Eastern Influence
Jannik Olander has walking down a street in India a few years ago, when a street shaman pulled him aside and laid some words of wisdom on him — along with a small diamond, his birth stone. His message? "Stop chasing money and do what you love," said the Danish-born jewelry designer and founder of boho-meets-bling jewelry brand, Nialaya (named after the shaman who inspired it.)
Jannik Olander in his new Nialaya store.
Olander decided to follow his bliss and create a collection of jewelry that would elevate the beaded looks popular in Eastern countries to fine jewelry. He had always been a fan of string-tied bracelets — now the cornerstone of his gender-neutral collection — but "you would take a shower and the ink would wear off, and that's not that cool," he said.
Soon after he returned to his home in the Hollywood Hills, he started creating prototypes for pieces in his garage, using precious stones and gems. "I was actually drilling holes in the beads," he said, laughing. "I didn't know I could buy them already drilled."
Fast forward to last year, when Olander sold (on consignment) his garage-made baubles to Traffic at the Beverly Center. They literally flew off the shelves. Then, Diddy's stylist called Olander to come downtown with a bunch of bracelets — which the Puff-master bought on the spot. Slash, Paris Hilton, Lil Wayne, Olivia Palermo and dozens of other celebs followed suit, flashing Nialaya gear at public events. "I'm from Denmark and we take it easy with that kind of thing," noted Olander with a smile.
The line picked up so much steam — so quickly — that Olander was able to move his garage operation to a new flagship store and production space on the tony end of Melrose Avenue late last year. The Eastern-themed wood-panelled boutique, featuring an oversized photo of a young Sophia Loren and a wall of classic rock posters, stocks the breadth of the line.
The crux of the collection are the rocker-inspired drawstring bracelets, which string together precious stones hand-picked by Olander, including hematite, diamonds, rose quartz, tiger eye and howlite. There are also diamond pendants and earrings and cuff-like leather rings festooned with diamond pendants. Prices range from $200 to just over $3,000.
The Nialaya look is "maybe for someone who likes a little flashiness," said Olander. A perfect fit for Hollywood's scrappy jet-set.
Nialaya, 7922 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles.