ANUKA Jewellery

Francesca Kippax, Founder of ANUKA Jewellery sat down with us to spill the beans on her incredible brand. 

What makes sustainable jewellery?

A huge part of what makes something sustainable is how traceable it is, and how each point through the production process impacts people and the planet. Sustainable jewellery is jewellery that can be traced at each and every point throughout the production process and leaves no negative impact on the people who are involved at each stage, and the environment in which it is produced.

What inspired you to start the brand?

My mother is a painter, which meant I grew up surrounded by creativity, along with an early obsession for playing dress-up with my grandmother's jewellery. This love for materials and objects led me to study Jewellery and Silversmithing at the prestigious School of Jewellery in Birmingham. It wasn’t until 2014 after living in South Vietnam for three years that I founded ANUKA. Living along the beautiful Southern coastline of Vietnam for 4 years, I became awakened to the consequences we were having on our environment. The ocean and the beaches were often littered with plastic pollution. Witnessing this made me question the kind of an impact I, as a business owner, was having on the environment. Once I began my research, there was no going back and I am proud to be able to call ANUKA an ethical jewellery collection . Every step of the way I am working hard to make sure we are limiting our footprint and doing things the right way whilst providing absolute transparency in all that we do.

How do you create products that are trendy, but don't promote over-consumption in the age of haul culture?

Whilst all of our collections are different, they are all timeless in design and of exceptional quality. This assures our customers that each piece can be enjoyed as modern-day heirlooms, transcending seasonal fashion trends. We keep things simple and believe less is more.

Why was it important for you to have the B Corp certification?

Because our planet is worth it. The same reason why I’m a member of 1% For The Planet and use Block Chain technology by Provenance to ensure complete transparency in our process. It’s been important to me since starting ANUKA to learn more about my industry and the impact I was having. Sourcing and making with better materials, whether that’s through 100% recycled silver or Fairmined gold, has been a focus from early on. But a constant challenge has been to verify my authenticity as a company in an industry that is notorious for keeping quiet or greenwashing at a basic level. Being a Certified B Corporation business is proof that we are legally and morally committed to prioritising our responsibility to the environment and society. We join a growing group of companies that are reinventing business by pursuing purpose as well as profit, which only seems right when I am making a living from the resources taken from our earth.

What is your favourite product from ANUKA and why?

The KOTI collection will forever be a favourite, as it was the first collection I created out of university. I also adore the AMARA necklace, I wear this every day- the design is incredibly sentimental and I first made it for my sister and in memory of our grandma. It’s since expanded into a number of dainty fine necklaces great for layering. 

AMARA Necklace

Top book or movie that got you going on your sustainability journey?

The Shadow of Gold is great! It is an impactful documentary that sheds the light on how both large scale mining companies and small scale miners extract gold. I would also recommend River of Gold, which is a documentary that explores illegal gold mining in the Amazon and uncovers the consequential environmental and human degradation. We put together a whole blog post of resources to help understand the sustainable jewellery industry. You can give it a read here.

Would you rather only eat dessert for the rest of your life or never have dessert again?

Never eat dessert again… bring me the carbs!!

Written by Holly @ Anuka Jewellery