Interview - Jewellery Designer Rachel Jackson of Cinderela B Posted by Unknown |

Rachel and her pup Rafferty

Stylonylon interviews jewellery designer Rachel Jackson

Founded in 2006 by Rachel Jackson, Cinderela B started out as a stall in east London's Spitalfields market. Completely self-taught, Rachel made the leap into jewellery design after an inspiring year travelling in South America. Handmade and inspired by exotic creatures and insects, the jewellery was quickly picked up by UK and international stockists enabling Rachel to grow her business – today she employs a team of young fashion graduates and has a showroom in Brick Lane. Here, Rachel tells us a little about that inspiring year and her personal style.

What inspired you to start your jewellery line?
I was travelling in South America in 2006 and I met a very special lady called Cinderela Brancante and her son Ale in Brazil. Never in my life had I met anyone that loved life and made the most of it, like they did. Ale could sail a boat, fly a plane, play the guitar, Cinderela was a lawyer, she had travelled the world, designed her own stunning house, and made beautiful jewellery too. And whilst they had money when I met them, they didn’t start out with any. They learnt and achieved everything by teaching themselves – by reading books and having the passion and courage to follow all of their dreams. Whilst staying with the Brancantes, I tapped into a passion for jewellery making – I would sit with Cinderela for hours whilst she taught me, and that was where the dream to have my own jewellery label began. My background was working in TV production, so a million miles away from jewellery making! But the Brancante family made me believe that you can achieve anything in life that you really want, if you try hard enough.

Does your initial vision match what you have achieved today?
100%.

Describe your favourite piece of jewellery and tell us why it is so special to you?  
A mid-length vintage gold chain necklace with an oval pendant with a flower on it and coloured beads attached in different places along the length of the chain. I bought it from a gorgeous independent boutique in Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina – one of the most beautiful shopping districts in the world. It was the first piece of jewellery I fell in love with – and I wore it to death, with everything. A month later I met Cinderela in Brazil and she taught me how to make such jewellery – and there the seed for the Cinderela B signature style was sown!

What key pieces of clothing and accessories can't you live without? 
My Gap boyfriend jeans, plain Ts from Whistles, cream silk blouse from Second Female, chunky knit scarf, my new Cinderela B gold hummingbird necklace.

What's on you shopping wish list right now? 
Some new designer shades for a summer holiday in Bali.

Visit cinderelab.com and follow on Twitter.

This Vintage Necklace by London Label Cinderela B Posted by Unknown |

Nothing like the onslaught of Christmas parties to justify some full-on statement bling. Spitalfields jewellery designer Cinderela B (the label, founded by Rachel Jackson, started out as a stall at Spitalfields market in 2006 and now, with a team of young fashion graduates, sells from New York to Tokyo) has a beautiful line in reworked vintage handmade pieces, just like the Electra necklace above, which means you'll also be getting something a little more one-off. Tis' the season to pile it on. 

cinderelab.com / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest 

What I'm Wearing: Outfit Planning With London Designer Georgia Hardinge Posted by Unknown |

Recognise the print? Gorgeous, right? It's from London designer Georgia Hardinge's AW12 collection – I've blogged about Georgia before here and here; her amazing designs have been worn by everyone from Florence + The Machine, Lady Gaga and Erin O'Connor to Beyonce, Alesha Dixon and fashion blogger Susie Bubble. Anyway, last night I popped round to her east London home to do some outfit planning for a do this week. Not a massively major do, but the first one I've been to in yonks, so I figured I needed some help. Georgia helped me try on five of her fantastic designs (1. full disclosure: I'm such a shortie two were sadly too long on me despite the mega-heels and clever tricks with belts and 2. note to self: when a designer offers to whip you up something floaty over the weekend, say YES!) and after a few mirror poses and snaps (plus me moaning about how my figure is not what it once was) it was soon quite obvious which was the right one. Full outfit post featuring the dress we chose to come. 

I'm quite pleased with my choice of shoes, I think the geometric detailing goes quite well with a Georgia Hardinge design. So these are a pair of Dries van Notens I've hauled out of retirement; they were bought in a Christmas sale at Harvey Nichols at least three years ago. Can you believe I used to wear these out to clubs and dance all night? Oh, how times have changed.

And this is the bag, it's a vintage Oroton made in west Germany (Australian brand founded in 1938 but some of the older pieces were also made in west Germany, which is what is says on the inside tag making it quite a cool piece of sartorial history). Bought after some extremely hard bargaining in Spitalfields market. I didn't want to get too fussy with statement jewellery so I thought the metallic gold would bring the right amount of measured glitz to the outfit.

What do you think? Do you like the combination of pieces? How much time do you spend planning a big night out?