NOTHING BAD MAGAZINE

5th August 2011

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Photography: Katie Coleslaw

Australian writer Kat George wears her favourite Australian designers around New York

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Dress by ArnsdorfShoes by Converse

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Handmade top by yiayia (grandma)Skirt by Tina Kalivas

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Handmade top by yiayia (grandma)Skirt by Tina KalivasShoes by Lovely PeopleShoes by Lovely People

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Page 8Shirt and shorts by Above

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shoes - AdidasDress by Birthday Suit

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Dress by ArnsdorfShoes by Converse

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Dress by Birthday Suit

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Duffy

Evie Jeffreys talks to jewellery designer Duffy

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From a love of destroying and building as a child, to producing his first collection from his parents’

shed, Duffy has paved his own way in the jewellery industry.

What drew you to jewellery making in the first place?

First and foremost I wanted to be an illustrator. When I was a kid I spent all my time copying Judge Dread and Spiderman comics, anything I could get my hands on. Although I could draw I wanted to make things with my hands as well. I used to like breaking things. My brothers have an ongoing joke that I cut my perfectly good BMX in half with a hacksaw when I was about nine,

then realised I couldn’t turn it into a go-cart, so I hid it behind the shed and my dad found it.

From the age of 14 I worked in antiques with my parents. My dad asked me if I wanted to be a jeweller and I was like, nah, girls make jewellery, don’t be stupid. But then I dwelled on that idea and did some work experience in Brighton with a guy called Jeremy Hoye, who let me work on some of their stuff in the workshops and

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then make a piece of my own. And just from that I fell in love with it. So by then, sixteen, I definitely knew that’s what I wanted to do.

How did you get from there to where you are now?

I wanted to do an apprenticeship, but in jewellery they’re always so genre-specific. To do the kind of jewellery that I wanted to make, workshops wouldn’t teach me that. So I played around at college for two years, then I did a BA in jewellery and ever since then I’ve been trying to do my own stuff.

A lot of the jewellers who are established didn’t get to where they were until much later, so I’ve got a bit of time. They’ve all done their

time in the industry and I’ve kind of cut out that part to go solo, I’ve gone straight out by myself. They probably sat at the bench for ten years, just making stuff for someone else, really working on their hand skills. Pure craftsmanship is something that I’ve always been fascinated with, I don’t know whether I could sit and hone those skills all day for years. But I am very jealous of people who do – anyone who has a hand skill or craft, I just worship them.

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Has it been difficult sticking to your guns and following exactly what you want to do?

Yeh, totally. I’ve had massive loans, and wondered what the fuck I’m doing. But I think that’s the case with anything you love. You’re going to question it and wonder whether

you really want to do it. I worked 7 days a week for a year trying to earn the money. When I had it, I made my first collection over three months in my parents’ shed. I dug up the garden and put power fittings in it.

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Some of your pieces are so detailed, how long does each take – say a piece like the double swan knuckle duster?

I don’t even want to think. Bench time, it probably took me at least a solid seven days sat at a bench to make just that one swan, carved up and ready to make moulds. I carve the original swan, make one metal from that swan, from that metal make a rubber mould, then I’m able to make two of those swans in wax and have them cast. I make the band up separately and then solder the swans onto the band, drill and set all the stones, file and polish it all.

Everything I do is handmade, so nothing I do is out of house - the

only thing I outsource is my casting, because no one really does their own casting. It’s an industry in itself. I would have to have an entire workshop just to look after the stuff. And then there’s some of my stone setting. That’s a skill in itself too.

Has the jewellery industry been a hard nut to crack?

I put loads of effort into my first show, stupidly did it during fashion week and because I was a nobody hardly anyone came. A few people did, like Wonderland magazine who have supported me ever since. I find in fashion, as much as people like to talk about new talent it’s very rare that anyone goes to look through it or bothers

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to go to anything new. Even when it comes to universities, it’s like look at this new, wonderful star at a London college. But did you look anywhere other than Central Saint Martins and the few London universities that there are?

I’ve always found that sad about fashion. It’s an amazing industry, but it’s still quite narrow-minded in its approach to finding new talent. They don’t want to go elsewhere. They want to see the standard things, be seen at the right shows and the big free parties, rather than to have a passion and look for something new.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’ve been working with Katie Eary on her catwalk stuff. When I’ve worked for fashion designers before they have come to me and they know exactly what they want. But with Katie, she gave me free reign. This is pretty rare for a designer to be given this kind of creative freedom. It’s really mad. Hopefully I’ll get to do more of this in the future.

I’m also working on an engagement ring for someone. Jewellery is a really personal thing and that’s what drew me to it. When you’re creating a piece of jewellery for someone, you hope it is something that they’ll be wearing

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forever. With some clients I have made engagement rings for, I find that I am often the first person they ring or text to say that it went well. It’s so special to be involved in someone’s life in that way, it’s a real honour to be a part of.

Where are you aiming to end up?

I’m not anywhere near where I’d like to be. It’s hard to keep sight of where you are and how far you’ve come. Three or four years ago I was in a shed, then I had a studio in Clapton that was a bit shit, had

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Interview by Evie JeffreysPhotography by Jamie Sinclair

rats in it, but you work up and finally I’m here. I’m still struggling, I’m not balling by any means, but I’m getting interested in better stockists and better press and hopefully my work is improving from the last collection and hopefully my next one will be even better.

I would like to have a showroom and a private hire area. I’d like to have a series of people working with me closely in a decent workshop. I don’t want to leave the workshop myself, I always want to be carving and making my own stuff

I’d also like to design for big houses, but that is a big dream. I’d love to design for somewhere such as Garrard… to get someone like me to come in, that’s

probably my dream. To use the resources and materials that they have to produce some clever work, something like that would be my dream. If I could achieve all of that I would be totally happy.

Duffy

Next Issue12th August 2011

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