Meet Bea Bongiasca, the Jewelry Designer Behind Dua Lipa's Curvy, Colorful Rings

If it seems like everyone is suddenly wearing candy-like jewelry, Bea Bongiasca is to thank. The Italian designer is known for her brightly colored enamel creations worn by Dua Lipa, Miley Cyrus, Bella Hadid, and more. And like real candy, you often don't stop with just one piece—from stacked funky rings to doubling-up on curvy hoops and gumdrop studs, Bongiasca's jewels are easily enjoyed in multiples.

The handcrafted pieces are sweet and joyful, made in Milan, but inspired by Bongiasca's travels around the globe. East Asia and Japanese kawaii culture are particular sources of inspiration that can be seen in the designer's playful approach. After graduating with a Jewelry Design degree from Central Saint Martins in 2013, she debuted her first collection titled No Rice, No Life, which featured delicate earrings, rings, and other pieces composed of rice grain-like forms with crystal and pearl accents. Today, her most popular pieces are the colorful vine-like creations that made with twisted enamel and semiprecious stones. 

Bongiasca's jewelry pairs perfectly with the turn towards statement dressing and even the abstract shapes of postmodern decor and furniture. The appeal of the latter isn't lost on the designer, who has been toying around with the idea of trying her hand at interior design. But for now, Bongiasca is focusing on her jewelry. According to the designer, after Italy's first quarantine of the pandemic, "The whole vibe was that you can't do anything, but you can work. So I've just been working." This has involved developing her desire to make "finer" pieces, with newness to be revealed this summer.

Here, Bongiasca speaks with L'OFFICIEL about how jewelry is more different than fashion as one might think, how her pieces play into current trends, and why she'd never want to be an overnight success.

L'OFFICIEL: How do you see jewelry relating to fashion trends?

Bea Bongiasca: Jewelry is nothing like fashion in terms of seasons. [Jewelry designers] don't feel like they always need a new collection, instead there are capsules, people change the colors of the stones, there's a lot you can work on. It's not a fad. There's a lot of newness, but it's not as grand and constant as it might be in fashion. Fashion is much more instant. If you don't buy it, it's gone. But with jewelry it's not like that. For example, I've had some pieces in my collection for a long time and people warm up to them after a while and I'm like, You know it's been there, like, for years. But there are just things that people start liking at a certain moment—maybe subconsciously there's a trend that they like and they realize that it's connected. Even if people like things instantly, like they do for fashion, it takes time for them to come around for jewelry. But I don't think that's a problem because we have quite big collections as jewelers, it's not like you only have one thing. 

L'O: Your brand has received a lot of attention over the past year, with celebrities like Dua Lipa and Miley Cyrus wearing your designs. How has that felt?

BB: The exposure definitely makes a difference, but what matters to me is that the product is well-liked regardless. I would hope that the aesthetic and they work behind the jewelry is what got us to that point in the first place. And then sometimes you just have to push, push, push, until there's a connective click with people. 

L'O: People on social media are definitely clicking with your pieces. With the virality that comes with a celebrity posting a picture wearing your designs, do you believe in overnight success?

BB: I really don't believe in overnight success. I believe that it happens, but I wouldn't choose it as an option. I've been doing jewelry since I was 18, and I'm 30 now, so that wasn't overnight. I studied for four years at university and I came back to Italy and slowly opened my brand. It took me about a year to get everything together, like production, the logo, the graphic design, all that stuff. Then the first year, I didn't understand the concept of jewelry as a niche. I was always trying to put it more on the fashion side with concept stores and going to Paris Fashion Week, because I didn't realize that jewelry and fashion are not that correlated. But then slowly in time I figured it out. This is all to say that it took me time to understand how the jewelry world, production, stores and e-commerce, and social media works. If I found myself in the situation I'm in today in just a few months, I I would've just erupted, but not in a good way. You have to be conscious of your responsibility of what you can and can't do, the promises and commitments you make. And you need to be super serious. Overnight success will never help you do that. 

L'O: Even though jewelry may not follow trends like fashion does, your pieces are very of-the-moment as people opt for more colorful, bold pieces, from their clothes to their accessories. How do you feel about this post-pandemic attitude towards dressing?

BB: Obviously, I love things that are colorful. I think we all do, but maybe we're a bit scared of being obnoxious about it, so now everyone's like, Fuck it, I want to be flashy. I don't care! But also, [jewelry] are accents, so it's much less flashy than a coat. It's an easy first approach. 

L'O: You've cited East Asian culture as an inspiration for your work, and you obviously have strong ties to Italy—how do you see jewelry bringing different cultures together?

BB: As a designer you take in a lot of things subconsciously. It's not like you're going out of your way to absorb information, you just do. When I was younger I would travel to China and Japan, so the culture and the visual aesthetics that I would see are very different from my own. I'm from Milan and I've traveled around Europe, and I was in London [for university]. In the color combinations that I use, there's a reference that I don't even remember where it comes from in what I've seen in other countries. It's an influence. You process information and the way it comes out has to do with everything that you've witnessed. If you spend a lot of time in certain places, you're going to absorb that visual aesthetic and it's going to come out in your work and you probably don't even know how. For example, in Japan I really respect the fact that everything is very well presented. They have a lot of character details and it's something that I appreciate a lot as a designer. When I go there, I take a lot of photos of everything, from table placemats to even the potholes in the street. It doesn't necessarily make anything different in my work, but it appeals to my visual aesthetics.