My lightbulb second: Jewelry maker Maria Leoni-Sceti, reveals the inspiration behind her accent model
- Maria Leoni-Sceti, 56, who lives in Surrey, based Sonia Petroff in 2018
- She was impressed by the gathering of equipment owned by her husband’s aunt
- Sonia Petroff has been worn by Kate Moss and Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Maria Leoni-Sceti, 56, based accent model Sonia Petroff in 2018. She lives in Surrey together with her husband Elio. They’ve 4 kids: Ariana, 28, Alberto, 26, Ricardo, 23, and Lorenzo, 18.
At college, I studied economics and worldwide administration, earlier than going to Rome for a spot yr within the early Eighties. My intention was to study Italian, however I ended up assembly and marrying Elio.
We needed to do seven strikes for his job as an investor in start-ups — throughout Italy, to Germany, America and, lastly, the UK in 2001.
Consequently, I put my very own profession on maintain. I beloved being a mum, but all the time felt I ought to be doing extra. I simply didn’t know what.
Maria Leoni-Sceti, 56, (pictured) who lives in Surrey, revealed the inspiration behind her accent model Sonia Petroff
Then, in November 2015, Elio’s aunt handed away. She had no kids, so her husband invited us to type out her belongings and preserve something we wished.
And that’s how we found an 800-piece assortment of handmade belts, baggage, earrings, necklaces, brooches and bracelets.
It turned out she’d been a prestigious jewelry designer from the Fifties to Seventies. I’d solely ever recognized her as Aunt Sonia, however right here have been all these cuttings of her in Vogue Italia and Cosmopolitan; photographs of her with Marlon Brando; and unbelievable collections she’d completed with designers equivalent to Balmain, Valentino and Nina Ricci.
Her designs have been impressed by her travels in Europe and South America — daring and flamboyant, made with resin, glass, enamelled metallic, gold overlay and valuable stones.
I’d been on the lookout for a brand new chapter: it was destiny. So I wrote a marketing strategy, approached a good friend in Italy who hooked me up with artisans and began cataloguing all of the designs, to duplicate them.
Inspirational: soniapetroff.com
In November 2018, aged 54, I launched Sonia Petroff, a group of jewelry impressed by her authentic designs, that are versatile and traditional, with a contemporary twist — offered by our web site.
Kate Moss wore considered one of our belts and a bracelet in Vogue; and, in August final yr, Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge wore our assertion crimson belt to the TV Selection Awards. We have been inundated with clients.
We began promoting on the posh style web site Matches in July and have become a top-selling model inside per week. Costs begin at £170, however we donate a part of the gross sales to the women’ training charity, Room to Learn, in reminiscence of Sonia — as she wouldn’t have been who she was with out an training.
Sonia has helped me begin a brand new profession in midlife, which I’m so happy with. It’s actually by no means too late to make a change.
Commercial
