Emi Jewellery website
What a rollercoaster of a ride these last 13(!!) years have been with this brand.
I started Emi Jewellery in 2009 from my bedroom when I was living back in my hometown of Swansea, Wales. I had always wanted to work in fashion, but I had no idea what I would do or how I would get there...
The idea came about for me to start my own label circa 2008 and then finally in 2009, I plucked up the courage to launch putting together a small capsule collection of just 6 necklaces with a few pieces behind each style. I fell in love with the name "Emi" - it is a Japanese girl's name, and it means "beautiful" or "smile" depending on the translation, that's exactly how I saw the world. I wanted people to smile when they wore my pieces, and I wanted to make them feel beautiful.
Fast forward a few more years, I was living and working in Manchester in a job at Head Office in the buying and merchandising department. One of the brands that I used to buy from also worked as a fashion agent, they asked me if I was looking for representation, and of course, I said yes.
Emi Jewellery was picked up by indie retailers up and down the country, eventually getting stocked in around 50 stores across the UK as well as a few locations in the EU. As we grew, so did my confidence. I felt that what I set my mind to, would work. I can't describe what it was, it's always been with me. I would visualise what I wanted and it would eventually manifest, regardless of what it was. I knew that my brand would be a success.
Fast forward again, I applied for a trademark to properly establish myself as a label, then proverbial shite (let's call it) hit the fan.
E.M.I. Music (as in the record label for the Beatles etc) caught wind of my trademark and issued me a cease and desist order... they were not happy that I was using their name and claimed I was infringing on the copyright of their label. By this point, I had emigrated out the UK and I was living in the Italian-speaking canton called Ticino in the South of Switzerland. I had left corporate and I was working on my own projects, this brand, full time. It was my only source of income!
Truthfully speaking, it scared the hell out of me, but I had to face the music. My options were to:
1. Give in, stop trading and be responsible for paying E.M.I. Music's legal fees.
2. Fight it.
Obviously, I chose the latter. I chose to fight it. I did, however, decide to stop trading for a while, as a "just in case" kinda thing. You can see by the lack of silence in this blog. I focused my energy on fighting for this brand, planning what my next moves were going to be. It was 8 years of my life that I thought were going up in smoke. I was devastated but I kept on going.
The next thing I did was trademark my own name. I thought you know what, try and take this one away from me... I applied for and got granted a new trademark for my own name "Xander Kostroma". I turned myself into a brand instead.
A good few months had passed by this point, the trademark case with E.M.I. Music was still ongoing, meanwhile, all my focus was on creating this new label for myself while, at the same time, trying to rescue this one.
SUCCESS - E.M.I. Music backed down, we came to an agreement that I could have the trademark in category 14 (jewellery) and we would each be responsible for our own legal fees. I felt like I had won. It was an incredible feeling. The case was closed and my Emi Jewellery trademark was granted. This was in Nov 2018. By this point, my Xander Kostroma trademark was secured and the launch of my brand was planned however; I now found myself with 2 labels.
The launch of my own name collection completely took me by surprise! The collection was first made available through my amazing concessions at Freemans.com and Lookagain.co.uk and we traded on a few other platforms as well like SilkFred and LittleBlackDress (both of which I have since closed down).
Then the 2020 pandemic hit. I felt like I just couldn't get the opportunity to relaunch this label. After the second wave, I decided to start to supply the bricks and mortar stores with my own name collection. We joined Faire Wholesale and waited for new orders to come in. It was a slow burner to begin with, but once the lockdown eased, the orders just kept on coming. As you can imagine trade had been closed for so long, stores were looking for new products to fill their shelves. My label quickly gained momentum, and within 1.5 years (as of today) we had grown to 482 stockists globally with a core team of 7 people. Putting everything into perspective, I just didn't have the time anymore to re-launch Emi Jewellery.
Taking the time to look back on everything that has happened since the launch of Emi Jewellery in 2009, I am no longer the same person who created this label. Truth be told, I was too shy and I lacked confidence in myself and undervalued my own abilities. I didn't want to put my name (and my face) on my own work which is so crazy. I used Emi jewellery almost like a mask. Me taking on E.M.I. Music gave me the courage to stand up for what I believed in, eventually having no choice but to continue without said mask. Yes, it was tough to do, but my gosh, it was the best thing that could have happened to me.
Thoughts to take away
- I am truly grateful for what happened with the trademark case.
- The timing in which I decided to open my own brand up to bricks and mortar stores was impeccable.
- And finally, I know that I am on the right path, always in my life.
I have amazing memories with this brand, it paved the way for what I am doing today. I am not sad for letting go and for saying goodbye. The value of the name, "Emi" and its meaning, "beautiful" or "smile" I carry through with me always.
If you have made it this far, thank you so much for reading about my journey and my brand as well as for your love and support of my label. I hope my story has inspired you. No matter how tough it may seem at the time, just remember it's always, always, always working out for you and of course: Anything in your life is possible!
See you on the other side,
Love,
Xander
Lisbon, Portugal
Xander Kostroma
Founder of Emi Jewellery 2009 - 2022
