TREASURES AT RITA & ZIA

Pictures by James Vyn

JEWELS HERE, JEWELS THERE When thinking about successfull international swiss designers or fashion personalities, not many names pop up in my head but I've been quite impressed by the incredible evolution of a jewerly designer and founder of Rita & Zia : Sandrine Barabinot. In just a couple of years, she got the respect of all the country and yet all women (and even men, please note that James is wearing himself a Rita & Zia bracelet!) are craving Rita & Zia jewels. How did she achieved all this success? Well... There's no magic solution, all you need is a loads of motivation, dedication, passion and above all work. Not to mention that Sandrine always stayed humble, down to earth and came up with an absolutely awesome concept. Of course it was a big pleasure for me to meet her the other day at her concept store, and especially get to know her a little better. I was amazed to see that all of her team is made of young women, just a couple of years older than me : perhaps that's the trick of her brand's young and fresh vision? Anyway, she got it all right. And it is quite a family business, her kids themself are wearing her design and her son created the interior of her shop located in the Geneva's old city which by the way looks totally stunning : very modern and polished.

Can you imagine that Sandrine created more than 30'000 different jewerly designs? So I was wondering, where does all this inspiration comes from after all. It seems like Sandrine is never in lack of it, she always comes up with new symbol ideas for her pearl bracelets, keeps an eye on the fashion trends and gets some ideas and creative inspiration out of her travels. Her favourite destination? Ile Maurice (no wonder why), she told me that she absolutely astonished to see during her trips women wearing her jewerly. As a swiss based brand, that's quite an honour and I totally support the brand and love it's spirit and concept. In my opinion, it is one of the leading swiss modern jewerly designer, of course we aren't talking high luxury jewerly, but casual jewerly most of us can actually afford. And by the way, since jewerly isn't enough : Sandrine released a couple of other pieces for her concept store in Geneva such as the bag you can see me wear in this post (yep, fell in love with it)... But there are also candles, home decoration, shirts, a parfume and many other treasures. I think, as a swiss blogger, there's nothing more important for me than to bring my support to a local business who does such a great job! Therefore I am planning for next week a super exciting Rita & Zia giveaway for you guys (that way for those of you who've never had the possibility to try it out will finally be able to actually discover the brand) and a special voucher to get a 15% off your purchase at their store in Geneva if you are swiss based. How cool is that?

OUTFIT OF THE DAY
BLAZER / PANTS : Zara

RING / BAG : Rita & Zia

SHIRT : Billabong

NECKLACE : Personal design

Which is your favourite bracelet stack, the green, the red or the neutral one? Leave your comment bellow and get ready for a little surprise next week!