MILLIANNA is the creation of Sharmilla Persaud and Arianna Brooke. Friends since 1995, they met while working at BCBG Max Azria, where Sharmilla worked in design and Arianna worked in the marketing department. “We knew that we always wanted to start something together and we saw that there was an opportunity in the market for our vision of fashion jewelry,” says Arianna. The friends joined professional forces in 2010 to create MILLIANNA.
Drawing upon their professional experience, Sharmilla and Arianna approach jewelry design from the perspective of fashion rather than accessory trends. Their unique interpretation of pop culture and fashion is infused with inspiration from historical eras such as Elizabethan England and various art movements, like Art Deco. “Our pieces are sophisticated and statement driven, reflecting a woman’s inner beauty and confidence,” says Sharmilla, “and that’s sexy.” MILLIANNA accessories appeal to a broad range of women, from young fashionistas to established jewelry and fashion connoisseurs, such as Iris Apfel. What these women have in common is a strong love of fashion and great sense of confidence.
Combining form with function, one of the most unique elements of MILLIANNA’s pieces is the closure used on all the cuffs and many necklaces. It is magnetic, lined with leather and topped with either hand-painted python skin or stamped lambskin. “It makes putting pieces on and taking them off very easy as well as comfortable,” says Arianna, “and because they’re so beautiful, many of our customers wear our cuffs with the closure showing on top of their wrists!” While Sharmilla drives design, Arianna oversees production in her hometown of Spokane, WA. Each piece is intricately handmade by skilled artisans in the U.S. “It was really important to us to keep production here. Doing so allows us to focus more on design while maintaining speed-to-market,” says Arianna.
As all of the pieces are labor-intensive, quality is immensely important and each piece is painstakingly inspected upon completion. Many of the artisans who work with MILLIANNA are immigrant women who arrived in Spokane with the World Relief Organization. MILLIANNA is proud to support this organization and these determined women. “MILLIANNA is an American, female-owned company that makes products for women by women,” says Sharmilla, “We partner with so many talented and interesting people-it’s a lot of what makes our work so gratifying.”
Spokane, Washington
