Written by Patricia Wadensjö, and published in LOFT The Nordic BOOKAZINE Volume #8
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Some people struggle a whole lifetime to get in touch with their feelings and innermost wishes. Others seem to be born with that rare gift – a direct connection to their emotional self. Belonging to this second category, jewelry designer Efva Attling also makes it the color of her success.

Efva Attling has just stepped into her office. She is dressed in black and seemingly wears no make-up. Her blond shortish hair is tightly held together in the smallest pony-tail. The office, located in the picturesque quarters on the heights of the southern part of Stockholm, is brand new, inaugurated only a few months ago. It still smells freshly of the peach powder-colored walls, and no dust has had time to land on the white carpets yet. The atmosphere is quiet, soothing.

Objects designed by Efva are exhibited on the first floor – rings and necklaces, champagne glasses, a model of a car, a leather jacket, watches, glasses. Beside the staircase, white leather sofas and a table of glass.

– I went to the gym this morning, it’s been six months since I last did so! I probably won’t be able to laugh tomorrow. And that’s a problem, because I laugh a lot! That Efva Attling starts to talk about her training with a big ball and the problem of tomorrow’s sore stomach muscles surely is a coincidence … .It is like she’s heading right into the core of her business – her choices are fundamentally guided by her stomach, her own gut feelings and motivation.

– I guess I have a very short distance to my feelings. I cry, I laugh and I probably do have a great deal of empathy; I want those who are working with me to feel good. Efva Attling is doing what she wants to do. According to her, to touch people is the greatest luxury.

– To do what I love and to meet the people that come to my boutiques, that is the best thing … I have fans who come there who have bought everything I have done. To have made something that holds a meaning to them is the finest reward I get as a designer. For instance, I have met women who have recently recovered from cancer. They come into the shop to buy a golden ring with the inscription Carpe Diem (seize the day) to give themselves something … that my company is successful is just a bonus.

That Efva Attling’s business is a success is beyond doubt. This year she celebrates 10 years as a jewelry designer and admits that, “unfortunately”, it has been a steady climb upwards from the start. Today she has five Efva Attling stores in the Nordic countries and eight companies. Her products are sold by 73 retailers in Sweden and 75 in the rest of the world. Last year, in 2007, the total turnover was 75.5 million Swedish crowns, a 31 percent increase compared to 2006, and a 100 percent increase compared to 2005. But let’s dwell on the fundamentals of her success. What is it about her bracelets and earrings that touches people? What is it that makes Madonna order a new Efva Attling necklace right after she lost her first one?

Music and silver

Here, Efva Attling’s background as a singer and songwriter definitely is in play. In the early 80s, she founded the pop band ‘X-Models’ and had a huge hit with ‘Två av oss’ (Two of Us), which pounded away along with the heartbeat of every Swedish teenager back then. Music means a lot to her, and her writing of lyrics has continued, now as words engraved on her jewelry pieces, I work a lot with words and always look for new expressions. My intention is that people could ask someone else, what’s that written on your ring?

Then you can show what it is you want to say, make your statement, show who you are … what you stand for. Maybe the two of you start a conversation on what you value in life, perhaps find each other and give birth to new lives … I guess I want to contribute to having more people in the world!

Perhaps it is here that music and silver come together for Efva Attling: songs and rings make people connect. Quite simply, one of Efva’s latest designs is a pendant and a ring with the Swedish word for love – ‘Kärlek’.

The necklace that Madonna valued is a plain pendant with a leather strap and two plates in silver; one with the word “Homo” and the other with the word “Sapiens” (The Knowing Man). To Efva it is obvious that Madonna realizes the true meaning of this: that every human is equal.

Homo Sapiens is one of Efva Attling’s biggest “hits” as a designer. Others include Hope, Time will come and Amor vincit omni (Love Conquers All).The price tag is an important factor that explains why Efva Attling’s pieces are not only admired, but also worn by many. In fact, prices range from a few hundred Swedish crowns to 1.5 million crowns for a 6 carat diamond ring.So, at 690 crowns, Homo Sapiens is not only available to Madonna but also to teenagers putting together wish lists for their birthday.

– I can just think of myself as 14 or 15 years old. Just imagine being able to wish for something that is not impossible for the family to buy… that’s why Homo Sapiens must cost 690 Swedish crowns for as long as I live! For me it’s also important to do something for everybody, for all stages in life, for every person. I do not want to restrict myself in that way. The important thing is that it comes from me and what I feel.

The expression, the words, precedes the shape. Looking for new ideas is also what Efva Attling spends most of her time on today, even if she sometimes wishes to do more of the hammering itself, working with the raw material. That was what first attracted her to the profession, in fact as early as at age 16.

