Creativity in Action: A Chat with Sharon Folly

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Exceptional pieces. Astounding work ethics. Unbelievable creativity. These are just some of the expressions that could be used to describe Sharon Folly of Sharonita Accessories. Her pieces are incredibly stunning and you just want to own one. As the Creative Director and Designer, you will agree with us that she is exceptionally talented. For the month of May, Sharonita Accessories will be donating some of their pieces for the Sunday Selfies Contest on our Facebook Page. Read about them and find out why Sharon made that decision.

 

Tell us about yourself and about Sharonita Accessories?

My name is Sharon Folly, am proudly Nigerian, precisely from Bayelsa State, I graduated from University of Nigeria, Nsukka, class of 2007, I studied Economics.  Am a very Creative person and I love to do things uniquely, I love listening to music, enjoy all Nigerian dishes, and as odd as this may sound I don’t have a favorite color.  I am the Creative Director and Designer of Sharonita Accessories, happily married and presently I reside in Lagos, Nigeria with my hubby.

 SHARONITA ACCESSORIES is an existing Enterprise established in October 2012, in Lagos, Nigeria. We basically design female accessories ranging from Necklace (Caribbean, Tibetan, costume, beaded, layered pieces) Earrings – (Stud, loop, fashion dropping), Bracelets, bags and iPad cases.  We do both wholesale, retail and offer trainings

We are dedicated to making women look unique, elegant, classy and fabulous at any occasion, anytime, anywhere and any day. Our aim is to make the wearer of our accessory stand out and not to fit in.

Did you undertake formal training in college or within the Industry, or did you find your way into Crafts via a different route?

The love I have for accessories and not finding the kind of unique piece I want, actually pushed me into enrolling for a training on the basics of making beads and African print accessories that was how I learnt how to string, gum, know about the tools, etc.

Tell us about your design style. What makes your collections unique in the industry?

I basically work with beads and African print, in as much as I use the aforementioned, my designs are of international standard.  They are sophisticated, unique and with little bit of an edge, my pieces are not one that you just add to your accessory collection and is just there occupying space in your closet or you only wear it when you have one particular attire on, NO, they are actually pieces that can go perfectly well on western and traditional attire. Hence a career woman can own one of our piece and will comfortably rock it on her business-casual, traditional and casual attire.

What kind of person wears your jewelry?

Women between the ages of 18 – 60, comprising of Career woman, a stay at home mum, a campus babe, would-be bride, and basically every woman that loves to stand out.

As a designer, where do you draw your inspiration from?

My inspiration comes from God Almighty, every morning before I start designing I ask Him for fresh inspiration and He answers me, He gives me this inspiration firstly through colors, as soon as I see colors I start getting inspired, my mind will start running wild on different pattern of designs that I could work on.

 Secondly, outfits also inspire me, whenever am out am always looking at people’s attire and imagining the design of accessory that would fit that attire, disregarding whatever accessory the person may have on.

I also get inspired through my previous designs, I have this habit of looking at pictures of my work, funny enough, whenever I do that I would see how I could make that design more sophisticated.

What are upcoming trends in the jewelry design industry?

Hmm, I see a big shift towards funky color combinations, Jewelry designers will play with bold, bright and primary colors. I tell you, you are going to see a lot of crazy combinations, some will make sense to you and of course some will not.

Who are your favorite designers?

My humble self **smiles**, let me not be selfish, A Ghanaian designer – Christie brown, and Ugandan designer – Rezoni.

How did you hear of naija housewives and what motivated you to sponsor the Sunday Selfie?

I just stumbled on it on the web, when I viewed the page, it made a lot of sense to me, so I liked and started following the page.

I got motivated by the content of the page, especially those wonderful quotes that the admins always post at the end of the day, so I decided to contribute my own quota by sponsoring the Sunday selfie.

What advice would you give to someone interested in getting into the jewelry design business?

 First you have to acquire the skill of jewelry making, and as soon as you start the business, try as much as possible to be original and creative. When I say original I mean, don’t copy people’s designs, (of course that’s very common in this business), always work on your own concept and create your own designs.  Fine, other people will definitely copy you that is where your creativity comes in, so as soon as you they are copying your designs, you are leaving them behind and creating a new one.

What is your favorite piece you’ve ever created – and what made it so special?

All the designs I have ever created are special to me, I can’t really pick out one piece and say is my favorite, because I improve every single day, so I may work on a piece today and  feel wow, I have done a great job and tomorrow am designing something better, and the next a more better piece.

 

To get in touch with Sharon, use the contact details below for Sharonita Accessories:

www.facebook.com/SharonitaAccessories.

Phone call and whatsapp; +234 817 859 9622

BBM: 23808264