Lucie Ferguson, founder of jewellery brand Babyanything
Kim Kardashian and Miley Cyrus have been spotted wearing her pieces; her jewellery has appeared in everything from Cosmopolitan to vogue.com.au and PopSugar and it seems that’s only the beginning for jewellery designer and founder of Babyanything, Lucie Ferguson. Here Lucie chats to me about starting her own brand, what motivates her and creating what could be one of the most covetable engagement rings ever to appear on social media for her sister Elle…
Where does your inspiration for Babyanything come from?
I draw inspiration from my mother and her style in the 70s, she had amazing style. I also use characters from my favourite movies to act as muses for collections: Juliet from Baz Lurhmann’s Romeo and Juliet, Penny Lane from Almost Famous and Lux Lisbon from the Virgin Suicides are my main muses. The zodiac provides me endless inspiration; there is always a nod to astrology and destiny in my pieces.
What’s your earliest memory of wanting to create jewellery?
My grandfather was a boat builder and my mother a dressmaker so I always knew I wanted to work with my hands to bring the ideas swirling in my head to life.
What three words would you use to describe Babyanything?
Whimsical, Timeless, Sentimental.
Where did the name Babyanything come from?
An ex boyfriend of mine was a musician and a talented lyricist and one day he said, “Baby, I’ll do anything for you”. That was it for me; I knew that if I put the words together it would carry the sentiment of love for the brand. When you gift jewellery it can be as a celebration or as an apology so this covers both.
Who is the Babyanything woman?
The Babyanything woman is sincere; she has accomplished amazing things in her life through kindness and bravery. She is chic but also plays with fashion. She uses her jewellery to mark special events in her life and knows it will be there with her on her journey.
Your brand is going from strength to strength. What’s been your biggest pinch-me moment?
Thank you! All of the media attention from Miley Cyrus recently purchasing and wearing the Aurora Luna pendant was amazing for us but it is actually when I take a moment and think how far I have come as a solo business owner and maker that I am really proud. It really shows how hard work, determination and bravery give rewards.
What’s been the most challenging thing about starting your own jewellery brand?
The isolation, it is a male dominated industry and I have had to stay strong and keep turning up in order to be embraced in my field. Also the feeling that other businesses are appropriating our ideas and products is the worst feeling.
How long does each collection take from conception to the finished product?
Sometimes it can take years from when I have an idea for a piece to when it appears for sale. I have travelled to Italy to have Turquoise and Coral carved by master craftsmen for a particular style of ring in the past as I really see my pieces as heirlooms so I need to have every detail perfect. In terms of making the pieces themselves, usually 18-20 hours to prototype the first version of the piece at the bench.
How does it feel when you see a celeb wearing one of your pieces? Who else would you love to see wearing Babyanything?
When I saw Kim K, Miley, Gigi Hadid and Hailey Baldwin in Babyanything pieces my heart ships a beat. It is so surreal to me that these pieces that I have created with my own hands make it so far.
My month was made when Alanis Morissette came into our store in Paddington and shopped for an hour and half. She was the most humble, divine human and I am so grateful she is living life in our pieces.
Your Ceremonial range is a departure from traditional wedding and engagement rings and so fitting for the bride who wants something unique. What made you decide to start designing wedding and engagement rings?
As a manufacturing jeweller I have always made custom engagement and wedding rings but I had not advertised that as a service at Babyanything as the demand was already exhausting me. I had to find a way to offer an engagement suite of styles that customers could pick from in-store and customize easily that was very true to aesthetic but didn’t have the timeline and cost associated with bespoke.
Babyanything’s Ceremonial range is a departure from traditional engagement ring designs
What do you think makes your pieces different from other jewellery?
I am a part of Babyanything, it is my spirit and hard work that has brought the brand to life and I think my customers really love to get that energy in the pieces. We are an all female team and we manufacture in Australia so that is big difference to other brands here.
You created your sister Elle [Ferguson]’s amazing engagement ring. What was that process like for you to create a piece for such an important person in your life?
It was such an amazing honor to know I could do that for Elle and Joel. Elle had always mentioned she wasn’t fussed about a big wedding (having enjoyed mine ) so she just wanted a very quaint ceremony but a huge ring. Joel was beautiful and asked me for her hand in marriage and we started designing the ring right there after the tears had dried. I give all my custom clients my heart and soul when designing and making their pieces but this went to the next level as it was for my number 1!
What does a typical day for you entail?
Even when I am not a work I am working so I try to spend time with my blue staffy puppy in the morning and evening so we walk the beach at Bondi and I’ll try and have a swim when I can. Then when I get into work it’s customer queries and quotes first then admin duties and I finish the day on the bench making pieces.
Where’s your happy place?
Anywhere with an ocean, the ocean is my home. Byron, Bondi, Terrigal and Hawaii are all very important to me,
What’s your favourite way to spoil yourself?
Right now it is grabbing a quick chocolate fix but I love massages at Venustus in Paddington to help me wind down or a Melanie Grant facial always makes me feel really confident for weeks afterwards.
What’s next for Babyanything?
I am putting the building blocks in with the team now to allow for expansion in the next few years, first to open more stores in Australia then NY and LA.
There will be more of a focus on the engagement and wedding side of the business as our customers are asking for that. I hope this year I can get my working week down to 5 days so I can work on manifesting some more beautiful designs for the collections to come!