Anissa Kermiche, the Paris-born engineer turned designer behind the Love Handles vase
A personal portrait · Paris / London
Anissa Kermiche from pearls to love handles
I met Anissa when she was just starting out. Years later, the whole world knows her vase. Here's the designer I know, and how she got there.
The first time I spent real time with Anissa, we talked about jewellery and her plans over macarons, then wandered through London, in and out of vintage shops and flower stalls.
That afternoon tells you most of what you need to know about her. Anissa is the epitome of feminine and sweet. She gives you her heart right away, and when you're together, you have all of her attention. She talks about creativity with real passion, shares every inspiration as it comes to her, and carries that particular femininity that comes from Paris, sharpened by the edge of London.
At the time, she was just beginning with jewellery. But I could tell straight away that these were never going to be only wearable pieces. They were small sculptures. Design objects that happened to go on your body.
We talked about how similar our backgrounds were: both of us raised in traditional families. And we talked about how both of our lives had quietly rebelled against "traditional norms." You can see that rebellion in everything she makes.
The engineer who wanted to make people smile
Anissa grew up in an Algerian-French family in Paris, where engineering was the path laid out for her. She took it: a master's in industrial management, then about five years as a consultant at a big firm. She was about to be promoted when she realised she couldn't picture herself becoming one of her managers, and the lack of creativity was making her sad.
So she left. She studied diamond grading at the GIA in 2013, moved to London to study jewellery design at Central Saint Martins, learned her craft at Holts Academy in Hatton Garden, and launched her label on Instagram in 2016. Within three months Matchesfashion had picked it up. Net-a-Porter followed.
"I wanted to create jewellery that wasn't seen anywhere else before: cool, quirky and edgy pieces, but still in precious and fine materials."Anissa Kermiche, to LUX magazine
The traditional fine-jewellery world felt stiff to her, so she made pieces that could draw a smile: pearl anklets, ruby-dotted pendants, earrings that flip the middle finger, a gold pendant shaped like a derrière. Her engineering never left her, either. She designs in CAD, checking how heavy an earring will be before it is ever made.
The bingo moment
Two words: love handles
Then came the vase. In 2018 Anissa launched ceramics, and one piece in particular went everywhere: Love Handles, a white vase shaped like a woman's hips and bottom, with two little handles at the waist.
It started almost by accident. She had sculpted the vases for her own flat. But the moment they went on sale, they were on every shelf and every feed, and her name moved from jewellery boxes into the language of design.
"Everything changed from that point. It completely transformed and restructured my business, and my approach to design."
When the world locked down in 2020, there were no parties to dress for, and home became the place to show who you were. A curvy, joyful vase was exactly the right object at exactly the right time. As she told The Times, her business grew by around 800%.
The world she built
Since then, the vase has grown into a whole universe of objects that celebrate the female body, curves, breasts and all, with no filters and a lot of humour. Her studio often starts with a funny name, then designs the object to fit it.
- The female body"I find absolutely every detail of a woman's body incredibly beautiful," she told Hypebae.
- ParisHome, and an open museum. She sketches all the way back to London.
- Calder & BertoiaMobiles and sculpture, the starting point for her collaboration with Rejina Pyo.
- HumourHer answer to a luxury world that takes itself too seriously.
At home, at the table, and now furniture
If you follow Anissa, you know her homes as well as her vases. The press loves her meticulous styling: rooms layered with colour and texture, and tables set like little stage sets, every plate, candle and flower chosen to make you smile.
"There are so many chairs in my apartment that you could sit enough people for a wedding!"Anissa Kermiche, to PORTER
She buys new pieces maybe once or twice a year, only when she falls in love with something, and then finds where it belongs at home or in the office. Above all, she wants her rooms to make people laugh.
"Furnishing a house that really reflects who you are takes time and self-confidence. It is now a collection of belongings that make my eyes happy on a daily basis."Anissa Kermiche, to PORTER
The furniture
Naturally, the body language moved into furniture, with an engineer's precision behind every curve:
- Metal chairs, made by hand with a metalsmith, with ribbon-like arms of metal sheet and curved cable, and breast and bottom motifs
- A surrealist shelf held up by ceramic boot sculptures
- A rainbow-gradient glass table
- Fireside stools shaped like upturned, clasping hands
- Human-shaped corner mirrors and mantelpiece candelabras
Oh, and one more thing
She DJs, too
Of course she does. When the studio lights go off, Anissa can be found behind the decks, bringing the same joy and humour to a room full of people that she brings to a vase.
The girl I walked through London with, macarons in hand, is now a name people know from a vase. She's exactly the same: warm, funny, completely herself, and still rebelling, beautifully.
Leila
Her circle
Anissa and I share some close friends, Yosuzi, Julia Ransom, Anna Sophie and Tara, a group of women who in my opinion are far more than "influencers" or "tastemakers." They are the real thing: women with their own work, their own eye and their own point of view, who champion each other. Anissa fits right in.
Quick answers
Who is Anissa Kermiche?
A Paris-born, London-based designer of fine jewellery and ceramic objects. Raised in an Algerian-French family, she trained and worked as an engineer, then studied jewellery at Central Saint Martins and in Hatton Garden, and launched her label in 2016.
What is the Love Handles vase?
Her white ceramic vase shaped like a woman's hips and bottom, with two small handles. She first made it for her own home; after she launched ceramics in 2018 it became one of the most recognisable interiors objects of its time, especially during the 2020 lockdowns.
Does Anissa Kermiche design furniture?
Yes. Her body-shaped design language now extends to handmade metal chairs, a shelf held up by ceramic boots, a rainbow-gradient glass table, hand-shaped stools, mirrors and candelabras.
What inspires her?
The female body, humour, Paris, and artists including Alexander Calder, Harry Bertoia and Pablo Picasso.
- LUX — 6 questions with Anissa Kermiche
- PORTER — Anissa Kermiche
- Evening Standard — Anissa Kermiche's Borough showroom
- The Times — Anissa Kermiche and Love Handles
- W Magazine — London's hot new jewellery designer
- Hypebae — Anissa Kermiche interview (2023)
- Retail Jeweller — Careers: Anissa Kermiche (2017)
