Danish sisters Pernille and Charlotte set up The Jewellery Room in 2013 to provide a user-friendly bridge between fashion and jewellery, with an online and in-person presence displaying and promoting selected jewellery brands – all with that enviable, effortless, Scandi aesthetic. With a handful of European Fashion Weeks under their stylish belts, they’re making their first appearance at London Fashion Week this September.
The relationship between the two of you is so obviously strong! Had you worked together before setting up The Jewellery Room?
No, never! Well, aside from when we worked together in a candy store as teenagers .. but our careers took similar turns which eventually led us to where we are now. Charlotte was working in jewellery PR and became something of an expert, with television appearances and a weekly column in a magazine … at the same time, Pernille’s advertising agency career evolved to incorporate PR for well known Danish jewellery brand Ole Lynggaard – Copenhagen — the synergy couldn’t be ignored so we decided we had to make something of it!
Jewellery tends to be incorporated into fashion, so The Jewellery Room is quite unique – where do fashion and jewellery intersect – and where do they diverge, in your opinion?
The consumer is ultimately the same but the motivation is different, because someone buying jewellery is usually buying it to last – and this applies whether you’re talking about high street or high end pieces. Jewellery doesn’t have such a fast turnaround as fashion; part of the pleasure in owning and wearing it is its stories, significance and provenance. It tends to be more of an emotional purchase – or indeed, a gift.
What are the best bits of your job?
Working, and sharing a vision, with someone you trust absolutely is just incredibly special. And then there’s the “treasure hunt” aspect of the job – sniffing out trends and getting to work with beautiful things – truly it is so much fun!
What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
Our father, who helps us with the business side of things, taught us “Always be nice, and don’t burn bridges.” It sounds simple, but there’s a lot to be said for following such guidelines.
What’s been your most memorable moment to date?
It would have to be when HRH Crown Princess Mary (the Danish Princess Royal) attended our 2015 show at Copenhagen Fashion Week. She’s originally Australian and she is really loved in Denmark – there she was, mingling, looking at everything, chatting with and engaged with all of the designers. It was fabulous.
So what’s next?
Well, 2017 marks our first London Fashion Week, and we’ll be collaborating with trend forecasters WGSN and expanding to incorporate some British brands, too, which we’re really excited about. For the moment, the site is still a platform from which consumers and press can read about trends and access images and product information, but we’ll be launching the e-commerce side of the business within the next year. We can’t wait – our biggest challenge right now is being patient!