Milton Keynes, 2015-6-23 — /EPR Retail News/ — First year Birmingham School of Jewellery student Danielle Laurent has been chosen by Argos to produce an exclusive jewellery collection, to be sold in the retailer’s stores nationwide and on argos.co.uk from January 2016.
Danielle, aged 39 who is originally from California, USA, beat off competition from 50 other students at the Birmingham School of Jewellery, to design a collection for the UK’s largest jewellery retailer Argos.
Danielle said: “I’m so excited about the fact that people around the UK will be able to buy pieces of jewellery that I have designed myself. My collection is called Wishes, and is inspired by dandelions and summer days spent wishing on dandelion seeds, allowing people to carry their own wishes with them wherever they go.”
For the second year running, Argos’ jewellery buying team challenged first year students studying for a BA (Hons) Jewellery Design & Related Products degree to design and create a four piece jewellery collection that reflected jewellery trends for the year ahead. The students were then given four weeks to create their prototypes and present them back to the Argos jewellery buying team.
Danielle added: “It has been a great experience learning how to design jewellery for a national audience and creating a collection to go into production. It really is going to get my jewellery designing career off to a flying start.”
Alice Rigby, Jewellery Buying Manager for Argos, said: “We were blown away by all of the students’ creativity with their designs. Danielle’s collection stood out for us as she gave her jewellery collection a clear meaning which we think our customers will love and feel inspired by.
Sally Collins, Lecturer on the BA Jewellery Design and Related Products BA (Hons) at Birmingham City University, said: “This project has provided such a fantastic opportunity for the students. They have relished the chance to learn more about the commercial side of the jewellery industry and work with such an established retail brand like Argos. Whilst learning about trends, pricing, production methods and target markets, the students have created designs for creative and commercially viable jewellery ranges. This is a great result and a super collaboration.”
Danielle will work for six months alongside Argos’ jewellery buying team and manufacturer Optima, where she will spend time learning the process of how her jewellery collection – which includes a pendant, ring, earrings and bracelet – will be developed from design through to production.
Alice Rigby added: “As a business we are committed to supporting young talent and bringing through the next generation of jewellery designers. Danielle’s collection will join us next year and sits alongside our established UK-based ‘Designers at Argos ‘collection.
Wishes will be available from January 2016 in Argos stores nationwide and on argos.co.uk.
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Notes to Editors:
For more information about the partnership with the Birmingham Jewellery School please contact the Argos Press Office on 0845 120 4365 or email: media.relations@argos.co.uk.
Follow us on Twitter at @argos_PR.
About Argos
Argos is a leading UK digital retailer, offering around 50,000 products through www.argos.co.uk, its growing mobile channels, stores and over the telephone.
Argos continues to be the UK’s largest high street retailer online with around 121m customer transactions a year through its stores and over 900 million website and app visits in the 12 months to February 2015. Customers can take advantage of Argos’ convenient Check & Reserve service available through its network of 788 stores across the UK and Republic of Ireland.
In the financial year to February 2015, Argos sales were £4.1 billion and it employed some 29,000 people across the business.
Argos is part of Home Retail Group, the UK’s leading home and general merchandise retailer.
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