Our new squeeze: Q&A with COOPS inventor Emma Sharp

No one except Emma Sharp, that is. 

A St Martins-trained jewellery designer, Emma spent years creating bespoke engagement and wedding rings as the director of Emma Franklin Jewellery (her maiden name), before she was inspired to revisit her graduate project – an earring design that bypassed the need for piercing or clasps. 

Because the design itself was the attachment mechanism, using only friction to stay in place on the earlobe  – the form was the function – her squeeze-on earrings marked a genuine innovation in jewellery design.

That was in 2012. Four years, a host of COOP-adorned celebrities, a heap of international coverage, a list of retail stockists stretching from London to Tokyo, and 13 refined, elegant designs later, COOPS is now one of the most exciting cult jewellery brands out there, and certainly the most interesting in terms of design.

Now part of the Zetteler client clan (hooray!), COOPS is celebrating its fourth birthday in November with a gorgeous new website, two new designs and a sultry black-metal option joining its gold, silver and rose gold ranges. 

Here, Emma tell us about the new designs, explains how COOPS came to be and details the role that body binding and raw meat played in its evolution…

We researched the word ‘Circle’ for ages – as this is the iconic shape for COOPS – and found this word. We were pleased we could reflect the shape visually in the logo at the same time. The fine tuning of the logo and branding was conducted with the help of the wonderful Grace Winteringham of PATTERNITY.

I've been a jewellery designer and maker for 12 years, having studied jewellery design at Central St Martins. I launched COOPS London Ltd nearly four years ago when I felt ready for the challenges I knew it would face in the fashion world. I had gained much experience with my other company Emma Franklin Ltd, which I lunged into as soon as I left college. I probably learned the hard way but I like it like that, and I was determined to make it work bit by bit, piece by piece.

 

My degree show! My collection was all about holding the pieces of jewellery on using the flesh of the body and not a mechanism or a separate fastening that would ruin the flow of the piece. I studied body binding a lot and practised on my dear housemate Anna Murray of PATTERNITY – we had fun with this and found it so interesting. I found myself getting so far into the research and experimenting with traditional techniques that I wasn't sure where it would translate to jewellery but it did, resulting in a lot of my work being exhibited in a hidden fridge of raw meat to represent the human flesh – not my usual material, being a vegetarian. I certainly didn't want the work to be judged as bondage, which is a conclusion people jumped to – it was purely experimenting how the pressure of different forms could be held on the body alone. 

The flow of a single line is the entirety of a COOP; this is a really important element for me. It is rare that the function doesn't jeopardise the form; with COOPS, function is form and form is function. I am proud of this. The non-pierced thing was something that appealed to a lot of people but it wasn't the inspiration for the design. 

 

When my tutor at college first saw them and gave me a look. He said very little but it meant a lot – I found this with him, the less he said, the more it meant. It really stuck with me that I should come back to them some day. When I launched them, the reaction was totally overwhelming. We got a spot at Premiere Classes in Paris for Fashion Week immediately. The person in charge, Virginine, realised I wasn't aware of how special it was to get a place there at this time and so came and told me, in a very cool French accent, that it meant a lot and I should be proud – she became my girl crush as a result. People showing there were saying it had taken them as long as 15 years to get a place there – I’d never known this level of international excitement. The gates opened and we had so much interest it was crazy. Buyers from all over the word who see everything were saying ‘I've never seen this before.’ I knew they wouldn't have done, but still to get the attention of some of the most highly respected international buyers in the world: wow! We received  orders from Sarah of Colette, Paris, Rasmus of Storm, Copenhagen, Sophie of Matches Fashion, London, a brilliant number of amazing Japanese buyers – for the stores we only ever dreamed to be in. When we later exhibited in Tokyo, the buyers there couldn't believe we had made sales in Japan without visiting; they normally don't commit to ordering unless you have been over at least once – it's a very different way of working and we learned a lot when we were there. 