– I think metals fit well with my temperament. I’m impatient and therefore it does not fit with who I am to work with textiles, for example, like my grandmother did. But she does not have a single favorite material:

– I work with both gold and silver, and could not choose between them if I had to. It would be like sorting out specific human persona

lities, and you cannot, because you need them all. Silver is very easy to handle at first, easily caught so to speak, but in the end it’s real tricky to get it right. With gold, it’s the opposite. Gold is much harder and tougher in the beginning, but the more you work with it, the more you realize you’re handling a real treasure.

They are my legs!

‘Amor fati’ (love of our destiny) is another expression Efva Attling has used. To her, it has a specific importance: – You are in charge of your own life, you cannot blame anyone else for your destiny. It is up to you if you want to lead an enjoyable or a boring life. That insight came to her early and it has also been one of her driving forces. She also demonstrated this as a very young girl.

– I think it all started with my dad saying to me: “You could never be a model with those skinny legs!” He challenged me … And so I did a commercial, for stockings. It was for a big department store … a whole page in the daily paper. I took the page, showed it to dad and asked him for his opinion. “Now that’s the way a pair of nice legs should look”, he replied, upon which I announced : “You know dad, they are my legs!”

Efva didn’t enjoy school. She felt shut in and chose to quit her studies by the age of 16. After one year of working as apprentice to a silversmith, she was discovered as a model. The world was waiting for her and a one-way bus ticket for Paris turned out to be the starting point for a twelve-year long modeling career.

– Those were exciting years, and lively. If I hadn’t come there with my stable background – my mother and father and four sisters – I don’t know if I would have endured that tough environment; a lot of drugs, parties, uncertain living conditions and long lines of insecure 17-year old girls, all wanting to be loved. But I liked it, I really learned a lot.

An invitation to sing with a band in a restaurant in Italy made her realize she had come to an end with the modeling, and eventually returned home with a tape for her friend, Abba’s Benny Andersson. – He thought it was crap. But I didn’t give up. I put up a note, ‘Band wanted’, in a music store. That led to X-Models, and I guess that was good. Eventually I wrote ‘Two of us’ and we sold 40,000 records.

Two intense years followed, with appearances on television and constant touring. After the band split up, Efva continued on her own. In total she made five records. Music is not only important to Efva Attling because of her own career. She has always hung out with musicians “we speak the same language” – and eventually had two children with musician and singer Niklas Strömstedt. Later, she met singer and songwriter Eva Dahlgren, with whom she lives today.

Sides of fame

Having figured in the media since the age of 16, Efva Attling is used to what fame means. That her partner also is a public person does not make it easier, at least not in Sweden.

– Of course, it doesn’t. Being ‘Efva and Eva’ can also create some confusion. Younger people might come up to Eva and say: “I love your jewelry!” Which seems strange considering she wrote Ängeln i rummet (Angel in the room)!* But we’re used to it; it’s not a big deal.

A more negative side of fame, according to Efva, is not being allowed to have ‘a bad day at the supermarket’. Changing paths from singer to designer also provoked some skepticism regarding her skills.

– Since people knew about me before, it was not a question of whether they liked my work or not. Instead, it was about turning my designs around at least three times to check my ability. People who think that I’m successful in selling my products just because of my fame are, in my opinion, minimizing my customers, treating them as idiots. So, in this case, fame has had a rather negative impact. On the other hand, Efva Attling says, being used to television has helped. Growing older also gives perspective. Still, although she is used to fame, it is a real treat to travel abroad.

– Then I can be just one of the crowd, only being myself. That’s really nice and important to me. Also, I love spending time at airports, checking people out, fantasizing about where they are going … it is great fun.

For her company’s tenth anniversary, Efva Attling has designed ‘Champagne’, necklace and earrings in a limited edition. This year she will also open the doors to a jewelry shop exclusively for men, ‘Attling Man’, capitalizing on the trend among mainly younger men to combine bracelet with suit, and next year she will put the shop online. She certainly also has a long-term vision.

– My vision, or plan, is to become Europe’s Vera Wang. Basically we do the same thing, although she is so much bigger. I do wedding rings, champagne glasses and so on, but I want to do the whole wedding package, just like her. The cutlery, the porcelain, setting the table, everything. That is a future plan that I hope will come true.

Fame will surely continue to play a natural part in Efva Attling’s life. Most probably she will also continue to touch and connect people.

* ‘Ängeln i rummet’ by Eva Dahlgren from 1989 is considered to be a classic Swedish pop ballad.

This article was published in LOFT The Nordic BOOKAZINE Volume #8. It was written by Patricia Wadensjö.