Kirsten Goss, Our Talented Jewellery Designer
Interview with Kirsten Goss, Our Talented Jewellery Designer
Describe yourself in five words…
Passionate, energetic, optimistic, hungry and exhausting.
What’s your design ethos?
To create magnificent things that elicit intrigue and demand attention forever. And to never be a slave to fashion.
What inspires you?
Unparalleled craftsmanship (as seen in the work of Georg Jensen), attention to detail and immaculate packaging – even for the most unsuspecting macaroon (like at Laduree, a famous bakery chain in Paris).
Who has or had great style?
Cleopatra, actresses Grace Kelly and Uma Thurman, model and toyshop proprietor Jasmine Guinness, and bespoke fashion designer Oswald Boateng.
Stylish people you’ve designed for?
Actresses Rosamund Pike and Sarah Jessica Parker, British art curator Janice Blackburn, and local fashion designer Marianne Fassler.
Do you collect anything?
Not really. Living in cramped conditions in London beat that out of me.
Prize possessions?
My grandmother’s jewellery bureau, a Bill Amberg portmanteau, a painting by Georgina Stuart and my golden sapphire engagement ring.
Your favourite… Fashion designers?
Locally, Marianne Fassler and Malcolm Kluk; internationally, cult Spanish label Hoss Intropia, Danish brand Day Birger et Mikkelsen, and Marni.
… Fine artists?
Mark Rothko, Lucian Freud and Andrew Verster.
… Flowers?
Peonies and amaryllis.
… Restaurants?
Elements Cafe Bar at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Umhlanga and La Trompette in Chiswick, London.
Where’s the most stylish place you’ve ever stayed?
The Viceroy in Santa Monica and locally, Hartford House in the KZN Midlands.
Most intriguing place you’ve ever visited?
Lake Paradise in Marsabit, northern Kenya. It’s an extinct volcano in the middle of the Chalbi desert with a crater lake high above the clouds and a rainforest with a completely different climate to that of the scorching desert below. It was infested with tropical vines and roving elephants. Quite mystical really and in the middle of nowhere.
Imagine you have one air ticket with three stops allowed anywhere in the world. Where would you choose?
Stockholm to pick up some Folke Arstrom cutlery en route to Are for some skiing; Lewa Downs in Kenya for dreamy catch your-breath-again luxury in romantic, faraway bush; and Kanazawa, Japan, to see the Kenrokuen garden followed by Alaskan crab-claw tempura at Nobu.
Favourite holiday escape?
The Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape.
Undiscovered gems in Durban?
Old St Thomas’s Church, the smallest and oldest chapel in Durban from 1864 – a fascinating step back in time and so tucked away; The Corner Cafe, a Glenwood eatery where quotidian meets quirky; and Tamasa Gallery, a teeny gallery in Overport, which is always fillec with beautiful South African artworks.
What music are you listening to?
Friendly Fires, The Aeroplanes, Kate Bush Hotel Castes Vol. 8 and The K&D Session, others.
Best movie of all time?
ET.
What’s pretty?
A rose-cut asymmetrically faceted green sapphire sunken into beaten 22-carat yellow gold worn every day.
A message to live by?
Never take a no from someone who isn’t authorised to say yes in the first place.
Interview by Louise McCann. Photograph by Clinton Friedman. Article taken from the Spring 2009 issue of Elle Decoration.
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