Behind beauty with a thought
Efva was only eleven years old when she created her first piece of jewellery in silver. It was the first step into a world that later would become her unique design universe.
- Start
- About Efva Attling
It all began with a swan. A thin bracelet in silver, inspired by the swan's elegant shapes. Efva was only eleven years old when she made her first piece of jewellery – and little did she know that it was jewellery that would be her great success later in life. At the age of 16, she was a pupil of Bengt Liljedahl, one of Sweden's greatest silversmiths, the love for the craftsmanship was born. But it would take more than 25 years before she came back to designing jewellery.
Efva grew up in a musical family in Högdalen, Stockholm, together with four sisters, a mum and a dad. Her dad was a pastry cook and part-time jazz musician. The way music and words touch and inspire people has always been important for Efva, and this is what her concept "Beauty with a thought" is based on.
Ford, Fendi and Vouge
At the age of 17, Efva was discovered by legendary Eileen Ford, founder of Ford Models Model Agency. Efva was signed to the agency and the assignments in Paris, Milan, London and New York started to reveal each other. A 12 years long modelling career took off with prestigious assignments for customers like Vogue and Fendi became part of her everyday life.
But eventually, Efva felt it was time to change careers and in 1981 she formed the pop group 'X-models'. The band had a big hit with the ballad that Efva composed and wrote the lyrics for, "Two of us". She received two gold records for the song, and today it is a Swedish classic. At this point, she also designed clothes for company’s' like Levi's and H&M and had her own brand for maternity clothes, Pretty Pregnant.
Beauty with a thought
Since the year 1996, Efva is back where she once started - with silver, gold, diamonds and gemstones. The love for words and music is clear and each collection has its own message. The design is characterized by modern elegance with an edgy twist, or as Efva describes it herself; “Beauty with a thought”. Its humour mixed with seriousness and love; “I still want to touch people, the same way I did when I wrote lyrics”, she explains. “I want to boost people with my design and let the jewellery be conversation pieces”.
Efva opened her first combined boutique and studio on Hornsgatan in the arty southern part of central Stockholm. Efva's jewellery fast became a must-have among Swedens it-people. When Madonna wore the necklace “Homo Sapiens” (“the knowing man” in Latin), the widespread recognition and PR hype were officially underway. Many other well-known personalities have been seen in the jewellery over the years, including Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Aniston, Meryl Streep, Uma Thurman, Iman, Angelina Jolie, Katy Perry and Alicia Vikander.
FROM STOCKHOLM TO SAN JUAN
Today Efva Attling Stockholm runs 7 concept stores, located in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmoe and Helsinki in Finland. The brand is also represented by more than 200 retailers worldwide.
Over the years Efva has been awarded a number of prizes for her work. Most recently with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Swedish ELLE Gala 2018 with the motivation:
“A dynamic multi creator whose style-proof design embodies the most important moments of life. She has created a truly creative universe characterized by love, passion and positive messages. She has placed Swedish jewellery design on the international map.”