Make Believe exploded on to the local jewellery scene in 2009 when designers Ebony Fleur and Amber Joy proved how much fun could be had with accessories. Their bright floral pieces took over many an editorial photo shoot, as did their designs for Antipodium’s 2010 show. We profiled the duo at the beginning of their career and have been tracking them ever since. Now they have both relocated – Ebony to New York and Amber to Tokyo – but the brand is still thriving, just in a different way. We caught up with Ebony to hear about her new offshoot label, Ebony Fleur.

After the success of your Make Believe collections, how does the Ebony Fleur brand differ?
The Make Believe brand is now being used as an umbrella for Amber’s and my separate projects. It became difficult to continue to run Make Believe as a jewellery brand while living in different continents, so found this was the best solution, and still remain the best of friends. I’ve always been passionate about jewellery design, having studied it and worked in related areas, so it made sense for me to continue that aspect.

Ebony Fleur has a similar signature to Make Believe and will continue to deliver colorful, visually interesting and original statement pieces. Make Believe became very well known for the floral derived pieces (which I am still so proud of), however I’m interested in a much wider scope of imagery and inspiration- less romantic and literal, and more angular, sophisticated and refined. I continue to be hugely inspired by nature, technology, new production techniques, and have a glossy pop aesthetic. Craftsmanship, clean forms, bright customised colors, glossy metals and twists on the familiar are all hugely important elements. I’m also more interested these days in working with precious metals and now have more appreciation for finer delicate details.

What new techniques have you experimented with?
Earlier this year I invested a lot of time into learning 3D design software- like that used by industrial designers and architects. I was housebound for ages with a broken foot so concentrating on that helped me from going too bananas!

The software is very methodical and not at all organic so I still always begin designing with my hands once I have a basic idea. I play with paper, foam, modeling clay, whatever is around, before I refine those forms digitally and then have them produced in plastic.

Highly customised colour is still very important, so after days of dye testing I now have formulas for dyes for the nylon forms and Japanese silk components. Everything is dyed by hand in small batches.

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