5 Star Wedding Directory - June 2010
Little Treasures
Molly Brown's quirky, cute jewellery has become a must-have for young girls and teenagers. We speak to the woman exclusively behind the brand.
When Erica Illingworth started her children's jewellery company, Molly Brown, back in 2006, she was pretty confident that she was filling a gap in the market. little did she know that a mere four years later fashion bible Vogue, would be referring to the brand as the 'Tiffany's for little girls'. Not bad going for a woman with no previous jewellery experience whatsoever.
The idea for a jewellery brand aimed at youngesters hit Erica when she was searching for a present for her daughter, Georgia. 'I really wanted to get her a nice, simple piece of jewellery', she says. 'But everything I came across was really babyish and I was looking for something she could grow up with, something that she would still want to wear when she was older.'
At the time Erica was working in global investment banking but felt so passionate about her 'lightbulb moment' that she quit her successful banking career, one that she had returned to after the birth of her three children and set about starting up Molly Brown (named after the family's spaniel) as a full-time venture. 'I had a great career but was finding it harder and harder to juggle the long hours of banking with raising children,' she explains. 'Setting up my own business gave me the flexibility I was looking for, although, choosing to set up a jewellery brand when I didn't have a background in jewellery, retail, design or brand management has meant that a few of my learning curves have been steep ones!'
This lack of experience was never going to hold her back and guided by what she calls 'good instincts, strong views and knowing what she likes' Erica moved quickly and set about designing her first range for Molly Brown - The Jelly Bean Collection.
The cute jelly bean charms went down a storm and the collection is still very much the brand's cult product line. So much that it has gone on to win Best New Product Award at the International Jewellery Show and has been featured as a must-have on every fashionista's favourite department store, Selfridges, website (the store also had a waiting list for the first collection) and, within a month of launching, was the best-selling children's jewellery brand in Harrods.
This pretty collection is what started it all for Erica so she can be forgiven for it holding a special place in her heart. And while she says that she loves other Molly Brown collections just as much it's a Jelly Bean necklace she first remembers selling. 'It was to a lady who was buying a gift for her daughter,' she says. 'I remember her telling me that her daughter's name was Alexandra but she had always called her "Jelly Bean" so the necklace made the perfect gift.'
While she may have originally created the brand with a younger audience in mind, her fresh and quirky designs have gone on to attract fans of all ages. She tells the story of a new stockist calling to tell her that they had made their first Molly Brown sale to a gentleman buying a necklace for his 64-year-old wide. What did he buy her? A pink Jelly Bean Necklace! 'I love this story', Erica says, 'it shows just how versatile and universally loved our collections are.'
Currently Molly Brown has 15 collections to choose from, but there are plenty more on the way as Erica has the perfect muse in her daughter. 'I'm always surprised where ideas and inspiration come from', she says. 'The recent Tinkerbelle Collection was inspired by Georgia, who had taken to wearing a little bell on a ribbon around her wrist.'
As Molly Brown continues to go from strength to strength, winning awards as it goes (the brand made the final shortlist for UK Jewellery Brand of the Year 2010), it would seem that the only people who don't love Erica's jewellery are little boys. 'I have three children, a daughter and two sons', she says. 'And while Georgia love the collections my sons have no interest in what I do, as it has nothing to do with either cricket or rugby!'
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