Brand Academy asks Natalie, founder of Biju about the origin of her handmade, eco-friendly jewellery brand! Join the upcycled slow fashion movement, and make a statement!
How did you get started? Have you always been interested in jewellery making?
I think at the back of my mind I've always been in love with the craft of jewellery making ever since I was a little kid running around my dad's jewellery workshop. I started off collecting tiny gems he dropped under his desk and from then experimenting with scraps and things he had around. I think my respect for him and the brilliant work he does, the depth and complexity of the making of fine jewellery intimidated me a bit so I ended up finding a place on the spectrum of jewellery where I feel more myself.
Tell me more about Biju? How did it first begin?
As a teenager I decided I have to do my own thing and not follow in my dad's steps, and so studied illustration and visual media at LCC. Luckily the course was so free and diverse in subjects and techniques that eventually, without realising I found my way back to jewellery through illustration, book arts and later more sculptural work.
What is your inspiration behind your work?
I think my background in illustration and book arts combined with my love of books and thus paper got me to dig deeper and experiment more with this material. Later on, I combined this with my desire to re-purpose and reuse paper. Purely aesthetically, the inspiration behind my work has always been nature with its incredibly intricate shapes, textures, colours etc.