Adorned by the likes of Margot Robbie, Lara Bingle, Jessica Gomes and Jennifer Hawkins, F+H Jewellery is becoming the go-to accessory for celebrity stylists, models and actresses. Founder Sharona Harris shares insight into her muses, inspiration and how she is forging a reputation as Australia’s tough-luxe jewellery brand.
I started my career working for an amazing entrepreneurial couple of the Gold Coast that were promoters for major music festivals, they showed me the importance of networking and PR. After this I worked as a national PR & Brand Manager for a premium beauty brand, which taught me how to sell luxury products. For the past 15 years I have only ever worked with entrepreneurs... people that have grown their businesses from the ground up, I have never worked in a major corporation and I actually think that has been to my advantage. When you work in small to medium size businesses you end up learning most areas of the business and you need to be able to juggle multiple roles, it was the perfect launching pad to starting my own brand.
My Dad was an old rocker, part of his style is naturally ingrained in me and elements of his influence flow through into the tough luxe pieces I design. I have always loved live music, I get a huge amount of my inspiration through music and the sub-cultures associated with different music genres. It is my number one influence, it inspires me so much! From vintage rock, to 90s grunge, I love it. I also love nostalgic movies and photography from the 60s and 70s, it was much more raw back then and less filtered.
I don’t follow trends at all, I love to invest in pieces that will last me a lifetime and not a season. I like to keep my style quite clean and timeless but with a touch of rock-chic….I won’t buy anything unless I can see myself wearing it in 3 years from now.
I also need to be near the ocean at all times, it so grounding for me. So right now living in Byron Bay is a dream, there is live music everywhere, amazing beaches and the town is full of creative people…I feel so blessed to be based in this part of the world.
The driving force for F+H is to fill a gap in the market for edgy, statement jewellery that has a luxe vibe. There are a lot of great jewellery brands doing fine jewellery and bohemian styling, but that’s not me. I am all about fashion forward statement jewellery. We have just signed with Launch Management so we will be distributing to retailers around Australia throughout 2016… and I also have my sites set on the US Market… fingers crossed we can do a trade show in New York this year.
My advice for aspiring entrepreneurs…
Be realistic… it’s HARD work. You also need to realise having a good product is only 1 tiny part of the equation… you need to think about marketing (most importantly) and distribution. Also speak to as many other successful business owners as you can, ask them everything! The more good questions you ask the quicker you will figure things out.
