Career Pathways: Keira Wraae-Stewart
Career Pathways: Keira Wraae-Stewart
We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Keira Wraae-Stewart for our Career Pathways series. Keira founded ætla in Edinburgh in 2020, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a view to showcasing and supporting fine jewellery created by talented local, international and lesser-known designers and artisans.
Of both Faroese & Scottish descent, Keira decided to return to the UK to launch ætla; the boutique maintains its Scottish roots - being intertwined within Edinburgh‘s majestic City Centre - whilst clearly embracing the Faroese/Scandinavian aesthetic sensibilities that have greatly influenced Keira throughout her life. Before launching ætla, Keira worked in the design and manufacture of jewellery in both London and Thailand for over 10 years, at a number of well established brands including Vivienne Westwood and Maria Francesca Pepe.
Keira Wraae-Stewart by Martin Safro
How did you become interested in the jewellery industry and decide it was a career you wanted to pursue?
I have always been fascinated by jewellery and took a few evening classes while at high school as well as working at a jeweller in Iceland while staying with family for a short period of work experience at 15. I was always more interested in 3D than 2D and found jewellery to lie somewhere between sculpture and architecture, but on a small scale, to be appreciated all at once. I love jewellery as stand alone objects, as well as the way they can completely transform once on the body. I feel very connected to hand craft, and am very appreciative of the human skill that has gone into making something so beautiful. I think most of us also have an almost primitive gut reaction to the beauty and desirability of these precious metals and gemstones that come from the earth.
Can you tell us a bit about your background in the jewellery industry?
After studying 3D Design at Grays in Aberdeen I moved straight to London where I started out interning for a few different independent jewellers and fashion brands. I spent a few years working for Maria Francesca Pepe as creative assistant, before moving to Vivienne Westwood (where I had previously interned for a few months during 3rd year of university) where I worked for the inimitable Laurent Rivaud who has been the head jewellery designer there for decades. My position was varied as I worked within research, design, product development and management. We split our time between the seasonal commercial selling collections and the statement one of a kind catwalk pieces. I spent around 3 years there before relocating to their Thailand office in Chiang Mai, where I was able to work directly with the several factories that manufactured their jewellery. I was working out there with our small team for a further 4 ½ years before taking a career break to move back west. I briefly spent some time living in my birth country the Faroe Islands before moving to Edinburgh when the pandemic struck, which is where my immediate family were living.
ætla Interior by Martin Safro
How did the idea for creating ætla develop?
Having spent so many years working in costume jewellery and living far away from my family, I wanted to put down roots in Edinburgh and shift my focus to high quality jewellery with longevity and a strong ethical background. I wanted to create a space where I personally would want to shop; a welcoming and calming space which stocks unique, desirable and wearable jewellery from independent makers, fusing a mix of traditional jewellery design and craftsmanship with modern aesthetics. I wanted to work less with seasonal jewellery, and more with investment pieces that would last a lifetime. This forced me to look at jewellery as timeless pieces, rather than items that might very well fit the current fashion trends. It was also important to me to reach a wider audience and a younger market that has a desire to invest in sustainably made jewellery that won’t turn green, but find it difficult to get out of that loop due to the price tag. I do offer payments in instalments to help with the cost, and also offer a recycling initiative where you can bring in unwanted precious jewellery (think old gold chains that you no longer want) which can be exchanged for store credit, as well as remodelling services where our jewellers can melt down your old precious metals and reset your stones to create brand new pieces.
Tell us about your work at ætla. What is your day like?
At the moment I am still working alone, so it is different day to day and you wear different ‘hats’ throughout the week. On the busier days I mostly spend them with customers - with fine jewellery it is an understandably big investment so I always take care to spend some quality time with the customer, to get to know them and vice versa. I will also always find some time every day to be active on social media, answer emails and DMs and ship orders. On the quieter days in store I have more time to get up to date with admin, updating my accounts, uploading new products on to the website and planning future events and PR opportunities.
How does sustainability and ethical responsibility influence your work at ætla? Where did your interest in this develop?
My background being primarily in costume jewellery means I have worked mostly in the world of mass production and use of base metals in jewellery. Costume jewellery is very difficult to preserve, and prices are often significantly inflated when compared to the production cost. If a much loved (and expensive) costume jewellery piece becomes worn out, people are often surprised by how much it costs to have it repaired, and unfortunately most traditional jewellers who take on repair work do not like to work with this type of jewellery. A lot of costume jewellery will ultimately wear out and end up in the bin as the only value it really holds is that of the brand name or logo. My love for jewellery conflicted with this and I wished instead to work with jewellers who could verify the source of the materials they used, and were very conscious about all stages of production.
Work by Alice Waese; Grainne Morton; Shakti Ellenwood at ætla.
Images by Martin Safro & Buzz Creative.
You work with and promote many designers with Scottish links. Where does your passion for this stem, and how do you select the designers you work with?
I stock a mix of Scottish, British and international jewellers. I definitely have a strong interest in supporting Scottish jewellers such as Ellis Mhairi Cameron, Fraser Hamilton and honorary Scot Grainne Morton as not only do they encapsulate the ethos of the store, but their work also tells a story that customers connect with. Being an Edinburgh based boutique it is very important to me to represent some of my favourite Scottish jewellers. I have also offered part of my boutique as a pop-up and exhibition space for other local jewellers to use if of interest.
Regarding the selection process, most of the jewellers I stock and work with I have followed and been a fan of for many years during my previous positions. When I launched the store I took the chance to contact some of my favourite jewellers and was thrilled that they were willing to take a chance on me and my then yet to open store. The others I have discovered along the way, through Instagram, online articles, word of mouth, recommendations by other jewellers and jewellery fairs.
Images by Martin Safro & Buzz Creative.
What advice would you give to students and young professionals interested in working within the jewellery industry?
My main advice would be to keep an open mind, don’t be afraid to ask for help and take opportunities where you can to work under someone experienced in the industry. Obviously it depends what your end goal might be, but for example if you wanted to be an independent jewellery designer and maker I would suggest a variety of different full time or part-time jobs and/or internships that could give you a wide range of experiences. For example, working somewhere like a jewellery repair shop (which would teach you a lot of the fundamentals of jewellery construction and can also show you what types of mistakes to avoid when designing jewellery) and/or working in a retail setting so you have direct experience with customers which can give you invaluable insight to what customers like and why.
Generally speaking though, know that your destination might not be clear to you at the moment, but follow your passion and work hard at it. Make connections where you can. Be kind to people as you will often see this kindness returned. Know your limits and your worth - burnout is real so be sure to maintain some time for yourself. Try not to compare yourself too much to those around you or even fellow students. Ask for feedback and constructive criticism and try to take it on the chin. Remember everyone has their own personal taste and diversity in design is important. Embrace your background and origins - what is your story? Try to figure out who your ideal customer is. Travel, experience different cultures, learn new skills and crafts different to what you have learnt at university. Look for a mentor where possible. It all depends what you want to do in the industry, but you might not even know what it is yet. You got this!