Basalt Designs is a small Australian brand created by Fashion Marketing student Olivia Brenchley in 2017. The brand sells affordable, bespoke pieces of resin jewellery, homewares and even a few pet accessories. All of the items are handmade, unique pieces created by Olivia to offer “unique resin jewellery to Australian women”.
Basalt Designs from Olivia’s mum’s love of jewellery, “she always had an extensive collection of heirloom and costume jewellery” she recalls.
Olivia started taking resin classes after being inspired by the brand Dinosaur Designs who sell a range of jewellery and homewares. This led to the creation of Basalt Designs, named after the volcanic basalt rocks found near her family home, the name has a personal meaning for the designer.
Noticing a gap in the industry, Basalt Designs aims to offer affordable and bespoke pieces of resin jewellery while incorporating sustainability into the brand.
Inspired by the colour combinations she sees in everyday life, Olivia then replicates these in her designs. One of her most recent collections ‘Around The World’ was inspired by different places around the world, representing them using different colours and shapes.
Olivia says that she wants her pieces to not just be seen as jewellery but “admired as pieces of art”. In her opinion jewellery “doesn’t have to be an accessory to an outfit, it can be the statement of an outfit” says Olivia. Although Olivia doesn’t follow particular themes throughout her designs, she prides herself in creating “colourful and unique” pieces.
“Texture is also an important part of resin, and a reason I love to use it. I love to create smooth resin pieces that feel nice to wear,” explains Olivia.
When planning Olivia spends a lot of time sketching and deciding on colour schemes but she explains that usually her “best pieces come about from just creating and mixing colours without planning everything out”.
Most of the Basalt Designs pieces sold are made to order, Olivia explains that that was important to her as overproducing products can lead to potential wastage.
Finding perfection in imperfection is something that Basalt Designs embraces, no pieces are discarded meaning minimal waste across the supply chain. Olivia says that she is conscious about limiting her environmental impact, so she reuses and recycles as much as possible.
Being a small business can be challenging but Olivia has found that this process has made her “appreciate small fashion businesses/creatives a lot more”. Olivia says there is a large amount of commitment necessary to maintain and grow a brand like Basalt Designs, and this has made her appreciate the work, time and emotion that goes into each piece a lot more.
To discover more about Basalt Designs, go to www.basaltdesigns.com. You can follow the brand on Instagram at @basalt_ designs_jewellery.
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