My love for fashion and design began when I was a young girl. I grew up around creativity and design. Both my creative and artistic parents encouraged me to embrace my creative talents. I’ve wanted to be a fashion designer and stylist for as long as I can remember, I started making clothes for myself and my dolls at a young age, telling my parents with a strong knowing “I am going to be a designer when I grow up”. When I was 15, I became ill and my caretaker at the time taught me to make jewellery, and ever since this time I have been passionate about designing and creating unique jewellery.  After studying fashion design at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and working in the industry for many years, I decided to take my passion to a new level, and — with a leap of faith —in 2017 I quit my job and launched my brand Anoushka Van Rijn.

 

My mission is to inspire people to embrace and celebrate their unique authentic selves through style and design. My hope is that people wear my designs and feel empowered, confident and connected to self.

My customer very much plays a strong part in my designs. Each piece has a story and that story is not complete until they are chosen by the individual who is drawn to that design through some personal connection of their own. Only then is the story/piece complete.

 

The brand consists of a classic limited edition collection, unique one-off designs and custom designed pieces.

My collections are designed to tell a story and to transport the wearer on a journey inwards to explore their authentic self. My aesthetic is a combination of my love of vintage, fantasy, and the beauty in New Zealand’s incredible scenery.

I draw inspiration from everyday life and my surroundings.  The collections are centred around bold statement jewellery for women who want to stand out, feel confident, and embrace their unique selves. I strive to encourage people to move out of their fashion “comfort zones” and to embrace courageous, confident design and style, whatever that looks like for them. As a testament to my passion for quality and sustainability, all of my pieces are designed and created by hand in New Zealand. I do not create seasonal collections. I am intentional about producing only what I can sell.

The actual materials also inspire my designs. I look for unique colours, textures, and shapes that appeal to my magpie eye. When I see something that draws me in, I immediately get a strong knowing whether it is exceptional and individual enough to inspire others. My materials are sourced in New Zealand, US and Bali. 

My style can be explained as bold, stand out, and fearlessly self-expressive. My motto is “unapologetically embrace your authentic self” and I believe fashion has a huge role to play in achieving this.  

 

The beauty in my everyday surroundings. Friends and family. Nature. The beach and shells, I am obsessed with shells. Vintage design, astrology, tarot, traveling, film, theatre, art, fantasy.

 

I assist in dressing people who want to celebrate their authentic self, push their fashion comfort zones and embrace and celebrate their unique, empowered self. People who don’t follow trends. People who are adventurous, collectors, artists, intellectuals, dreamers. People who want to tell a story through creative expression, whatever that looks like for them.

“We are ALL irreplaceable because we are ALL unique.” I hear so many people say, “oh, but I can’t pull that off.” So, I say in reply, “the only reason you can’t pull it off is because you don’t believe YOU CAN.”