Based out of New York and Hong Kong, celebrity jeweller Matthew Campbell Laurenza speaks with KIM REYES about his new collection of handbags, why he goes after copycats, and his current obsessions.

It’s not uncommon for a jewellery house to refer to their pieces as mini works of art, but in the case of Matthew Campbell Laurenza, it is literally true. A sculptor by trade, the 31-year-old American-born designer comes from a long lineage of art and antique aficionados. 

From Chinese porcelain and European paintings to works of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, Laurenza was constantly surrounded by fine arts as a child. After studying architecture and sculpture at university, he travelled through Europe, India, Japan and Southeast Asia and learned about jewellery production and stone cutting from gemstone dealers and manufacturers.

By the late 90s, Laurenza was designing custom jewellery for private buyers and clientele in a signature bohemian-luxe style that the world had never seen before. But it was the sale of one particular piece completed in gold and adorned with diamonds in 1998 that provided him with the capital to start his own namesake brand. 

In 2007, after years of traveling and meticulous research on gemstones and cutting techniques, M.C.L by Matthew Campbell Laurenza was officially launched. Today, M.C.L pieces are instantly recognizable for their bold use of colour and expressive art-inspired designs, and have become a favourite of fashion-savvy women all over the globe, from Hollywood A-listers to international pop icons.

The designer recently stopped by Singapore to open a new shop-in-shop in Takashimaya and launch his latest collection of jewel-inspired handbags.

The Latest M.C.L Spring/Summer 2011 Collection
For this season, I wanted to do items that we could look at as luxe basics, and relook at things people considered luxurious. So for Croco Luxe, for instance, I was trying to redefine luxury in terms of texture, to redefine crocodile skins and make them in different materials. It’s a little demure but still makes a good statement. I also elaborated on the Secret Garden theme, which are the ones with the vine-type motifs. That has always been a significant look for MCL so we’re moving it forward.

Customers Designing Personalized M.C.L Jewellery
A lot of customers specially order colours and stones, which is perfectly fine with me. For me, the design is the actual piece, whatever the colour and so forth goes, I definitely have recommendations, but if they want something that’s extra special, I’m happy with them modifying my design through colour.

M.C.L Boutiques as Galleries
My background is in art and architecture, so I’m heavily involved in designing the stores. For example, the ION Orchard boutique was designed by me. My new stores will actually become more of a curation of antiques next to pieces of jewellery. Hopefully that will draw people’s attentions to where the design elements came from. Essentially I think there should be that dialogue with a customer about why this is on that bracelet, or what inspired it. There are so many different inspirations on one piece, but it still makes it more unique and special for that person if they know the back story.

Messages and Meaning in Art
It’s good if it has meaning or a message, but to me, the more important aspect of art is the emotions it can evoke. If you walk up to a painting or a piece of art and it hits you or moves you in some way, it’s done its job.

The Goal of M.C.L Jewellery
My job is to make people happy. I want people to put my jewellery on and feel good about themselves and smile because maybe the colour makes them happy. For me, it needs to make a statement when they put it on – I want people to notice it, and I want the person when they put it on to feel good.

The Process of Making M.C.L a Lifestyle Brand
My goal is to be able to design anything I want to design and move forward with it. So in the pipeline now are handbags, but we’re also doing house wares, candles and scents that are also our brand. The end result is for M.C.L to be a lifestyle company, not a jewellery store, and we’re already moving in that direction.

The M.C.L Customer – From Cool Teens to Hollywood Celebs
It’s funny when you look at the age range of customers; we get 17 and 18 year-olds, and then we have 70 year-olds. In terms of celebrities, you have somebody as young as Miley Cyrus on one end and then somebody as mature as Meryl Streep buying it. Paris Hilton and Paris’s mother both wear the jewellery. Then there are people like Katy Perry and Lady Gaga who are just so out there wearing it.

Somebody like Meryl Streep wears our stuff because they already have their diamond jewellery in their wardrobes. They want something that will evoke conversation with their friends, that they can put on to go to lunch and people will go ‘Oh, that’s a cool ring!’ And they can say, ‘And it’s real. It’s not costume.’ Younger people like it because it is real, there is a lot of celebrity endorsement, and it’s affordable. It’s at a price point which they can justify. One of my rings is $200 – it’s less expensive than a Swarovski ring, which is costume.

One girl in Hollywood who’s been wearing lots of our stuff is Jennifer Hudson. I think she’s very similar to our typical customer – someone with a strong personality, who feels good about herself, and who knows how to put herself together in a clever way. Our customers also have strong personalities. They know who they are, they mix and match and just have fun with it.

My Favourite Celebrity Encounter
It was probably with Blake Lively, because you could tell she really liked my stuff. I came with a little gift bag at the same time as some bags that were coming in from Gucci. She didn’t know who I was – I could have been the delivery boy for all she knew – but she recognized the bag, didn’t mess with the Gucci bag, and ran straight over and grabbed my bag! She was like, “Ooh cool!” And I was like, “Oh, by the way, I’m the designer!” 

Ever since then, every time I’m in town, we always see each other. She’s just cool, down-to-earth and she always buys me food. I think she’s trying to fatten me up! But she does love our stuff. She also has the cutest little puppy, and it wears M.C.L too! I made a little dog bone collar for it.

