ABOUT SANTA SOLEIA

Santa Soleia make timeless, hand-crafted and one-of-a-kind, shimmering golden jewellery, completely from scratch, by hand, using traditional methods and ethically-sourced, reclaimed and sustainable materials, with old family tools that have been passed down through the generations.  

 

Inspired by organic shapes, textures and forms in nature, the glowing feeling you get from being in the sunshine, and meaningful relics from ancient times, these jewellery pieces are completely original, and are carefully created by British designer and maker Lyssandra Gabrielle.

Based by the sea in Brighton in the UK, Lyssandra has a long-standing professional career in graphic design and art direction and she has been making and creating all kinds of things her whole life. You can read her story at the bottom of the page.

Santa Soleia aims to provide the unique and high-end experience at all kinds of price points, being an inclusive brand that anyone can afford to buy from. We whole-heartedly believe it’s important that anyone can wear Santa Soleia, and that everyone deserves to feel that special glowing and beautiful feeling you get from wearing a unique and carefully crafted piece of golden jewellery.

 

 ~ ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ~ 

We predominantly work with reclaimed and recyclable brass as it's one of the most ethical metals available, having an infinate recycling lifespan. It is just as beautiful as gold and being significantly more affordable this also means that it's way more accessible to more people. 

The recycling process for brass is less energy-intensive compared to other metals too, such as aluminum and steel, meaning that it yields a far smaller carbon footprint. So in using already existing reclaImed brass, it means we have little to zero environmental impact, and get to create meaningful as well as beautiful jewellery. 
 



~ ABOUT THE FOUNDER ~
 
I've always been highly creative and heavily involved in art and in making. I grew up with a lot of creative freedom from my parents who allowed me to express this all around the house, by painting murals on walls, concocting random experimental dishes in the kitchen, and generally roaming creatively free from a really early age. At school and at college I was always very art-focused, and I adored painting, especially impressionism. I also had a big interest in pop art and graphic art that was fueled by a trip to New York in my late teens, so I was never into just one thing or one style of anything.

Growing up my step-dad was an Editor for various magazines in London, so I naturally loved magazines too. While painting made me feel alive and free, at college and university I found myself choosing the seemingly more commercial and employable route of graphic design, so that I could possibly one day be a magazine designer. That worked out rather well and after a few junior design jobs I got first major role as Art Director for the world-leading kitesurfing publication, Kiteworld. I was there for eight years and it was the perfect merging of fine art and graphic design for me, as the features were very art-led. In my time at Kiteworld I art directed and produced nearly 60 issues, cover to cover. It really taught me the whole world of print publishing, and cemented my love for magazines even more.

As much as I loved my job, I realised I could never go through life without creating my own publication. So in 2011 renting a small space at work and under the watchful eye of the editor and publisher there, I founded and launched Pretty Litter which was a vibrant arts and lifestyle magazine – the first of its kind that ever came to Brighton. It was extremely high-end in its production and editorial quality but laid back in its essence and attitude, featuring all kinds of artists and creatives from around the world – visual artists, makers, illustrators, fashion designers, street artists, tattoo artists, musicians, up-and-coming bands and European music festivals. It was extremely dynamic and colourful, and was a huge passsion for all that helped create it or be apart of it. Little did I know that several years later I’d be just like one of the makers that I featured in my magazine. But perhaps it was inevitable...

 

 

~ HOW SANTA SOLEIA WAS BORN ~

While being born in Brighton I also have a Mediterranean heritage with my father’s family being from Cyprus. So I've always had a strong connection to that lifestyle, always being addicted to the sunshine and obsessed with island holidays – just that mesmerising turquoise glistening water and stunning white sand, I was always destined to spend some of my life in connection to that somehow. And being August-born, my ruling planet being the sun, and my element being gold – it completely makes sense I would want to work with golden colours and materials too.

While I absolutely love working on magazines and in graphic design (and still do), I decided that I needed to counter balance that constant desk life with a more physical and natural activity. And with everything going on the world I found that doing something with my hands was incredibly therapeutic. And so I began to practice making things with metals using old family tools that belonged to my Bapou (which is Greek for grandfather), that had been handed down to me by my dad. And I quickly realised I had a real enjoyment for making jewellery.

Marrying my expertise in design and passion for creating, with my love of the sunshine, organic forms and materials, and all things related to summer, completely self-taught I started creating these three-dimensional glistening pieces of jewellery. And so, Santa Soleia was born. Santa meaning Saint, which speaks of history, spirituality and protection, which are all very important to me, and Soleia, meaning Sunshine, which is all about life, growth, energy and strength, also incredibly important to me. I was always drawn to the colour gold, and that feeling of aliveness and excitement that a day in the warm sunshine gives you, and wearing golden jewellery on sun-kissed skin is an instant reminder of that feeling.


Thanks for reading and I hope you love my jewellery as much as I do.

Lyssandra Gabrielle,

Designer / Maker
S A N T A   S O L E I A