Zarić Jewellery is the Melbourne label creating wearable ceramics inspired by souvenirs
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Aleksandar Zarić
WORDS BY IZZY WIGHT
“Softly blurring the lines between costume, modern city living and craft.”
For designer Nastja Zarić, the relationship between a person and their trinkets has always been fascinating. Growing up in a creative family, she started making early on in life, mimicking the way her mother made jewellery using “tiny little orange flowers during recess”.
Nastja started her eponymous label, Zarić Jewellery, as a way to experiment with the techniques she’d taught herself. Created from wearable ceramics, her jewellery has always been intentionally “uneven”, made to mimic the appearance of well-loved trinkets or souvenirs.
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Juxtaposing hard lines and soft edges, bold primary colours and sleek metals, Zarić Jewellery is designed to be reimagined by the wearer time and time again. Below, Nastja speaks on the journey so far.
Tell us about you. What’s your fashion background?
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My name is Nastja, designer at Zarić Jewellery. The seeds for my practice were sewn early, as I have a family of artists – my dad a potter (he still dabbles) and my mum a jewellery designer, working late into the night just like I do now. You’d find me in their workshops as a kid, making things. Then I’d go to school and make necklaces and earrings from violets or those tiny little orange flowers during recess.
I’ve worked in numerous industries, but the studio has always been my anchor. Just last year I decided to go to TAFE to expand my perspectives and continue learning, which I’ve really enjoyed.
How did the label get started? Talk us through the process and challenges.
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I started the brand when I was living in Canberra, where I primarily grew up. It was a soft launch, and my crafting practice organically became an extension of my person and simultaneously its own entity. I wasn’t thinking about business, I just found myself regularly making appointments to lose track of time at the workbench, experimenting with self-taught techniques.
Challenges in small business are bound to not only arise but be a constant in so many areas, which is a small price to pay to fulfil your creative teenage dreams.
What were you trying to achieve from the project at the time? How has this evolved and what are you trying to communicate through the brand now?
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My intention is to produce accessories that are sleek [and] vibrant but a little uneven — juxtaposing glamour and handcrafted [techniques]; imitating a souvenir or a playful fantasy of a relic.
I hope that this has my customers reimagining their pieces in different looks, again and again. The relationship between a person and their trinkets has always been of great interest to me, including all the little narratives that we project onto them.
How would you describe your label to someone who’s never seen it before?
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Zarić creates eclectic jewellery comprised of primarily wearable ceramics – softly blurring the lines between costume, modern city living [and] craft, sentimental at the core.
What are you most proud of in your work on your label?
Commitment to my number ones. I have a handful of friends with pretty large Zarić collections, and they know that they can come to me for a tidy-up and polish or an idea… whenever, as it’s a labour of love.
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For everyone else, I offer a repair, redesign and remake service. It is a fairly recent development and I’m not sure many people know about it. Essentially my studio offers, as the name suggests, a service of repair or redesign where possible for all Zarić Jewellery owners. This service is at material and shipping costs only, as a commitment to the sustainability of the pieces themselves and an appreciation for my customers.
Who do you think is most exciting in Australian fashion right now?
Moss Tunstall is one I had my eye on. Also Emily Watson, Sean Serror, Maroske Peech, All is a Gentle Spring [and] Bichon Pockets.
Dream Australian collaborators?
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I get to collaborate with my friends and family and that’s my dream. My long-time collaborators are a huge inspiration – Tim Hardy, Shana Trajanoska, Aleks Zarić, Nathalie Scarlette and Chloe Nour, amongst so many others in past chapters.
Go-to dinner party playlist?
I rely exclusively on my brother’s SoundCloud mixes, some of which were actually collaborations for the brand. [They’re] easy to listen to, interesting, fun, occasionally emotional soundscapes.
Who is in your wardrobe right now?
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Juicy Couture tracksuits, occasional Balenciaga or Prada, multiple robes, loads of vintage and local brands. I regularly repair and/or tailor these pieces, making most stick with me longer than just right now.
How can we buy one of your pieces?
Selected pieces are available at Zarić stocking boutiques. Full collections are accessible on the web store and available to view in the studio by appointment.
Browse the Zarić Jewellery collection here.
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