The Interview: Olivia Jenkins founder of D. Louise on shaking up the jewellery market

During the second Covid lockdown, Olivia Jenkins established D. Louise, an affordable yet high quality, aesthetic jewellery brand, whose USP is its durability – it is billed as the jewellery "you never have to take off".

The passing of her mother in 2017, after whom the brand is named, gave her the drive to go out and seize the opportunity, so she found a designer and suppliers and began the business mostly selling through social media at the start. One of the brand's bestsellers is a gold-plated 'paperclip' bracelet selling for £40 with prices across the collection ranging from approximately £30 to £125.

Recently, the business caught the eye of former Gymshark CEO Steve Hewitt – now running his own advisory business Whanau – who was so impressed, he approached Jenkins to offer investment and took a place on its board.

With the backing of Hewitt and around 350,000 units already sold since start-up three years ago, Jenkins is planning to expand the business in 2024 and raise further awareness through pop-ups, partnerships and events. She tells us the story of getting her brand off the ground, what makes her product stand out from the pack and her vision to revolutionise the jewellery market.

Please tell us about your background before you set up D. Louise?

I was born and grew up in Cardiff. I moved to Reading to study Business Management at the University of Reading – where I also worked as a sales assistant at Pandora. At Pandora I learnt so much about jewellery and consumer preferences. This is when I first became aware of the issues around gold-plated jewellery. After Uni, I joined a global media agency but like most people, the pandemic changed my job dramatically. I went from a very social role to being stuck at home - which made me realise I loved the people and environment more than the work itself.

What was it that drove you to set up the business in the first place?

I lost my mum to cancer in 2017, Deborah Louise, who the brand is named after. With the loss of my mum, I felt life was too short to not be truly passionate about the everyday. I also wanted to keep my mum's memory alive. For a lot of people thinking of loved ones who have passed is hard but starting the business has given me the opportunity to think of my mum every day – in a positive way. It’s like she is with me for every step of the way!

What was the market opportunity you saw for a jewellery brand at this quality and price point?

I have always loved jewellery, however, I became frustrated that my everyday gold-plated pieces would tarnish when they got wet or when worn to the gym. With this, I identified a gap in the jewellery market and the need for pieces that wouldn't fade after a few wears - D. Louise was born. We keep prices affordable yet aspirational, so many of our customers purchase pieces for themselves as a payday treat or give to a friend as a gift.

How did you go about setting up the brand, such as designing the first collection and finding suppliers? Were there any particular challenges?

D. Louise was a side hustle to start with, which I founded during the second lockdown. I always knew I wanted the business to be a tribute to my mum, so the name was easy! I then found a supplier, started sampling the quality of the products as I knew this was really important for the brand to succeed and I started on Instagram. The beginning was by no means perfect. I think lots of people wait for everything to be just right to take the leap but as soon as I set up the Instagram it was like a snowball effect. I also had no design background so I took inspiration from online, sent things I liked to a freelance designer in the US and I said I love all these things. Can you make me a collection?

You are very particular about the materials you use and the quality in the manufacturing process, can you explain more about that for us?

After lots of research into the world of enduring metals, I discovered that stainless steel jewellery checked all the right boxes. Unlike many other materials often used in jewellery, every item from D. Louise is crafted from 361L stainless steel, a super-tough, eco-friendly metal. Its unique properties mean it won't rust or oxidise, is hypoallergenic, resists scratches, and stays untarnished. All D. Louise pieces undergo our special LifeGuardTM coating process. It's not your run-of-the-mill coating – it's 10 times harder than gold plating, eco-conscious, and involves a high-tech vacuum coating process, ensuring an incredibly robust finish. We also recently visited our factories and it was so interesting to see the level of detail and different processes that go into making each piece!

When did you realise that you might have a good business on your hands? Was the consumer response immediately positive?

Over time! Again, I think that lots of people think there is going to be an overnight success and a miracle moment but these things take time and slowly compound. I think only this year have I started to realise that it is a good business. However, a super defining moment was Black Friday 2022 – we managed to sell out of every last bit of stock we had for January, February, and March the next year.

Tell us about your consumer. How have you gone about creating your community and how do you keep the dialogue going?

Social media is super helpful for this – I’m always chatting to and connecting with our wonderful customers on Instagram, which is so nice! We hosted a customer dinner in Chelsea this June and I finally got to put faces to the names of many of the amazing people I've been chatting with on Instagram for years, the ones who've been supporting us since day one.

We also ran an influencer takeover at JAB Boxing Club in Mayfair which was so much fun and a great way to engage and connect with our more fitness-focused community especially since all D. Louise pieces can handle the sweat and exercise grind.

Is your consumer largely UK-based or do they come from further afield?

It’s really interesting, at the moment 95% of our customers are from the UK and US and it's a pretty even split, almost 50/50. The remaining 5% are across the rest of the globe, but the majority of our sales are definitely happening in the UK and USA.

What are the particular products in the range that have been the most successful and why is that?

So I always find this so surprising, the basic stuff does the best! Our customer wants super simple things like layering chains and staple hoops. We also find lots of customers come to us to try out a Paperclip Chain and then they love it and come back and try a more intricate design like our gorgeous Christmas collection.

How do you go about developing new additions to the collection?

Truthfully, it's a mixture of factors. We always look at the customers and what they want. Take this summer, for instance. We noticed a surge in searches for anklets on the toolbar, thousands of them! We took this data and moved quickly working with our design team and supplier to create anklets and had them on the website in under four weeks.

Likewise with silver jewellery, we get so many messages and searches for silver pieces – we just knew we had to do a silver collection. I also work very closely with our amazing designer, who is brilliant!

Olivia Jenkins with Steve Hewitt, who is now an investor and board member

You recently received investment from Steve Hewitt [former CEO at Gymshark] and he joined your board. How did you meet and why did he want to get involved?

We met Steve, through his advisory business Whanau in February 2023 and instantly connected. We weren’t seeking investment, however when Steve approached us about working together on a long term-basis. His wealth of experience, especially his impactful contributions to the direct-to-consumer powerhouse Gymshark, seemed like just the right t for guiding and scaling D. Louise!

What do you plan to do with the cash injection?

We plan to use the investment to further accelerate our expansion efforts – growing awareness by partnering with key ambassadors and hosting offine activations such as pop-ups and events. 2024 will be a huge year for us and we can’t wait to meet more of our customers and bring the brand story to life a little more. While we're levelling up, our overall strategy won't undergo a massive overhaul – we're staying true to our roots as a direct-to-consumer brand for the foreseeable future.

What is the grand vision for D. Louise moving forward?

From day one, our primary vision has been to revolutionise the jewellery industry. While the history of jewellery spans thousands of years, we're currently witnessing particular growth in affordable, high-quality pieces. Consumers are realising that they do not need to spend a fortune to buy high-quality, aesthetic jewellery and we want to be at the forefront in providing that to the UK market.

Having gone through the process you have of setting up a brand, what is the one piece of advice you would oer up to someone looking to do the same?

Just do it! I think one of my greatest strengths starting the brand was being slightly naive. I had no idea how hard it would be; you just need to take a risk. I also think a really important thing to express is that things take time and if you don't give up on something you can't fail.