Holly Ryan is a up and coming jewellery designer residing on the beautiful Sunshine Coast, based in the same neighborhood as LILYA HQ. We sat down with Holly recently to chat about her upcoming collection, personal style and what inspires her the most. Keep and eye out for some of Holly’s designs in the new LILYA’S S/S13 campaign and in even more exciting news, we will be collaborating with the jewellery designer for a special design for LILYA’s A/W 14 collection!
Hi Holly! Tell us a little about how Holly Ryan jewellery was born?
I studied Fashion design at QUT, in my final year we had the option to design and have made an accessories line to compliment our mainline clothing collection to travel down the runway or to write an essay. My parents are both silversmiths having learnt their craft in Mexico before I was born so the natural choice for me was to design some jewellery which my Mother could make. Excitingly Thea Basiliou, owner of the incredible Brisbane boutique ‘Blonde Venus‘ loved the jewellery and asked to stock it! I begun to learn silversmithing shortly afterwards and the whole business has naturally evolved from that point.
You are about to launch your new collection ‘Aurora’, how did this collection come to be and what is your design process like when coming up with a collection?
I always need to take a holiday, a roadtrip or something similar to clear my head, to be amongst nature to chill out and let the creative process and inspiration come naturally. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea and have to immediately sketch it down. Sometimes I will see a film or visit a location that gets me so excited that an entire collection will unfold from this point. Aurora SS13 was inspired by Aurora Australis, commonly known as the Southern Lights, the spectacular natural light displays encountered in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. A phenomenon caused by charged particles from the solar wind striking atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, the Aurora Australis exhibits beautiful curtains of coloured light bearing striking similarities to the brilliant colours trapped deep within the earth in the miracle of opal. Aurora SS13 encapsulates this likeness, with cascading opal designs featuring stones from Coober Pedy & Lightening Ridge.
We love the handmade and organic aesthetic that is engrained in your brand, how important is this to you?
It means everything to me to create quality long lasting pieces of jewellery. My skin is so sensitive to any cheaper metals and for this reason I have only ever created sterling silver or 9ct gold jewellery. I want to make things that last, that outlive trends and that can be worn everyday. I personally wear a ‘Holly’ opal ring, a LUSHLIFE crescent moon ring and a few pairs of studs everyday. Keep it simple I say!
Silversmithing, sounds like a labour of love! What music do you have playing in the studio to pass the time?
Ohh it is definitely a labour of love, I love my music and it really helps soothe me when I am stressed out. I am loving and currently playing on high rotation, Tame Impala, Bonobo, Alt-J, Active Child, Little Dragon, Kurt Vile, Tycho, Mark Mcguire and the new Daft Punk album. And then there are my faves on vinyl…Bob Dylan, CSNY, INXS, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Jonathon Richman….Sorry
to go on!
How would you describe your personal style?Anything 70′s, I love classic cuts. I love denim, leather and cotton. A great pair of jeans, a few beautifully soft new or vintage tees. I have an amazing full length flared denim jumpsuit which was a Wrangler sample that never made it into production. I love a good knit and I always lean towards anything paisley or tartan. I work in an amazing vintage store 1 or 2 days a week called BoxVintage so I wear a lot of vintage.
What are the 5 things that inspire you most?
Nature, music, art, architecture and all of the wonderful people in my life 
