into ◇ view talk to the founder of Coco's Liberty, Elina Bergert on how she has transformed her career, originally as a lawyer and now as the creative visionary behind the jewellery label, Coco’s Liberty. We discuss the catalyst for her change in direction, the ethos behind the business and how Elina is building the go-to jewellery brand for Scandinavian chic statement pieces for women everywhere.
Hi Elina! Please can you introduce yourself and your business?
Hi! My Name is Elina Bergert and I´m the founder of Coco´s Liberty. I am a jewellery Designer from Sweden, living in London. Jewellery and Design are my greatest passions and having my own jewellery business is my dream come true!!
What were you doing prior to starting Coco’s Liberty?
I was originally a lawyer; one day three years ago, when I was working in Germany, I was in a meeting with my former boss, he was discussing my future within the company - I just thought OMG I have to shoot myself if that´s going to be my life…so I quit then and there and applied for Fashion College to study Jewellery Design and am now I am trying to build up Coco´s Liberty.
What was the catalyst that made you start your own business?
Funnily, it was actually never really in my thoughts to have my own business, but when I quit my job as a lawyer, from one day to the other I had time to really think about what I wanted from life, it became the natural step in the right direction to build up my own Business.
Had you ever expected yourself to be an entrepreneur?
No never! But I love it - working for myself is a great freedom. I’m pretty determined and fiercely independent and I like to do things in my own way.
What were your initial first steps after having the idea for Coco’s Liberty?
When I started studying Jewellery Design at Central Saint Martins three Years ago and was able to fully live out my creative design process and wear the pieces that I had made. More and more people started asking me where I got my Jewellery from…so it was a natural process of creating a website where I could sell my products.
Can you tell us about the creative process you go through when designing?
I get a lot of inspiration from everyday surroundings that we see all day-to-day but just take for granted. One thing might then trigger another. I was for example just playing around with toothpicks a couple of months back when I thought, wow toothpicks could really be pretty in gold. From ideas in my head, I start sketching and drawing them up. I have sketchbooks in every Handbag so that I don't forget my ideas! Then I sit down at my workbench and start creating the piece - while working with the metal the Ideas can shift a bit to something completely different. I then always try to come up with either matching rings and earrings, or earrings with matching necklaces so that all the pieces match together somehow. I like to design very simple and minimal Scandi chic jewellery with a fierce character, for strong empowered women.
Can you talk us through some of your collections? Do you have any new ones in the pipeline you can tell us about or is it all top secret?
I try to create timeless jewellery, so that they are not seasoned and can be worn all day and night - you're basically able to just throw them on in the morning and still look amazing at dinner and then for your night out. I have a new collection coming up very soon, which is the one I was talking about earlier: inspired by toothpicks.
Please tell us about some of the values behind your brand?
We at Coco´s Liberty believe in fair-trade. All the jewellery is completely handmade by my team and myself. We try to only use fair trade gold and silver. I myself am a vegan and into environmental issues - so I like to create pieces by materials that have not exploited the environment or the people winning the materials.
For example, we started to create an Elephant Necklace and now we have the new upcoming collection of Giraffe Earrings, where we donate 25% to the Elephant Family.
What are your future plans for Coco’s Liberty?
I would love for Coco´s Liberty to be the go to Jewellery for minimal and fierce Scandi Chic Statement Jewellery Pieces. Within the next 5 years it would be amazing to open up my own Coco´s Liberty Store in London. For this year the Plan is to focus on growing our stockists in London and worldwide.
What key pieces of advice can you offer to other entrepreneurs, which you have learnt from your own experience of building a successful brand?
I would advise you to be really passionate about what you are doing and never give up. There will be hard times, especially in the beginning, but if you believe in your products, the people will eventually believe in them too.