Carnal, instinctive, unique – these are the three simple words that define the essence of Rebecca Ellis Onyett’s nature-inspired accessory collections under the moniker of REO Jewels. And momentum is building fast as celebrities including Delilah, Rosie Fortesque and Fearne Cotton are increasingly spotted adorning the London designer’s quirky-yet-classic jewellery pieces, while major fashion publications like Vogue sing Onyett’s praises as ‘the one to watch’ when it comes to original accessories and trademark style. And while REO Jewels is slowly but surely gaining attention from designers, the stars and the general public, Onyett reveals just how personal and self-expressive her pieces actually are, strongly reflecting her rich imagination and internal wonderland as well as her fascination with animal anatomy and taxidermy.
“I love the city, but I will always be a country girl at heart,” she says of growing up in the Kentish countryside of South East England, constantly surrounded by a variety of British wildlife. “It has really influenced my work. I was always fascinated by nature and the process of birth, survival and death. I grew up with this around me a lot. My Dad is an animal lover and was always bringing in wounded animals to nurture back to health. I also grew up with cats and they would always bring in dead and sometimes alive animals. I remember my cat once bringing a mole in and it was still alive. I was totally fascinated by his velvet coat and strange, human-like hands.”
While Onyett left her humble beginnings and moved to the cosmopolitan capital of London in her later years, her early exposure to the wondrous cycles of nature – “the process of life through birth, survival and death” – remained with her so firmly that it began to pour out of her work. Capturing and preserving the inquisitive nature of her childhood, Onyett’s REO Jewels carry an essence of timelessness and a sense that her pieces could easily be worn and adorned forever.
Given the classic, antique ‘feel’ of her collections, she agrees her designs could easily be passed down through generations and become a part of the self. “For me, it’s the organic-ness of them. Natural objects are timeless and so are the stories behind them. My Acorn Necklace, for instance, is from the tree where my grandma and grandpa are buried, so it is very sentimental to me. I love that people buy my pieces and create their own stories with them, but only I know where each piece originally came from. It is really a collection of treasures I have found throughout my life and transformed into precious material that can last forever.”
It’s been no easy feat, either. According to Onyett, the creative process certainly has its rewards – but it has its challenges too, especially in terms of the time and effort that goes into each individual piece…
“It is time consuming, but it is a hundred percent worth it,” she insists. “Knowing that each piece is going to be adorned by someone makes it all worthwhile. The challenge is working to deadlines because I always like to move at my own pace, which sometimes isn’t fast enough. The rewards are when I see people wearing the pieces, or seeing someone’s face when they see the collection for the first time and they love it.”
Produced in Sterling Silver and hand-made from start to finish in the heart of London, each piece is as unique and as individual as the person who buys it, Onyett explains. Using materials entirely sourced within the UK, the young designer proudly claims she is simultaneously promoting and supporting the British economy as well as determined designer brands like REO Jewels.
“Heritage is so important, too,” she adds. “It roots us and gives us a history as to who we are and where we came from. I am very much a British girl and I want that to reflect in my work. Heritage is a vital part of the REO brand because it roots us, exposing our breed and blood, and provides us with direction and purpose. Traditional methods of making are fused with modern trends, which echo through the jewellery in its ability to be both beautiful and beastly.”
It may also have something to do with Onyett’s added love of the art of taxidermy, which she says she is still exploring and which plays a major part in her designs just as much as poetry does. With all these aspects of herself coming together in her pieces, Onyett says the REO Jewels brand is edgy and different, especially coming through in her Flesh Collection.
“But I know you can’t always do your really crazy ideas, so I guess I always have to be a bit more commercial when selling the brand, like with my Bird, Mammal and Woodland Collection. I think my brand has a good balance of both. My Ms Midas Collection, or ‘Flesh’, as it is known in the black Rhodium, was really impacted by the poem Mrs Midas by Carol Ann Duffy. I love poetry and I guess the link to the jewellery is in the romance poetry can also have. Jewellery from a loved one speaks a thousand words without actually saying anything, which is the same as poetry which also voices thoughts and feelings, but in a very metaphoric, hidden way. I am also fascinated by taxidermy and its static life, where time is almost frozen and preserved forever. I read some books and watched some YouTube videos and decided to give it a go. It started when I was in the woods near my home and I found a dread crow. It was lying on the path right in front of me, in perfect condition and still warm. It was almost as if it had just dropped out of the sky for me to find it. I remember just being totally fascinated by the way the wings moved and the muscles in them. The first thing I ever cast was the claw which is part of my Bird Collection. I then did the bones from the wings – the Full Wing Necklace – and the skull.”
While REO Jewels is a brand consisting of entirely rare and unique accessory pieces, Onyett lists boundary-pushing fellow designer Shaun Leane as one of her biggest influences – in particular his long-standing catwalk jewellery collaborations with the late Alexander McQueen.
“I work part-time for Shaun Leane,” says Onyett, “but even before then, he was always someone I admired while studying at uni. His designs are modern but classic and timeless. And his big-scale catwalk work with Alexander McQueen really inspires me. Ideally, by this time next year I would love to have some international stockists, as well as a few more around the UK. Hopefully I might be able to set up my own studio in Hackney, with my own team making Reo and keeping my brand hand-made in Britain. I am currently stocked in the East London design store in Hackney and Anthology Boutique Wandsworth. I am also stocked in a shop called the Backroom in Shang Hai and online at the Folly Boutique, Wonsuponatime and the Lost Lanes. With the run up to Christmas, I am taking part in a few Christmas fairs and markets, such as the Angel Christmas Fair, Snowy Fingers Hackney Stour Space Hackney and Homegrown/Backyard Brick Lane.”
Onyett adds that the highlight of her design career so far has been seeing one of her favourite artists sporting a piece from her very own REO Jewels collection, but if the stars align in 2014, her ultimate dream could also come true.
“The highlight until now has been seeing my first celeb customer, who was Delilah. I literally love her music and so when she contacted me, I was literally over the moon. I couldn’t have asked for a more inspirational person to wear my jewels. For the future, my dream would be to see Florence Welch wearing a Crow Claw Armlet on either arm at Glastonbury 2014! That would be a dream.”
REO Jewels: www.reojewels.co.uk