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Vania Leles, Founder & Director of VANLELES
Vania Leles leads the globe’s first female founded, African fine jewellery house, VANLELES; a platform she created in 2011 to grant Africa a voice, however her work towards this had begun much earlier.
Having been born in Guinea Bissau, educated in the UK and Portugal and after a lucrative career as a model, she became passionate about disrupting the fine jewellery industry. Leles spent just over a decade honing her skills, experience and knowledge.
The making of VANLELES came in the shape of Leles selling a number of her valuable items, in order to put together the initial seed funding she would need to make her vision come to life. Alongside this, she began designing custom pieces for high-value clients in a rented studio. She demonstrated the importance of relationship building when a supplier she had met whilst educating herself on the industry, lent her a whopping £1.1 million worth of stones on trust. This followed an investment from a long-term client, years later which allowed her to properly market her pieces.
“I went from panicking to hopeful and now I am navigating the pandemic, the lockdowns with optimism and resilience. Our clients have been incredibly supportive and I am so grateful to count on their continued support,” Leles comments regarding her 2020.
“In 2021, #IPLEDGE to be more present and be more grateful to all that I have in life. Being so fortunate, I pledge to be more generous towards the less fortunate and dedicate more time to the charities close to my heart such as Malaika Foundation led by my dear, as she is doing remarkable and selfless work and deserves to be supported.”