I'm coming up with new designs all the time but I try to keep it gentle and release them slowly so each one gets its glory. I try anything that comes to me and I make samples in my studio often – some naturally work better than others, so it's a filtering process.

The new shapes on the site will be the Bobble COOPS – I have realised the bobbles are something I have incorporated into my work for years and, when applied to the original (round) COOP, it works delicately and I think might become one of the most popular styles. I was given a necklace from my parents for my 30th that my mother used to wear always, though I hadn't remembered it. The necklace is a coin-sized fine circle of gold with bobbles round the outside edge; it pops open to allow the glass to come out so you can place a picture – I have the same faded old snap of my Pa in it, which I treasure. Subliminal inspiration!

All designs are now available in a black finish too; it looks so bold. I have been testing the perfect process for black for a long time. I've tried black gold which doesn't hold, and oxidising which flakes off after time… This is a very deep black rhodium, which is hard to come by but gives us the handsome finish we were searching for.

It's brilliant (am I allowed to say this? I didn't do the work, so I think I am). Thanks to very clever design and tech people, it flows beautifully and immediately welcomes you into the COOPS world. As the concept of the earrings is unique to us, it's really important to express what they are and how they function right away. I feel the new website does this. 

 

A dear friend – Will Perrens of AtWork [who also designed the Zetteler site]. He created my first-ever website about 10 years ago for my other company, Emma Franklin Ltd. He knows me and what I like; he knows where to push me and the ideas, and occasionally allows me to dig my heels in about something! The brief was clarity and flow.

Clerkenwell, London. It's a very treasured place for me; I have been there from the start. I have one other permanent member of staff, Elinor, who is super and keeps everything in check! I have a team scattered about. Charley, who is an ambassador, used to be full-time and holds COOPS as close to her heart as I do. She now works freelance and I couldn't be without her. Tom Howlett helps me a lot with my bespoke company – I met him as a client years ago (I made him an engagement ring). He made my Emma Franklin website and likes me to run everything EF or COOPS related by him, which is such a help. Paul manages packaging and now production too; he's great and so kind and supportive. The Zetteler ladies who now run social and PR vibes are wonderful and I'm so excited to move forward with this and give it the attention it deserves. Website Will, he's a dream; photographer Philip – I hope that's everyone! 

We produce in Leicestershire, with a small workshop there. We also work closely with a workshop in China (it's the name nobody wants to hear but it's a beautiful set-up I feel extremely comfortable with, having tried many European and international countries). Production Paul visits regularly, having built a very good relationship with a small Taiwanese family-run workshop out there. The standards are so high in their workshop and the ethos is reflected in the finish of the work. It is better than anywhere we have tried, and we have tried many!

Initially, the marvellous Sabine but now all the brilliant Zetteler humans! This is a transition for COOPS from the fashion world to the design world where we fit so much better. COOPS are a design product; our clients are often design/art-based and see them for their sensitive design qualities and longevity. Zetteler’s enthusiasm, time and devotion lifted me to the sky right away. They are ship-shape and crystal clear in all they do. I am smitten by their modest yet passionate approach to how they work in the design world, keeping in control where many don't. Because they’re very selective about whom they work with, I'm honoured to be shoulder-to-shoulder with their other super clients!

I'd like the concept to be understood more frequently. As much as I love seeing people’s first reactions to them and how they hold the lobe, it is also really pleasing when people say ‘Oh yeah, COOPS – I know how they work’. So I suppose the aim is spreading the COOPS love further and wider, seeing them on more lobes.

No! COOPS are earrings. The mechanism applies to nothing else – trust me, I have tried! I would be doing the thing I get so disappointed designers so often do in order to have a 'range' or 'full collection' – throwing in some bangles and necklaces would weaken the brand. I am thrilled by the devotion to one thing. I like to see the power in something that works perfectly and can stand strong alone, without a bunch of extra bits next to it. When I see collections it is always so clear which pieces are leading it and which have been added to keep the fashion buyers happy. This is why COOPS are better suited to the design world, because the respect is there for the concept and for that to be the focus.