“I’ve never written a business plan,” says Ariane Ernst at the interview in her new headquarters in a light-flooded loft in Düsseldorf. Sitting between art, design classics and perfume bottles, she hands out water in colorful Murano glass. “I do what feels right and trust that somehow it will go wrong.” And even if a few things went wrong – most things seem to have gone well for the jewelry and fashion label from Düsseldorf, which now employs 20 people.
Ariane Ernst gathers almost 70,000 fans on Instagram – even though she does not do any classic advertising. “I’m not a fan of ads,” she says. Influencers – “they were still called bloggers back then” helped their label to become well-known. “The business has roughly doubled every year since it was founded in 2013,” she estimates – she can’t say exactly. The numbers are “good”, that’s enough for her. In 2020, in the first Corona year, the label had “even more than doubled”. It’s been a good year for jewelry. Even if the native of Baden obviously takes care of the business very successfully, her hobby horse is the creative.
Intuitive in business but conceptual when it comes to jewelry design itself, that’s how Ariane Ernst’s trade secret can be summed up. And with a strong base of craftsmanship. She went through a total of nine years of training – various internships at a court jeweler in Brussels, at a jewelery gallery in New York and at H&M in Stockholm as a designer in the jewelery sector. She also trained as a goldsmith in Vienna and studied jewelery and product design in Düsseldorf. “My approach is always conceptual, the way contemporary artists work. I have a topic and I’m working on it. This then creates a design. I’d say it’s a remix of Donald Judd’s, Sol Levitt’s, Eva Hesse’s and Jeff Koons’ approach. And then I try to translate that into something wearable, be it in jewelry or in fashion.”
Local production and crafts
Ariane Ernst always took it for granted that she wanted to produce locally. “During my time at H&M, I was in contact with the Far East, and there I learned what stumbling blocks there are and how complicated communication can be. Despite the technical drawing, there are still too many things that can go wrong.” Because of this, and because of her love for the craft, it only made sense for her to have things manufactured in Germany. “And short production routes are of course also the most sustainable.”
The pieces of jewelry are therefore made on site in Düsseldorf, the jewelry boxes by hand in southern Germany. “I have very personal contact with all sources of supply and I enjoy working with small family businesses in Germany,” she says. “I just live to do great things. For example in packaging. I spend far too much money on this, but I just love working with beautiful things.”
New markets and shops
After working in Vienna, New York and Stockholm, Ariane Ernst came to Düsseldorf, where she studied, at first reluctantly. The city has now become her home. Here, in the Unterbilk district, a little off the Düsseldorf shopping streets, is the label’s only shop so far. The location was deliberately chosen, she says. “I don’t want to sell, I want to offer.” If you have your shop in a downtown location, you have to sell, explain, convince. “The sales pitch is completely different. I don’t feel like doing that.” Instead, the customers come to her specifically, often they already know the products from Instagram and want to try them on before they buy them. “My goal is to build something long-term, not a hype thing,” she says.
Their main markets are Germany and Austria. “Switzerland is very interested and interesting, but difficult with customs,” she explains. It is different in every country how precious metals have to be declared. “That’s really tricky.” Other shops are also being considered. “Munich would make a lot of sense.” She currently also sells her jewelry online at Breuninger, and a cooperation with the KaDeWe Group for pop-up stores has already started.
On the wrong track: fashion and furniture
“We always do something special for the label’s birthday in July,” she says. On the occasion of the past, eighth anniversary, she decided to bring out a knitwear collection. “We have found a great partner in Helmut Petersheim Strickwaren GmbH,” says Ariane Ernst. The family business is based in Mühlhausen, Thuringia, coincidentally in the parents’ house of Ariane’s great grandfather. The collection was created with the highest standards of quality and fair working conditions and is limited to avoid overproduction. Due to the locality of production, it is possible to react to increased demand. Neutral shades should ensure that the product lifespan is as long as possible.
What next for Ariane Ernst? “Furniture,” she announces. But she doesn’t want to reveal any more details just yet. “But if you want to have a foretaste, you can come by the shop, all the furniture there is designed by me.”
Images: Irina Bittner