Designer Spotlight - Jill Hopkins
The Curvez Dos Collection - Earrings
Jill Hopkins has been one of our most loved designers online and in the pop-up ever since joining the platform. With a passion for design and fashion from a young age, she was heavily influenced by the rich culture and heritage that she was surrounded by.
Jill first started with imitating the outline of her city in the designs of her jewellery and then went from there, hand-making all her pieces, wrapping them with 10 layers of 24 karat gold. Some of the designs have been decorated with pearls, onyx and malachite, complimenting the bends and curves of the gold wrapped alluminium.
To celebrate the beauty of her designs, we held a special launch night when we first opened the pop-up, and it's safe to say that it was an extremely successful night! We sold out of most of her designs and they're all now pre-orders on our website! The whole Curated Crowd team has at least one item from Jill's collection, isn't that amazing!
A little snippet the night of Jill's launch event for her Curvez Dos Collection
What makes her brand so incredible? What inspires her? Join us as we chat to Jill about how everything came about and what Jill Hopkins Jewellery means to her.
Curvez Trio Chunky Ring - £60 ; Pearl Coqueta Ring - £50 ; Xochi Maxi Earrings - £115 ; Pearl Choker - £150
Curated Crowd: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and where the desire to design came from?
Jill Hopkins: I am from Tepic Nayarit Mexico, which is a very small town. My first encounter with fashion was when I was 9 years old, thanks to my aunt Susana, who was studying fashion design at that time. We were all living together, so seeing her designing, sewing, and always doing something creative made me fall in love with it. That's when I decided I wanted to become a fashion designer as well.
I started my fashion studies at LCF (London College Of Fashion) fashion portfolio 2009 – 2010, then at CDM Guadalajara Mexico 2010 - 2014 where I graduated as a Fashion Designer. Then onto CSM ( Central Saint Martins ), where I specialised in experimental jewellery and jewellery business.
Cascada Malachite and Jade Earrings - £150
CC: What about where you grew up in Mexico influenced you as a person and as a designer?
JH: It influenced me in every single way. My background is the soul of my brand and the reflection of most of my designs.
Growing up in a small town, opportunities and chances are hard to come by, but it made me very perseverant and it made me work ten times harder than anyone else. My family has always been very supportive, but giving me the opportunity to study abroad wasn’t easy, as it was a huge sacrifice for them. I had to have three jobs when I was studying for the first time in London, in order to help my parents cover my expenses.
CC: How does your designs reflect your culture?
JH: Most of my inspiration comes from my culture, you can always see a bit of it in my designs. From the symbols that represents my region to the shape of the map of my estate, colours and even stones.
Nay Pearl Earrings - £145
CC: You studied experimental design at CDM, did that aid you in creating your own brand and finding your own identity?
JH: That was the ultimate push in order to create Jill Hopkins Jewellery. Once I entered the jewellery making world, a ton of ideas flooded into my mind, and hence my brand was born with the very first collection - “soulmate”.
It was a very special collection inspired by the Quartz of one of our most famous mines in Zacatecas Mexico. This collection was launched in my hometown with friends and family. Although I could only afford to produce 12 pieces at the time, the event was a huge success, everything sold out on that day.
Curvez Two Pearl Coquetas - £130
CC: You’ve recently had a launch event with us at the pop-up shop, can you tell us a bit about how you think that went?
JH: It was such a lovely event, I was very happy and honoured to launch my latest collection CURVEZ DOS with Curated Crowd. The collection was an incredible success and people absolutely loved it. It was great team work on both parties, I am very happy with the results.
CC: Are you working on a new collection that we should know about?
JH: I am currently working on my next collection. It will be a capsule collection for summer, and I can't wait to share it with everyone!
Curvez Dos Medusa Earrings - £130 ; Medusa Ring - £60 ; Medusa Bracelet - £145
To shop and pre-order Jill's spectacular Curvez Dos Collection, head to her designers' page here.
