanor Amoroso’s tasseled designs have commercial appeal as jewellery but her dresses are so striking for editorial purposes. I would like to create body pieces related to my collections that are suitable for catwalk.
Greatest moment/achievement as a designer to date?
Probably the most rewarding thing is working in my mother’s shop and hearing people get excited about my designs, not knowing that the sales assistant in front of them actually the designer! Being a finalist in the Wolf&Badger Graduate Design Awards was a huge honor, especially when you look at past winners such as Smith/Grey and my amazing fellow finalists like Sophie Wetherell whose menswear was in the ECFS this year.
Ultimate goal?
It’s quite a big aim but one day I would love to be able to have some influence on the way the jewellery industry works. Currently it is almost impossible to trace metals and stones back to their source. An effort has been made with Fair Trade Gold but it is not easy to access. Everyone has heard of ‘blood diamonds’ though the diamond industry is thoroughly regulated and actually the majority of gold is owned by large banks which are often involved with arms trade and other unethical businesses. The manufacture of jewellery will never be totally eco-friendly and ethical, by its very nature it is extracting materials from the ground, but I wish to have an impact on making it more accountable and traceable.
Any advice for any jewellery designers/designers of any kind?
Look around you at everything. If you want to be a jewellery designer, the worst thing you can do is look at other jewellery designers because you will probably end up plagarising their work. Look at art from ancient to modern, photography, read. Gather as much as you can until you have one small moment of inspiration to expand on
With many thanks to Yasmin for taking the time to answer these questions, and being a constant generous supporter of ECFS 2013!
Words: Adam Brady
ECFS 