Have you ever thought about giving up the 9 to 5? Quitting the day job, travelling the world and doing something you really love? Yep, I know I have. In a nutshell that’s exactly what the Gypsy East girls did and oh my, what a wonderful outcome it has had. Gypsy East is a truly inspiring new brand which sells beautiful handcrafted jewellery and accessories plus a new line of jewellery sourced from India. With a distinctly bohemian vibe, product includes bespoke floral head crowns, sterling silver rings, brass jewellery, crystal pendants plus lots more. Gypsy Easy is a brand that is built on friendship and heading off into the horizon with people you love. The result is handcrafted accessories designed for people who want to have fun. It encapsulates the true festival spirit of doing whatever you want to do, forging your own path in life and not answering to anyone. I managed to catch up with the Gypsy East girls and this is what they had to say about what they do…
Describe Gypsy East… Gypsy East was created by Olivia, Emily and Sylvie. The mantra behind the brand is hand crafting one-of-a-kind pieces from vintage jewels we have discovered and collected on our travels around the world. In addition to this we now stock a jewellery collection sourced in India. We create floral head crowns and one off illustrations, hand drawn and sold on canvas. It’s now a creative outlet where mediums such as photography, illustration, film, styling are all used by us to create the brand image.
Where do you find your stock? All around the world, jewellery can be sourced anywhere from Bethnal Green to Bangkok. We travel about a lot and are currently based in India, Australia and UK! The majority of our current collection is created in a workshop in India, we spent a few months out there last year. Other trinkets have been picked up from New York, Australia, Thailand and East London. We are always on the look out for new pieces to sell. We also make our own pieces from vintage trinkets mixed with sterling silver chain or earrings.
Who makes the floral head crowns? We all create the floral head crowns, it began when we designed a heap of them for a festival we were going to in Australia. We had a few extra and girls kept asking us where they were from so we sold them our spares and haven’t stopped making them since. Festival season is crazy when it comes to head dress orders. We spend most nights with flowers superglued to our fingers.
Where did the idea for Gypsy East come from? We were all working in the Visual Merchandising team at the flagship Topshop store being creative but knowing we wanted to travel and create something that was our own. All of us studied a creative subject at university and were all creating shoots, styling and designing in our spare time for brands and magazines but we wanted to be writing our own briefs. We started sourcing jewels from the Indian quarter of Bethnal Green and began re working vintage pieces. The first thing we created was a nose chain as we were finding it hard to source our own. With a name and an idea we quit our jobs and all left for Australia with a tropical break in Malaysia on the way, and that’s where it all began.
Who or what inspires the type of product Gypsy East sell? India was an inspiration for us before we had even visited the country. We all just had a feeling about it and our feelings turned out to be true when we arrived. We fell in love with the country, culture and styling and we feel that has the strongest influence on our collection. The product we sell has to be loved by all of us. Its a reflection of our personal style.
Which pieces are the Gypsy East best sellers? Indian sterling silver rings fly out! We never order enough! Moonstone has to be the most popular although the Labradorite rings have been just as popular this time around. The soul sister crystals went really well. A friend in India has just helped us pick and post our new range so that should be with us this week.
Do you have a favourite piece in the range? Olivia – I am addicted to making floral crowns and I wish I could wear them everyday. Sylvie – I love the pendants, and mixing and matching crystals with different charms. Emily – I can’t get enough of hair braiding, I really enjoy doing them on people and having them in my hair.
Do you have any exciting plans for Gypsy East on the horizon that you want to share? Sylvie – I am off to India for another three months to work with our supplier to create a new range designed by us, and source as much Rajasthani vintage product as I can. Emily – I am currently finishing off the Australian festival season with stalls at Rainbow Serpent and Big Day Out. I am always creating new illustrations and currently designing a Gypsy East card range.Olivia – We have many exciting collaborations coming up, the first being a shoot with House of Jam clothing. I will be spending the next few weeks working with hair and make up artists and assistant stylists to create the right mood and then getting prepared for the UK festival season.
Look out for the new Gypsy east website which will be launched in May. Meet the Gypsy East girls at festivals across the UK and Europe and Burning Man in the U.S. this summer. Following that they have another trip to Australia where they will be developing a new line so watch this space for further Gypsy news…
You can follow Gypsy East and order online (via private message) at facebook.com/gypsyeastjewels. Prices start at £10 for jewellery, £20 for floral head crowns and £20 for illustration prints.
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