Being a man in 2020 is a much nicer task than some decades ago. What was then; machoism, being a real man (whatever that is/was) is nowadays a task much more about being at peace, having and being in touch with one’s feelings, knowing thyself and being in balance. Mindfulness, yoga and freedom of expression in terms of clothing, accessories and style is now default in many parts of the world – most definitely here in Scandinavia.
Fashion is fun but trying to be more sustainable means less purchases and more mixing and matching. To lift any outfit we love adding accessories and playing around with them. One brand I’ve had a lookout on for a long time is Lotta Jewellery, based in our home town of Malmö. Lotta has a long history, which I’ll get to shortly, but what I love about her rather new collection for men is the way you can mix them in many different ways – they’re super affordable too, so you can get a bunch of various colors and materials and just play with the expressions. The collection is made with a lot of warmth – for a modern man. Lotta goes where she intuitively feels there is love and harmony. She has mixed stones like onyx, tiger’s eye, lava stones with 925 sterling silver and braided handmade macramé. Everything is done by hand in Lotta’s studios in Thailand.
Lotta was one of the pioneers of this industry when she started up around 20 years ago in Tokyo. She describes herself as a hippie at that point, just going with the flow of things. This was in the same era as Pilgrim hit the market as well as Efva Attling and other peers. Back then it was much aluminium, stones and new, innovative ideas that were coming to market. Lotta was very successful and turned over substantial amounts of money rather easily and was able to build a real and profitable business – and fast. She moved to Paris and expanded her company until it reached 28 countries with stores and partners in Paris, London, Tokyo, Stockholm and many many more cities around the world. She had over 100 employees in India, China, France and other countries. At that point she was jetting between fashion fairs, up to 30 fairs per year – until 2012, when she felt she was losing grip.
Success had taken its toe and Lotta was more mixed up in the business side of things than the creative parts. So, to get a bit of a rebirth she decided to slim down the company and focus more on design and the flag ship store in Malmö. A good life lesson – focus on what you’re good at, what you enjoy and where your passion is – not just on success.
Hence, the store itself is a very warm place – with a rather unique mix of customers. Here you’ll bump into young influencers, grandma in her eighties, career dad equipping both himself and his wife and then yeah, guys like me, of course. Lotta literally has something for anyone. All is done with a very personal touch. Her staff is always personal, welcoming – and the store displays everything in the open with open doors to every cabinet. If you’re lucky, Lotta herself is present with her adorable dog Edith Piaf who greats customers and shares love.
The men’s collection is simple, masculine, stylish – free of the standardized steel and leather. All pieces have very high quality, since it’s hand made, at a very affordable price – ranging from 300 SEK up to 1.295 SEK. The collection of bracelets in many forms is quite big – but more has come in forms of massive silver rings and even more colors. I can highly recommend looking into that!
Lotta talks a lot about balance when I met her, balance for the business, balance in life and less stress. She actually decided not long ago that she is just going to exclude stress from her life, stop setting the alarm clock – and it has actually worked, with business still working well, growing at 25% per year and a lot of international sales. That makes her happy – and that happiness and that love is what she wants to manifest in her products and in her store. I can only conclude that I do feel that when stepping inside the door – and when wearing her bracelets.
Should you really get the feeling of love and want to pop the question.. Well, do! Lotta does wedding rings too, she even tailor makes them. And when she does so, she also tries to deliver them in person – even as far away as in South Africa. Why? Well, Lotta is very personal – but she also loves to travel. It shows in her work which is very global in design with influences from Asia, Scandinavia, the Mediterranean and California to name a few. All blended with harmony, love and warmth. And of course – there’s a lot of jewellery for women too.
If you’re not lucky enough to live in the Öresund region – or to travel here – you can find Lotta’s jewellery online right here. The men’s collection is available online along with silver rings.. But do check out their instagram and if you find something you like that’s not available in the web shop – give them a call or drop them a line on their instagram. Chances are Lotta will answer you herself – and if not, the rest of her team are equally warm and friendly and will definitely take good care of you.