A natter amongst pals proves time and again to yield the most genius of outcomes – which was precisely the story with WALD Berlin.
After taking a creative break to travel the globe, following eight years heading up a multi-brand boutique in their stomping ground of Berlin, best friends Joyce Binneboese and Dana Roski – a former model and fashion stylist, respectively – are a case in point for the staying power of collaboration and the importance of creating space to set refresh.
Out of their vast experiences over two years on the road, WALD Berlin jewellery was born, melding a she-sells-seashells-on-the-seashore coastal sensibility with city chic, care of freshwater pearls, real seashells, Swarovski crystals and silver, and via the handiwork of their mothers, grandmothers and family friends. The result? Overwhelming global acclaim after just one season, with retailers including Net-a-Porter scrambling to stock their latest designs… We mean it when we say “Watch this space!"
Image courtesy of WALD Berlin.
Eager to learn more about their experiences and shared creative vision, we quizzed Joyce and Dana to discover the tricks of their trade.
Globetrotting for two years sounds like a complete and utter dream!
After working flat-out for eight years, we wanted to break out and see the world! Our wanderlust took us from China and Bali to South Africa, California, Taiwan, Thailand, New York, Sierra Leone, Cameroon and beyond. We’d never travelled so much before; we experienced so many cultures and made friends all over the world. Now, travel is the backbone of the WALD Berlin aesthetic. Nature and different cultures are our primary inspirations.
Image courtesy of WALD Berlin.
How are these interpreted into jewellery?
We’re not graduated designers. If anything, we’re like rappers! We do things differently in a way so that it feels right for us and not for the industry; that looks like naming our products after songs to show where we’re from and what we’re about.
When it comes to the design process, after ten years of working hand-in-hand, we’ve got our process down pat: Dana conceptualises pieces, while Joyce feeds back with ideas.
Image courtesy of WALD Berlin.
You work with a Fair-trade Women and Grandmothers collective, right? Tell us more about that.
At the start, we didn’t have the option to produce with a big manufacturer – so, we asked our mothers and their friends for help! Everyone loved working for us, and they were incredibly grateful for the opportunity to freelance. Many of them were more or less without a job due to their circumstances of having kids and living in the countryside; they explained their plights of trying to get work as older women, which made us incredibly sad since our society is built upon their strength. Those women are supposed to be heroes and not shifted away! This is where it all started…
Now, our aim is to primarily work with women who have kids. That’s where we want to spend our money and who we want to support. With small decisions like this, people can change the world each and every day to make it a better place.
Support and shop WALD Berlin here:
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