In this interview, we delve into the world of Atis Sáez, a Chilean designer and jeweler and winner of the 2019 Seal of Excellence for Craftsmanship. With her background in industrial design, she has masterfully fused this discipline with jewelry, creating collections that explore geometric shapes and unconventional materials such as salmon skin, wood, and metal weave. Throughout the interview, we discover her innovative approach, her passion for experimentation, and how she has left a distinctive mark on the world of jewelry with her unique and captivating pieces.
How and when did you start your jewelry brand?
I started my eponymous brand the year after completing my jewelry studies at the University of Chile, in 2006. Already having a degree in Industrial Design as a foundation, my first projects were jewelry design collections. Initial material and formal explorations included geometric shapes and research into materials such as salmon skin, wood, and metal weaving. I maintain this last technique to this day in various collections.
Have you always been interested in the fashion industry?
Fashion has been a part of my life since I was a child. My grandmother was a dressmaker, and there were fashion magazines at home, which I would read over and over again, so I was always involved in the world of fashion. One of my study options was to study Costume Design because I learned a lot from her, and I wanted to continue designing clothes, but I ultimately gravitated toward jewelry, as another form of fashion and design.
What challenges have you faced when starting your own brand?
One of the main challenges is having chosen to pursue signature design, that is, to have my own voice. From the beginning of my career as a jeweler, I was very clear that I had to find a personal path, a way to create pieces that would contribute to the market and also allow me to develop creatively. The difficult part of this decision has been and continues to be competing with retail, industrial jewelry, created for a mass audience and with very low prices due to the low production costs, since most of it is made in developing countries, under precarious conditions, and with very low pay. When trying to tackle this market with an innovative, sustainable offering and timeless designs, one often comes up against the price factor, which remains a very decisive factor when making the purchasing decision. Fortunately, the Chilean public is increasingly aware that it is much better to buy a piece with a higher value and that is not disposable, because they value exclusivity and quality more than quantity.
What's the biggest lesson you've learned since starting your brand?
That you have to persevere. There's no other way to move forward, only to persist and learn from mistakes, to take note of what works and what doesn't, even to persist and move forward despite everything against you. Crafting, and jewelry in particular, has been a great teacher in my life, helping me understand that everything has its time, that there are processes that can't be rushed, that sometimes you have to start over again, and that you have to make changes to your business model or to life itself. If I hadn't persevered, I would never have known how far I could go.
How have your designs evolved since you started in the jewelry industry?
My first phase involved researching techniques and materials, with a strong influence from the School of Design, a bit Bauhaus in some cases. I spent many years testing designs, lines, and materials, while also weaving metal and seeking to generate volume with it. Here I could make a distinction between these two lines of work: metal jewelry using traditional techniques, and metal weaving. In the former, the work has always been rather geometric and with pure lines, mixed with other materials. In the case of weaving, it allows me to create more organic shapes, with a lot of texture and transparency, which is inherent to the technique. I can also explore the volume and modeling of metal, which I find to be an inexhaustible source of creative resources. With this technique, I've developed from designer collections, in which modules are repeated and there is a constructive pattern, to more recently, unique pieces created one by one.
What are your brand values?
The constant search for a unique voice, with each design containing just the right elements, results in jewelry that is very simple in style, free from unnecessary embellishments. Jewelry lines are typically very timeless because of this, as they reflect a formal search and the experimentation of different techniques, not a trend.
You've participated in several international fairs and expos. Could you tell us about your experience and what motivated you to participate?
It has been by far the best experience! It would have been better if we hadn't had a pandemic and several of the exhibitions were during this period, which prevented me from traveling and experiencing what it's like to be present at major events. Fortunately, this year I was able to add the experience of being present at one of the most important craft fairs in Europe, Salón Revelations. Being able to see what's currently being made around the world and finally see how my work is responding in other latitudes undoubtedly represents a great learning experience for me about what paths I should take in the future.
Regardless of whether you've traveled before or not, traveling internationally and understanding how the world works and what interests the public is a great learning experience and a tremendous opportunity for growth.
If you could only wear one piece from your collection, which would it be and why?
Oh! What a difficult question, because I really like my work, even if it sounds bad, haha. What I normally wear the most are the earrings from the different collections and some pieces from my personal collection. I think I'd still choose the Multitude necklace, since, in addition to the aesthetics of the piece, it marked a turning point in my career since I earned the Seal of Excellence with it.
Are there any other designers whose work you particularly admire?
Many! At the beginning of my career, I greatly admired what Monoco and Paulina del Fierro did at OH!, as they were pioneers in designer jewelry, and having a store dedicated solely to this type of jewelry was a challenge. I could then name many other jewelers, both foreign and domestic, like Sowoon Joo at Tejido en Metal, and Arata Fuchi for the mastery of their pieces and their carefully curated aesthetics. There are many more! Fortunately, there are many people around the world making designer and contemporary jewelry that I admire and that inspire me.
For you, what does it mean to be a jeweler in Latin America?
It's a huge challenge, especially in Chile, since the market is very small, especially in the area I work in, which is designer jewelry. Furthermore, we're the southernmost country, which makes shipping abroad more expensive and makes attending a trade show extremely difficult. For this reason and other reasons, I understand that making this type of jewelry in this part of the world is an act of cultural resistance, especially given that we're still on the path to getting more and more of our local audience interested in local design. The good thing is that the audience is growing, which bodes well for the sector.
What do you think needs to be done to get the world to take a look at the Chilean fashion industry?
I believe that the government and organizations such as ProChile, Dirac, and Fondart have done much to provide platforms that support the development of the local scene with a view to internationalization. In this regard, I believe there is still a need to strengthen knowledge about the needs of each area of design and crafts and understand the fragility of their economies. Regarding visitors and tourists, I believe they have a greater interest than the local public in seeking out Chilean cultural expressions. The only thing missing is better communication about the existing offerings and appropriate marketing spaces. In this sense, Artesanías de Chile has been a pioneer in highlighting the work of excellent artisans.
What do you think Chile has that no other country has?
I think being so far south on the continent and so geographically isolated by the Andes and the sea has given us the opportunity to develop our own language, simpler and more austere than the rest of Latin America. I think this is evident in many creative fields in our different cultural expressions, especially in crafts. Over the last 15 or 10 years, I've observed a notable change in design and manufacturing. I think it's due to the greater openness to other countries as a result of the widespread use of social media, which allows constant access to what's being done around the world, and because there's a greater interest in having our own identity. I feel like this new identity is developing.
To conclude, tell us, how do you see the future of your brand?
I will certainly continue exploring metal weaving, both in jewelry and objects, as it is a material and technique that continue to captivate me and allows me to express myself formally. I already have a new project in the works, called Joyería Contemporánea. I also have several pre-designed lines of designer jewelry to update my offering, as I am interested in expanding my presence in the Chilean and international markets.