Corina Larpin of Stefere Jewelry on how beauty drives her – and Hong Kong inspires her
Larpin left communist Romania when she was 18, and learned jewellery design from the ground up. Her creations have been worn by Elton John, Lady Gaga and Victoria Beckham. Hong Kong is her second home
“Ever since I was young, people would comment on how I needed to change my appearance. This might seem strange, but I grew up in Romania, which was a communist country that wasn’t open to outside fashion influences. It was also a place that valued people who dressed alike.
Naturally, I wasn’t happy about this. I remember tearing pages out of a German magazine and taking them to a seamstress, along with materials and references on how I wanted her to create my clothes. This was my escape.
This drove my mum crazy. She’d say, ‘Why can’t you dress like everyone? Why do you need to complicate things?’ Even if I bought something off the rack, I had to alter or modify it in some way, just to have a different style.
When I was 18, I moved out of Romania and travelled the world. This was an important time in improving my personal style. When you leave a country, you’re free to get inspiration and see beautiful things – everything that I always dreamt about as a child.
