British Vogue - 09.2019

Rejina Pyo

Fashion designer

My earliest memories of my mother

are of us making clothes and curtains

on the sewing machine when I was a

young girl. She taught me to be kind

and generous to people, to be

resourceful and not wasteful, and she

instilled an entrepreneurial spirit in

me. We’re like old friends, we talk

about everything – what’s going on in

our lives and how we are feeling. I have

a pearl necklace that was a gift from

my dad’s mother to her. She gave it to

me eight years ago, when I got married.

I’m not usually a pearl person, but I

love the organic irregularities and how

each pearl is different from the next.

I remember watching her put it on to

go to friends’ weddings when I was a

child, and telling her how beautiful it

was. It’s come full circle: I usually like

to wear it with less formal items, but,

most recently, I wore it as a headband

to a friend’s wedding, attached to my

head with a piece of elastic at the back.

Gabriela Hearst

Fashion designer

My mother always wears a gold chain

decorated with amulets that she

designed herself. As South Americans,

we have superstition and magic realism

as part of our culture. So, as I grew

older, I started one as well. She has

given me five charms, each on a

different occasion. They are symbols

that she designed or that she thought

I should have for protection. They are

made of melted-down gold coins, as

she believes that brings even more

luck. Over the years, I have also added

my grandmother’s medallion, a charm

that my husband gave me, another

from my best friend (it looks like a

All about

my mother

The jewellery laden with

emotional significance and family

history is often the most precious.

Eight designers share the stories

of their personal treasures.

Illustrations by Laura Gulshani

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