It’s finally here…

Firstly, a big thank you to all you lovely people that bought my debut jewellery collection with Missoma. I loved creating it, so was over the moon that so many of you liked it too, and am still loving seeing pictures of people wearing it online. Thanks to you guys, we were able to push ahead with designing a very special collection close to my heart that launches today….

After months of sketches, samples and shoots, myself and Missoma are launching the new ‘North Star’ collection today. Rose gold vermeil, subtle and based on my love of the night’s sky, I’m super excited to release it in the run up to Christmas as it’s just the kind of thing I want to wear at this time of year. We swapped diamonds for zircons in order to keep it affordable and ideal for layering, while retaining a just-detectable bit of sparkle.

But the really special thing about this collection is it will donate 20% of each sale to the charity Wellbeing of Women.

This U.K-based charity does incredible work in the field of women’s health, funding research into everything from endometriosis and ovarian cancer, to fertility, miscarriages and premtaure babies. So why this charity? Well, on a personal level 2015 was the year that I kind of came face to face with being a woman. Earlier this year I had to have pre-cancerous cells surgically removed from my cervix, quite a lot of them, and it was only after I had to have this done that I realised how many of my close friends and acquaintances had had the same procedure, as well as experiencing the pain of things like ovarian cysts, fibroids and endometriosis. It wasn’t so much my procedure that bothered me (although I’ll admit I was pretty freaked at the time), but more about how many of my peers were experiencing gynae problems and not talking about any of them. I felt so relieved talking to people who’d had the same operation as me, and mine was small-fry in the grand scheme of things, and I realised how nice it must be to talk freely and openly about something that might normally be kept under wraps. Trying to take the taboo out of women’s health is one of the central focuses of Wellbeing of Women, and seeing as I for one am happy to share, I wanted to get the conversation started.

After always being a “kids? gross?” kind of person, this was the year I suddenly realised that fertility is precious and something to be given thought and thanks when it all works out. At my school we got great Sex Ed, but it mostly revolved around not getting pregnant or chlamydia which, lets be honest, is pretty important aged 14. But I’m now at the age where friends are getting married left, right and centre, so it may not be that long before some of them start thinking about having a baby, and when I heard about this great charity, I realised it was where I wanted to do a little bit of good.

Here’s hoping peers, friends and everyone reading this is lucky enough to have easy pregnancies, uncomplicated births, and healthy, full-term babies if and when the time’s right. Here’s hoping everyone keeps on top of those smear tests and feels confident to talk about it when the results might not be perfect. Here’s to teenage girls learning about women’s health beyond what happens at puberty. Here’s to going to the doctor when thing’s aren’t right and the pioneering research going on behind-the-scenes to help fix it.

I really hope you love the collection as much as we do (the bobble hoops, bobble star necklace and demi star studs are my absolute favorites). All the pieces are available at Missoma now so go have a browse, hopefully have a shop and let’s give back a bit this Christmas.

Silk Dress | Marina
Black velvet shirt | Equipment
Nude sweater | H&M

Ph. by Monica Bk