KSV Jewellery
Kristina Svensson Vučković grew up in the heart of Stockholm surrounded by a creative family. She had a mind of a visionary, she could communicate artistically before she could speak in sentences, drawing a pile of pancakes. It is not a surprise that she has tested many fields within the arts, joining a Swedish orchestra as a violinist, playing piano, enrolling in the aesthetics programme in high school and followed by multiple courses in fashion. She has worked on many fashion shows and shoots, creating hairstyles and besides having a growing business as a goldsmith and jewellery designer, she’s also a passionate hair colorist. This combination of careers has led to many collaborations within the industry and with sought after Swedish photographers.
Kristina is kind and quirky, and her happy personality shines through in her work. Her collaboration with Hotel At Six in Stockholm catapulted her brand KSV Jewellery, winning the Swedish Fashion Talents Accessories Designer of the Year in 2017 and her work can be found in fashion editorials, shopping pages, on celebrities and the chic crowd.
The senior editors sat down with Kristina, with a few bottles of Cava, and chatted about her creative process, the benefits of having and balancing two careers, her campaign and collaboration with Yoyo Nasty and photographer Ninja Hanna, and of course, the conundrum of dealing with other brands who blatantly reproduce young designers’ work.
So, you’ve played the violin for many years, was that something you wanted to build a career with?
Maybe, I’m actually a bit interested in starting again, because I really miss playing in the orchestra, I played for about 15 years from the age of 9, but I knew that it wasn’t the future for me.
Did your elder sister play an instrument as well?
Yes, she played guitar and I played the piano as well but we didn’t feel that there was a future in it. Although my father was a musician and my grandfather was a concert pianist, for me it was more of a hobby. I was more into drawing and sculpting.
And then you found the world of hair. –Yes (laughs) that was not my plan at all. I needed a job and before I started as a trainee at Toni & Guy, I went to Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm to attend an evening class for a year and become a fashion designer. Before that, just after High School, I had applied to a private art school called Nyckelviksskolan for a metal course. Back then I had already discovered that I was into jewellery making, but I did not get accepted that time. Later on, after having applied for a Bachelor's Degree at Beckmans with no success of getting in, I needed a job. That is when I started as a trainee at Toni & Guy. I worked at so many places during my trainee time because I needed money. I was a sushi chef for two months, worked in a video game shop and so on. I have done so many weird jobs!
Oh, we love that!
Nevertheless, eventually I got accepted for a textiles course at Nyckelviksskolan. During the course, I was making a collar for a project and I wanted to make the collar of metal. While making the collar, I realized that metal was the material I wanted to work with. So, I went on doing a silversmith course and became a trainee with a goldsmith just after.
So did you start as a colourist or was it just general hair in the beginning?
It was a general trainee program but I said that I wanted to be a colorist. It felt more natural for me to work with a brush than scissors because of my art background. However, the funny thing is that when I started in the salon I thought this was just going to be a temporary thing, not my future. Now it has been 15 years as a hair colorist.
But what is it that they say it’s not the destination…the path to get there… “The Journey is the destination”
I always knew that hair was not what I was going to end up doing, and that is why I have done so many different courses during my time as a hair colorist. I really like to illustrate and I have also done a course in digital print as well. Actually my mom said that (laughs) I could draw before I learned how to speak and if there was something I needed, I would draw it and show her. Oh so if you were hungry you’d draw a pancake or a glas of milk?! Everyone laughs out loud. That is hilarious and so clever!
You won the Swedish Fashion Talent Accessories Award in 2017. How young was your brand back then?
I started KSV in 2014, when I went to Hantverksakademin, a Higher Vocational Education School, in Stockholm, which was between 2014–2016. It was with my graduation collection with 18 pieces of jewellery I won the award in 2017. So it was about three years old. I was one of the really new brands to be nominated.
As your brand evolves, do you think you would want to be just the Creative Director?
I love working with my hands, I don’t think I could ever be just
a creative director, but if I think bigger I can’t do everything by myself... I would love to have my own boutique that is also a workshop and art gallery to produce collabs and different projects with people I find interesting and inspiring.
So what do you feel about big high street brands and other established jewellery brands blatantly copying your work?
