Kloto by Senem Gençoğlu

A graduate from the Rhode Island School of Design (USA), Senem Gençoğlu spent most of her time in the wood, metal and glass studios making furniture, lighting, and sculptures. She now leverages on these skills, alongside her background in Industrial Design, to offer a sleek set of minimalist geometric forms in silver and silver plated with gold. This Istanbul-based talent designs jewellery that combines inspirations from the cosmos, geometry and molecules with interesting forms and textures. Her goal is to craft pieces for powerful women. “Goddesses in ancient Greek mythology are portrayed as strong female figures. Kloto (Clotho) is one of the three sisters of The Fates; they are the personification of destiny and the cycle of life,” she adds, referring to the ethos of her brand, Kloto, launched in 2017. Senem’s family has a long history of jewellery making and trading in Istanbul, thus, exposing her to the craft from a young age. “My uncle and my dad started with a tiny jewellery store in the Grand Bazaar. Their expertise lies in gold hollow chains that are now exported all over the world. It is a great success story and I look up to them.” While at college, she landed the opportunity to collaborate with the likes of UK’s leading product designer Lee Broom, iconic Dutch product and interior designer Marcel Wanders and world-renowned Turkish jeweller Sevan Bıçakçı, gaining a new perspective and a different approach to design. “When I worked with Lee Broom, he was an up-and-coming designer, building up his brand. It was great to see the brand in creation. Marcel Wanders blurs the line between art and design; here, I learned not to constrain myself. Sevan Bıçakçı taught me the importance of caring about the work and adding a touch of magic to each design – the magic comes from the story behind your designs,” she adds. Senem steered clear of gems for her debut line OV that features rings with spinning elements and earrings, patterned with concentric circles. Her second collection, KOD, references Sacred Geometry. Over time, she began exploring stones, subtly incorporating onyx and malachite into the pieces for MOD – inspired by the structure of molecules. “For the next collection, I plan on taking the gems further,” says the emerging designer, who is eyeing jewellery markets beyond Istanbul. For now, Senem has set her eyes on New York and London. Her jewellery is available outside of Turkey in: NYC at Dreems (formerly Dreams On Air) and London at Kabiri.