There are several moments that Miami-based mostly childhood most effective close friends Cristy Mantilla and Duda Teixeira, cofounders of Éliou, can rely as ‘pinch me’ times, which have designed it probable for the brand to skyrocket from aspect hustle to worldwide feeling.
Among the 1 of those people sparkly times? Harry Styles putting on a freshwater pearl beaded necklace that browse “Golden” custom-built by Éliou, for Styles’ online video of the identical title. (Many other Éliou necklaces show up in the video, in a rotation. The design identify of this personalized-created 1 is “All The Feels.”)
“I don’t forget (Harry Styles’ stylist) Harry Lambert saying, ‘I would adore some parts for this challenge that I’m operating on. And we explained, ‘For positive! Whatever you want,” Teixeira shares. The cofounders had no thought it was for Types.
“We located out two months later, the exact same working day that most people else observed it,” Mantilla provides.
As it was, this marked the beginning of a golden partnership that has because blossomed concerning Styles and Éliou. The following instant transpired in December 2020, when Variations, who grew to become the very first guy to deal with an challenge of American Vogue solo, wore two Éliou necklaces in the magazine’s fashion unfold. (Just one is a chain made of colourful beads, termed the “Thaia,” the other is a string of blue Millefiori glass beads).
Powering the scenes of Harry Styles’ “Music For A Sushi Restaurant” tunes video, restricted edition … [+]
Photo Credit history: Eliou’s Instagram
Types has due to the fact appeared in far more Éliou items for his “Audio For A Sushi Restaurant” video from Harry’s House: the restricted-version capsule collection characteristics handmade will work of art, with shells in the spotlight.
Éliou fuses the standard with the present-day by meticulously balancing the spirit of playfulness and eccentricity with modern-day design. Each handcrafted piece is designed applying all-natural elements, making sure no two parts are alike.
Longtime pals, creatives and jewellery designers Mantilla (who is Cuban American) and Teixeira (who is at first from Brazil) did not expect their manufacturer, Éliou, to develop into an overnight Instagram sensation when they to start with introduced in 2019.
Éliou’s ethos and mission has normally been about style and jewelry for every person — emphasis on “everyone.” They disrupted the notion with genderless styling and layouts, so it only manufactured perception that Harry Kinds would assistance take this idea to one more degree and blow up into the stratosphere. Types amplified their genderless eyesight and validated it to a world wide viewers, but they often created with genderless styling in brain.
“We stored pushing out this concept of ‘jewelry for every person,’ Teixeira shares. “Harry Types donning it was a stamp of approval — he set our voice on a pedestal. We felt seen and listened to.”
“Éliou was really born out of inventive expression. We designed jewelry that we wished to have on ourselves. We desired to carry a little something progressive to the entire world,” Mantilla provides.
The magic in this article is that these moments have been purely natural and organic.
“Our tale very likely goes further back than most small business associates,” Mantilla shares. “Duda and I satisfied in initial quality when we had been seven many years previous, she had just moved to the United States. We turned really shut buddies when we ended up in center university. We found a connection by means of our friendship mainly because we both experienced entertaining with imaginative concepts.”
(The friends always had an eye for styling, trend and branding, and experienced dipped their toes into entrepreneurial lifestyle together right before, initial even though in high faculty, when they would provide dresses to their good friends for the weekend — this shop was referred to as “The Closet” — and then in college, when they established upcycled, distressed shorts, which they bought to Miami-dependent up to date boutiques.)
Just one of their most notable ventures was their innovative agency, WCP Collective, which focused on established style, graphic design, photography, and styling, which they released at age 25. They continued to function until finally Éliou had plainly develop into much more than a facet hustle and passion challenge. The original premise powering Éliou: developing items they needed to don by themselves.
They made the decision to build jewellery with beads and shells (the brand’s authentic title was Coqui, which suggests shell in French — pronounced “coquille”).
“I had lost an earring on my 1st working day of family vacation, and I had just bought it,” Mantilla recounts. “Later that working day I was strolling on the seashore and saw the very same shell littering the sand. I gathered up a bunch of shells and traveled back again household with them, hoping I could remake the earring myself. We’ve generally experienced all those resourceful, Do it yourself skills.” They ended up building above 100 iterations of that earring.
