Giulia D’Avenia

I’m a jeweller, and I’ve had my own brand – La Brutte – since 2012.

I’m passionate about being able to constantly invent new pieces, shapes and sculptures and play with textures – it’s something I find truly incredible. I like that the people who wear my jewellery make it their own and keep it with them perhaps throughout their entire lives. My pieces decorate them right up to the end. And jewellery is not just ornamental ; each piece is an intimate symbol that means something unique to its wearer. It can become part of their identity, create it or even change it.

My career path. I’m originally from Lugano, in Ticino. I came to French-speaking Switzerland at the age of four. So I grew up in Lausanne and did all my schooling here. I left school at the age of 14 and have been working ever since. I started off selling apples at the market in the Place de la Riponne. Then I worked as a nanny looking after a seven-year-old girl, often for several days at a time. That was when I was 16. At the weekend, I handed out flyers on the Rue de Bourg. And I also worked as an office assistant for a jeweller’s in Lausanne and as a hostess on publicity stands, and I conducted surveys for cigarette brands. For a while, I worked at the Denner supermarket as a replacement. Then I started my apprenticeship and worked as a bartender at Loft Club in Lausanne at the weekend. When I finished my apprenticeship, I became self-employed. I did that during the day and worked at the Café des Artisans in Lausanne in the evenings. I worked 14 hours a day for about six or seven months. Then I got a job at a jeweller’s, which meant I could do my freelance work on my days off. In 2017, I was given the opportunity to take over the jeweller’s where I had been working and I decided to give it a go.

A downside or obstacle ? I got ripped off by a fiduciary and a close friend. And one of my bosses and some people I worked for took advantage of me. When you need the work, it makes you vulnerable and people exploit that. I had no self-confidence. I let people walk all over me and felt scared all the time. I was just waiting for people to see my worth.

I’m proud of what I have experienced and my path in life.