VAGUE Voices: Black British Culture, Motherhood & Jewellery
VAGUE VOICES Season 2 Episode 3: an introduction to Kassandra Lauren Gordon Jewellery…
In the latest episode of VAGUE VOICES, VAGUE THREADS member Elle sat down with “multidisciplinary conceptual storyteller” and jeweller Kassandra Lauren Gordon to discuss Black British culture, motherhood and all things jewellery with a nod to her latest collection and upcoming documentary, Gemstones - a visual ode to Black maternal bonds and heirlooms, co-produced by VAGUE.
Kassandra is an award-winning, London-based jeweller and creative director who, through a journey of self-discovery, found inspiration in channelling the experience, texture, and voice of herself and her community into her craft. For Kassandra, jewellery has become more than creating bold and unapologetic pieces; her story lives in what she creates. In 2020, her lightbulb moment came as she started to express her own voice in her work. Exploring themes of identity, heritage, and relationships allowed her to support other Black, minority, and first-generation creatives.
“Going to school was a very traumatic experience if I’m being honest with you... People would wanna jump on me, beat me up just because of the colour of my skin.”
Channelling this ethos into our conversation, Kassandra touched on what life was like for her as a child in the nineties. “It was hard,” she said. “Living in Birmingham [until primary school], where like 50% of Birmingham was, like, ethnic minorities and then going straight to Coventry in the nineties, where everyone is white… it was quite tricky. There [were] like five Black children in the whole of, like, a school of a thousand […] Going to school was a very traumatic experience if I’m being honest with you... people would wanna jump on me, beat me up just because of the colour of my skin.”
Not letting this deter her, she spoke about seeing the good in people and learning to embrace differences: “You just learn to embrace your differences and embrace different people. I try to keep a positive mind.”
An issue Kassandra is keen to raise through her latest collection is the injustices faced by the Windrush Generation. “Windrush means to me, a plethora of painful narratives of loss and sacrifice, pain and displacement." Determined to create something to bring people who have experienced this together and to find comfort in shared experiences, the anchor pendant was born.
In its press release, she writes that “everyone has a migration story, everyone is human. Wherever you feel your roots are, you have a right to call it home. The anchor is a symbol for a place you call home and feel safe. Wherever you choose to call your home, you can lay down some roots without external judgment. My signature cornrows are wrapped around the pendent mimicking the rope on an anchor to represent a lifeline for life and culture.”
Listen to the full episode below and subscribe to VAGUE VOICES on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
“You just learn to embrace your differences and embrace different people.”