Before they even officially launched their jewelry selection, anything offered out. Buddies, men and women in their network many thanks to the agency, and strangers right away required to buy their jewels manufactured of seashells, freshwater pearls, and vibrant beads.
“One night, working with only the flashlight on our telephones, we took shots of the jewellery parts we had and despatched them to our fast pals. We commenced receiving messages from random folks we didn’t know telling us which parts they required,” Mantilla proceeds. “I bear in mind us stating, ‘we never seriously require another small business, we have a single, we are accomplishing very well, we’re self-sustainable.”
The indicator that they desired to pursue this as a legit enterprise came when their model was nonetheless a aspect hustle: they got an e mail from potential buyers at Net-A-Porter.
That is when they understood they had been onto a little something — as surreal as that minute was.
“One day — prior to we even had a internet site — we acquired an electronic mail from Net-A-Porter, asking if we ended up heading to be demonstrating in Paris for Fashion Week. And I began crying,” Mantilla shares.
Right after need for the jewelry items commenced to choose off (to the place wherever they would enlist their friends’ help to package deal their orders), they understood it was time to go all in and enable go of their agency.
Just one of the 1st orders of enterprise was modifying the model title.
The identify to start with stemmed from Timothée Chalamet’s character in Connect with Me By Your Identify, Elio, which led Mantilla and Teixeira to land on “Éliou.”
Mantilla: “We needed it to embody that Mediterranean area, that experience, of a very memorable summer season.” The identify presents off the vibe of “eternal summer season.”
Specified Mantilla and Teixeira’s design and style track record, there are other elements that are connected with the brand name: the accent on the “e,” which also offers it a French feeling, and the use of principal colors in its symbol and components.
One more very pleased celeb instant for the model: Hailey Bieber was photographed by paparazzi strolling out of Kith Paris with Éliou’s “All The Feels” necklace (which husband Justin was later on pictured donning too).
Additional not too long ago, they’ve expanded from jewelry to a ready-to-don selection, all with the similar playfulness, prosperous colour palettes and whimsy as their equipment.
“We’re usually making an attempt to seem forward and continue coming up with new matters. If it truly is by now been witnessed and inundating the industry, we’re on to the future,” Mantilla asserts.
Éliou’s merchandise are proudly made to get and anyone on their team is included. (Their mainly Miami-based staff is about 19 potent and all women of all ages, with the exception of Mantilla’s brother). They’re also happy of the vast spectrum of ages and backgrounds on their workforce, together with Duda’s mom in Brazil who operates their creation).
“We’re proud that we’ve established a area, which definitely feels like family,” Mantilla provides.
Sustainability is essential to them, hence their “made to order” coverage: “We will not want to make things just to make them — there has to be an intention behind it. Which is what often came in a natural way to us.” They also want to steer clear of sitting stock or generating squander.
Éliou has constantly been about artwork and coloration, which is why it made ideal perception for them to open up a pop-up at The Typical in Miami Seaside. The pop up, “Paradisé Club,” debuted at Art Basel and is open till January 8 — it is a spot the place locals and readers can discover “eternal summer,” as effectively as their signature handmade jewellery, apparel from their freshly launched ready-to-use selection, an exclusive batch of upcycled denim, and 1 of a form vases from their collab with Memo Studio.
The model has arrive a long way given that the day they received the e mail from Internet-A-Porter. Now Éliou is obtainable throughout the world in indie boutiques and stockists like Kith, Intermix, Saks Fifth Avenue, as nicely as on worldwide e-tailers like Moda Operandi, Shopbop, Matches Trend, Selfridges, and SSENSE.
“Everything has just been a really fantastic surprise for us,” Mantilla claims. “We’ve never ever compensated any individual to wear anything at all. At times you need to disrupt what everybody’s doing. And which is what we are going for.”
Teixeira adds: “If persons can see themselves in it, then we’re doing a thing proper. I see the likely, and I see the place Éliou can go and the place we want it to go. So indeed — this is just the starting.”