Sometimes I think, ok maybe that was a very simple design and I cannot do anything about it. There are some quite specific designs I have made and people say I should be glad and honored, but I am really not. I do my research and I develop my thoughts to make something unique that is very much my signature look as a designer. I have a lawyer friend who gives me advice but then I don’t always have the energy and the big brands have such big legal departments and the economic resources. Just a couple of days ago I saw another brand that had blatantly copied my first and second collection by designs and names. My lawyer friend just said, “Get used to it!” Anyway, I have written a few other designers when I just felt, “Ok, this is too close to be true.” And they changed whatever they copied… but then there are others I can’t do anything about. That is awful.
Why do you choose silver other than gold?
I like to work with that metal more, it’s a softer metal it’s actually easier to work with gold, shapes are more simple to create and does not scratch as easily. I’m something in between a goldsmith and a jewellery designer, some stuff I produce making molds in New York, I do the finishing touch, and some of the designs I make from scratch. It’s quite expensive to make a whole collection from gold, sall my silver is fairtrade and is recycled.
What about the V-shaped pearl, where do you source all your materials?
I wanted to work with pearls and I knew that there were other shapes than the classic round ones, like the baroque pearl, quite irregular shapes but still round and then I stumbled across the keshi pearl which are a 100% mother of pearl. They’re considered as ugly and always sorted out that’s why I kinda wanted them.
That’s so cool, I’ve never seen these kinda pearls, you just never think that pearls do that. For me, every piece I made would be unique and that’s why I wanted to work with this pearl, and also the deformed shapes for me makes it more beautiful. It’s kinda like the “ugly carrots” at the supermarket nobody ever buys cause they’re considered ugly but I always get those cause I think they’re pretty and deserves to be eaten too!
What celebrity would be inspiring for you to wear your jewellery?
There’s an artist who wears my rings Thåström – Swedish rock singer, and I’m a big fan. I would love for Patti Smith to wear my jewellery, she’s my hero, if she would wear anything from me it would be a dream! I actually met her, I saw her walking towards me when she had an exhibition here in Stockholm, and the only thing I could say was “can I please get a hug?” –haha!
What era would you like to party in?
That would be the 1920’s, I really like the baroque and the art deco and renaissance even though the jewellery is a bit too much, I like it but it’s a bit too flashy for me still. But I’ve really been inspired by Bauhaus, the architecture so that’s where the graphic inspiration and shapes comes from. I’m kinda just mixing all the eras!
Is there anything you always keep in mind when creating new pieces?
Everytime I make a new design I always ask myself would this work for a guy as well, my latest collection is absolutely for men, it is more feminine because of the organic shapes, but I don’t want to restrict people from buying my jewellery everyone who wants to can wear it. I don’t want to set any limits.
Tell us about your latest collection ‘Dualism’ Your model Yoyo Nasty is our art pause contributor for this Issue, Ninja Hanna shot it, how do you know each other?
We actually went to art school together at Nyckelviksskolan, a metal works course in Stockholm. We really clicked and I really liked her style and I felt she would be a great model for my upcoming shoot, so I just asked her and she was happy to do it! She really has the perfect look for the Dualism Collection and it was so hard to choose from all the images Ninja Hanna took, I did the hair and the cut as well of course. We did this hair look just for the photoshoot, planning the color and pattern together.
Do you make sketches for each collection?
When I did the Tear collection I didn’t do any sketches I just started doing something, instinct and feeling created the designs. I was going through a rough period in my life and was quite affected by my emotions so the Tear collection just happened and came from me, I was in the workshop one day sat down and just started creating.
That too is true inspiration, your emotions are the result of that collection. The first piece I made was ‘The looped ring’ a lot just kinda happened.
Do you think you’d ever stop being a hair colour technician?
I love that job still and I think since I have the jewellery brand as well it's a good balance, and I get a lot of good connections through my hair colorist work and many clients. It’s a good platform because I met a lot of celebrities and influential people in the fashion industry, a good way of getting my jewellery brand out there so It kinda has a meaning.
You don’t really make AW and SS collections, do you? I do collection once a year or when I get inspired by something, and I just start creating…that is amazing, that’s how fashion should really be, especially for young brands. Otherwise you force yourself to create and I don’t want to work in that way… I want my designs to be timeless and not trendy. I can still work as a hair colorist and satisfy my handcraft creativity in a different way and it comes naturally. It’s a good balance for me.
So let us talk about your short films you also create for your collections, a connection with your past as a violinist?
Yes for all my collections I make a film with my friends, that’s a part that I still have in me. With the music I tell a story about the collection, one of my friends plays the cello, I met her while I was in the orchestra and her ex-boyfriend is a producer so the three of us created the music for my latest collection. It’s just so much fun and I love film as a medium.