PHOTO • Caroline Gault

An Unsuspecting Muse

Hot and flustered after travelling through Sydney’s chaotic downtown traffic with an angry, foul-mouthed cab driver, I’ve finally made it to the Samantha Wills head office.

It’s a breezy, open space with wooden stairs in-house staff over the last six years, she can delier earrings. Her latest work includes a and clean, white interiors nestled in the inner- boast a remarkable resumé of celebrity fans. series of emblazoned clutches, and, after city suburb of Alexandria, New South Wales, International superstars in their own right, appropriately modelling as the face of her Australia. As her assistant leads me up to fashion lovers such as Nicky Hilton, Nicole own line for several years, she’s further the second floor, 28 year-old ex-model and Richie, Lindsay Lohan, Pink, Eva Mendez, embracing the business side, having jewellery-designing powerhouse Samantha Blake Lively, Rihanna, and stylist Rachel Zoe released a highly anticipated ready-to-wear Wills floats into the room with a dazzling have been seen dripping in S.W. product. bridal collection earlier this year. smile, tanned skin, and exquisite celebrity And Samantha informs me that fresh orders hair— you know, that extra-long, perfectly from Kate Hudson and Halle Berry have just With such a broad spectrum of pieces and yet wavy, sun-kissed hair. Not only can this en- been mailed out. a signature S.W. feel, I can’t help but wonder trepreneur brag about catching a glimpse where her inspirations come from, and by the of Anna Wintour during a business meeting “I think one of our biggest celebrities that sounds of the latest collection, Samantha’s at Vogue’s New York office in late 2009, but first wore it internationally was Nicky Hilton direction isn’t predetermined. she’s also set to watch the girls of Sex and when she was out here [in Australia],” she the City 2 flaunt her jewels on the big screen reflects. “She was wearing it on the cover “The collection we’ve just released is called all summer long. As she hands me a cold of a magazine when I was 21 and still ‘An Unsuspecting Muse’, and [it’s] really glass of water, I’m slapped with a revelation: I making [the jewellery] on my dining room inspired around photographs I’ve taken on am way out of my league. table. That was extremely surreal, and it’s my travels,” she explains. “I’m really looking still very surreal today.” at every-day items for inspiration. For This isn’t the first time I’ve felt a little bit silly example, when I look at a beautiful tile, and since encountering the Samantha Wills (S.W.) When I ask if the pressure of having celebrity the pattern on the tile, it’s not just about the line, despite Samantha’s down-to-earth clientele affects her new designs, she says, aesthetic to me, but it’s the fact that a million demeanour. Unbeknownst to this Canadian “No, I don’t think about that. I hope that the people have walked across that tile, and it’s girl until a visit to Sydney Fashion Weekend reason that they choose to wear it is because about the stories that the tile could tell over Summer last November, the Australian-born they like our signature style and our pieces, its time. So, I really take something and look accessories have been around since 2001, and the whole brand feel […] but the thing through the layers beyond the obvious to when at just 21 years of age, Samantha was with a celebrity choosing to wear your product find inspiration that’s more about a story, as rising well before dawn every Sunday morning is that they inadvertently become an unofficial well as an aesthetic.” to sell her handmade, homemade jewellery at ambassador for your brand. They’re seen the Bondi Beach markets. on such a world stage that the promotion Described as Manhattan-chic meets Mar- and the publicity it gives the brand is just— I rakech-goddess, with every colour of the “It wasn’t glamorous, but it was a lot of fun at mean, you can’t buy that kind of press.” Great Barrier Reef as its pallet, Samantha’s the time,” she says of her early days. “A lot of treasures can be found in 200 stores across people who are still on the S.W. journey with It’s no wonder S.W. jewellery is making its Australia, and upwards of 300 stores through- us say they bought their first piece at Bondi definitive mark amongst the masses and out the world. markets, so it’s really humbling that people decorating slick editorial spreads across have followed us since then. It [was] definitely the globe, as the statement pieces are Samantha’s focus, at the moment, is breaking the launch pad for the brand.” valued for (and pride themselves in) the into the U.S. market, and after dividing her use of brass, pewter and natural stone time between Sydney, New York, L.A., and In 2004, a spot on a showroom wall at foundations in unique and non-traditional London over the past few years, she made Australia Fashion Week had Samantha applications. S.W. pieces feature feathers, a semi-permanent move to New York in walking away with an unexpected $17,000– cutlery, mirrors, leather, suede, and wood, January. So, until S.W. leaks into Canadian an undeniable induction into the categorical fastened to an array of teardrop shapes, territory (“We’re getting there,” Samantha elite. After countless long, hard working hours, bows, heavy and delicate chains, thick tells me), we’ll just have to quench our thirst and pulling together an inspired team of 10 cuffs, bangles, chunky rings and chan- online: www.samanthawills.com. •

36 PARLOUR