Welcome to Destination #FH Avenue

This is the place for businesses to be, and to be seen. This month I am shining the spotlight on…

Tanyaigic.co.uk

Tanya Igic moved to Swansea 17 years ago from Serbia. Whilst living in Serbia, Tanya had begun to make jewellery part time, alongside studying for an economics degree. She had been married for less than a year when her husband was given the opportunity to finish his PhD in Swansea University; like any supportive wife she decided to come over to the UK with him.

A huge obstacle for Tanya was her limited English. For the first two years in Swansea this was a struggle for her as she overcame the language barrier when meeting people. Initially she felt quite isolated, as she had left her family and friends behind and had to create a whole new life and business for herself.

Once her husband had finished his PhD he was given the opportunity to stay and lecture. So with him busy at work, Tanya found herself making lots of jewellery to keep herself occupied. At that time, there were no mobile phones or internet unlike today, so it was difficult to keep in regular contact with family and friends. Tanya recalls how she came to Swansea with just two suitcases. One filled with clothes, the other filled with her jewellery kit and her beloved leather which she uses to great effect in her jewellery.

Living in Swansea was quite a culture shock for Tanya as she didn’t know anybody. Even day to day activities like going out and having a conversation with people she met was difficult, with each new (linguistic) milestone an achievement. Finding a job proved to be difficult, so Tanya created her own job by setting up her own jewellery business. She is not the type to sit around waiting for her husband to finish work. She has always been a business woman, used to her own financial independence.

Tanya started to show her jewellery at craft fairs, going on to join a group of designers, where she started exhibiting her jewellery at big trade shows around the country. She has since progressed to her own website www.tanyaigic.co.uk, her jewellery is stocked in over 60 galleries across the country, as well as exporting abroad.

Tanya wants to keep her jewellery designs exclusive, not mass produced. Having seen Tanya’s jewellery I understand why. It’s unique, very unusual, very desirable and extremely high quality. A piece of Tanya’s jewellery will elevate the most simple of outfits into a complete showstopper! When I’m wearing a fabulous statement necklace the last thing I want is to see everyone else wearing the exact same one.

Tanya’s contemporary jewellery is made up of soft leather and metal as she loves working with leather so much. It comes in an array of colours, creating her own tools and techniques to work the leather into many different designs. Her designs are intricate yet, minimal and oh so sophisticated.

“Designing with leather is a completely different process to designing with metal or other materials as you need to play with the leather to see what it is capable of. You can’t make a drawing and then try to make it, as it doesn’t work with leather, as it might not translate [from the drawing board], I let the leather guide me - it’s trial and error - sometimes you need to add more to the piece and other times - you need to remove from the piece.”

The collection consists of floral, organic designs and some abstract designs with a range of earrings, bracelets, necklaces, brooches, head pieces, cufflinks and tiepins, which are all made to order in a variety of sizes, lengths and colour combinations, suitable for weddings and any other special occasions

If you are looking for contemporary, simplistic, jewellery with the WOW factor then look no further than tanyaigic.co.uk. You will definitely stand out in a crowd with her envy-inducing jewellery, secure in the knowledge that you are wearing a truly unique piece.