Going After Counterfeiters and Copycats
There are fakes on the market. So far, I have sued Target, won, and got a settlement. I’ve sued Topshop and got a settlement. We take copies very seriously when we find them. We go after the entity that’s doing it. Unfortunately, we can’t always stop everything, especially when it’s copying the style but not the design. No matter what, if your product is attractive, if people like it, people are going to copy and try to make fast money out of it. If it’s a direct knock-off of my product, I will sue them.

If you look at our price point, we’ve kept them very affordable. Part of the reason for that is to make it less attractive for people to copy it. If they want to copy it, they’ll have to sell it for less expensive than we are, and our margins aren’t that high.

But they can’t get the quality we do, so in the long run, my customer is going to buy my product because they know the quality is there. We are the only ones that can deliver on the craftsmanship of these products. The way we select stones, we go through a much longer process than most others do to ensure our customers get the best quality product. So if other people want to make fast money, you can only copy us to a certain point. When customers compare them, they always go back to us.

“NO MATTER WHAT, IF YOUR PRODUCT IS ATTRACTIVE, IF PEOPLE LIKE IT, PEOPLE ARE GOING TO COPY AND TRY TO MAKE FAST MONEY OUT OF IT. IF IT'S A DIRECT KNOCK-OFF OF MY PRODUCT, I WILL SUE THEM.”

The Inside Scoop on M.C.L.’s New Handbag Collection
One day I just decided I wanted to do them, so I started exploring the possibilities in terms of types of fabrics and leathers to use. I designed all the fabrics used in the bags so they’re exclusive to M.C.L. Then we had to figure out ways to make the handbags, which actually took the longest time – I’m a jeweler and a sculptor, I’m not a seamstress or bag maker. There were two reasons we did clutches: one, we had to keep to small bags because the fabric is expensive; and two, it was the most sensible to go from jewellery to small clutch bags. All the enamels on my jewellery actually match the colour swatches on my bags, so you can literally match up the bags with the jewellery if you wanted!
 
We had to work with the factories to develop a new way of stitching. One piece of fabric has three million stitches! They are very expensive and very complicated to make, which means the collection will probably never get mass-produced and will be limited.

Explaining the Inspiration and Design Process
My favourite thing to do is to just walk around. I love museums, I love antique shops. I believe that everybody’s design process, regardless of who it is, starts from the subconscious from what you see. You get a hodge-podge of images in the back of your mind that just floats around, and the designer puts it down on paper or whatever they work in. 

I work the same way. When I decide a shape or a direction, like maybe I want to do something that’s layered, I make that shape first, then I ornament. I ornament with images that are in the back of my head. It’s really complicated for me when people ask what inspired certain pieces because most of the time, I don’t really know. I could probably tell you what era it came from, but I can’t tell exactly what the piece came from. Oftentimes, I go back and I’m looking at a book and I actually find out where I got that image. One piece is designed like the little tiles up inside of the dome of St Peter’s Cathedral, but I didn’t realize that until I was going through photographs I had taken and was like, ‘Oh, there it is!’ (laughs)

What I Look for in a City
The first thing is food. I wake up hungry and I have to eat, otherwise I’m in a bad mood. I normally look at buildings and architecture, which is normally why I prefer cities which have a lot of age to them. In Hong Kong, it’s shopping, Hollywood Road, antique shops. In New York and Paris, I get lost in the buildings. In London, the museums.

My Simple Style
I don’t think I stand out that much. I think what I design stands out on its own, I think what I do stands out on its own, but my lifestyle is pretty basic and pretty simple. I travel so much so my wardrobe is always white shirts, black ties and jeans. It’s very, very basic and black and white. I want my designs to stand out.

A fortune teller told me I should have more colour in my wardrobe, but I don’t. I love colour, but even in my house – the walls, the flooring – everything’s normally greys and blacks. But the things in it, the pieces of art work, the individual things I have, are very colourful and stand out. 

Most Inspiring Destinations
I think everybody should go to Paris once, just to walk around the city. It is absolutely exquisite. Also, I think the Grand Canyon for a natural wonder is amazing. I like places for different reasons. Hong Kong as a modern city is quite amazing but I like it because it’s so efficient. I like New York because it has a really good energy about it. I hate LA, I can’t stand it. London is also very interesting; it’s not my favourite city but it’s someplace people should go. And I like Singapore, especially for the food!

My Current Obsession
Right now, I’m obsessed with jade, like antique jade pieces. I don’t know why I’m obsessed with it – maybe because of the technical skill it took to make them and because they’re 4,000 years old. 

Guilty Pleasures and Pop Culture Leanings
I like books, but only ones with pictures – really. I have thousands of books, but I’m visual so they have to have images. I don’t listen to music. I don’t own a CD or an iPod. I don’t use the computer that much – I do emails, that’s it. I don’t have a Facebook or a Twitter. I don’t even have a TV. I’m actually very boring! But I love going out and being social – that’s probably my main guilty pleasure. Any city I’m in, every night, I’m going out. 

“MY JOB IS TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY. I WANT PEOPLE TO PUT MY JEWELLERY ON AND FEEL GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES.”

For more information on M.C.L by Matthew Campbell Laurenza, visit //www.mcldesign.net.