Meet Bea Bongiasca: She doesn’t pick a lane - she makes her own
The inspiration behind Bea Bongiasca, the Milan-based brand known for its’ playful shapes and colours, came to the founder by the same name back when she was at university - through a discovered love of three-dimensional design.
“Jewellery was the pathway that spoke to me the most," she says, "as it was like a mini sculpture for the body."
And it is on this philosophy that the brand has operated ever since - every piece that Bea designs is like a tiny piece of wearable art in itself.
From the start, Bea has followed her own path and vision, even defining her very own category with jewelry: demi-fine jewelry - made with fine jewelry techniques in gold, with precious or semi-precious stones, at a price point that is accessible to more people.
We took the chance to ask Bea everything we wanted to know about how this colourful universe came about, where it is today, and where it is going next.
You didn't always want to be a jewelry designer. How did you get here?
"I actually did not always have a fascination for jewelry, it is something that developed later on when I started my first year of university. There I realized how much I love 3D design and jewelry was the pathway that spoke to me the most as it was like a mini sculpture for the body so from then on it really became my medium to express creativity."
Where does your inspiration come from?
"I have a true fascination for Eastern countries and travelling. I love the aesthetic perfection that you can find in the small things from the plates at the restaurants to the flowers in the hotel lobbies. It sounds banal but everything is so curated and cared for that it gives a designer like me great joy. There is a harmonic balance. I feel like I incorporate some of this visual language in my work but mix it with my western vision. It isn't something figurative that you see in the jewelry as much as an influence of colour and balance."
How would you describe the DNA of the brand?
"As the designer my aesthetic and the brand's is one and so I guess — I hope! — that people that know me would say I am a fun, colourful and happy person which is what I hope my jewelry can convey as well. Plus, in a world where there are already so many beautiful and more traditional jewels, I wanted to make something a bit different that would also appeal to millennials like myself — there was no point to keep making the same things as everyone else."
"My goal has always been to create happy jewelry that with their colours and lightheartedness could provide a moment of evasion of reality from stresses of everyday life."
What do you love most about the creation process?
"My favourite part is the creation from a drawing to the final jewel. I usually have ideas that have been brewing and forming in my head for some time. Then slowly I realize more concretely what they are and start drawing them, but usually it takes a few tries to express what it really is meant to be. Then from there we take it from 2D to 3D and that is when it also becomes a technical matter as often I try to make things that are not necessarily traditional. The joy of seeing the new piece you were working on become real will forever be the biggest satisfaction in my work."
How do you wear your own pieces?
"Considering I have the luxury of being around all of my pieces daily, I really love putting on loads of anything new we are developing to test it out. I stack all my pieces and love to keep it as sparkly and fun as possible. Sometimes I walk out our boutique in Milan without realising that I took some jewels home."
What does jewelry mean to the person wearing it?
"My goal has always been to create happy jewelry that with their colours and lightheartedness could provide a moment of evasion of reality from stresses of everyday life. Now more than ever I feel like people really resonate to the positive vibrations that you feel when you see colour and they are ever more attracted to it."
Who do you design for?
"People of all ages, nationalities and walks of life. I created my jewelry to make it accessible to everyone. My product range is segmented in a manner that targets everyone."
What do you dream about?
"I would love to open more boutiques like our flagship in Milan which is such a representation of the brand's aesthetic and really communicates who we are to whoever visits: fun, colourful and pop."
With her joyful and colourful creations, Bea Bongiasca has built a brand unlike most that we have seen before - she has committed to being impossible to put into a box, and even created her own category of jewelry when the traditional ones were too narrow.
We are so happy to introduce Bea Bongiasca’s creations to our customers - discover the full Bea Bongiasca collection here.