Staying True To Her Roots

Located in the heart of London’s famous Bond Street, the ultimate address of luxury jewellery brands, VanLeles, a fairly new entrant, is already making waves for its exclusive jewellery with a strong ethical message.

- Shanoo Bijlani

Founder and creative director VANIA LELES from West Africa has won acclaim for her nature-inspired creations that are colonised with hand-picked, fairmined gemstones that benefit the miners and the communities at large. She believes that the birth of a jewellery piece begins from the mines.

It was all about provenance, which proved to be a turning point for Vania. The realisation that more than half the resources for fine jewellery are produced in Africa, and yet the country had not produced enough fine jewellery designers niggled at Vania’s conscience. The need to preserve and uphold Africa’s cultural pride fuelled her ambition to start the best of the best fine jewellery brands that would talk of her country’s natural resources that benefited the workers who brought out these beauties from the ground.

Before striking out on her own, the GIA-trained designer and gemmologist further honed her skills at some of the exemplary jewellery houses such as Graff and De Beers. She even did a stint at Sotheby’s as a client manager that made her appreciate the historical value and artistry of pieces.

Today, Vania’s global brand VanLeles is known for quality and outstanding designs – and she is one of the few shining examples and an inspiration for African women in the field of jewellery.

You were a former international model. After being in the limelight, why did you choose to design jewellery? 

My passion for jewellery really started when I lived in New York, and lived above the Bulgari store on Madison Avenue and 66th. I never wanted to model for a long time as I had always wanted to pursue a creative career, but it was then that the penny dropped!

When did you move into the world of jewellery? What were the trigger factors?