After opening in New York City and their hometown of Los Angeles last year, Yves Spinelli and Dwyer Kilcollin are now opening their first Spinelli Kilcollin flagship in London, cementing the independent brand’s 15-year anniversary.
“London is such an international city. We love being there. Its proximity to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia makes the city and its culture so alive,” Kilcollin said of the new flagship at 6 Brook Street in Mayfair.
The brand already has wholesale ties to the city, first launching at Dover Street London in in 2014 and carried today at Harrods, Liberty and Browns.
“London has been a vital part of our journey,” Spinelli said, explaining that the new store allows for a more personal level of engagement with clients and offers new experiences, “from bespoke design consultations to private events — while connecting our Los Angeles and New York roots to an international audience.”
The London flagship presents an intimate and fuller view of the brand’s collections and the founders view it as a creative hub reflecting their vision and ongoing commitment to connection and authentic design. “The magic of our stores is seeing how clients interact with the jewelry,” Spinelli said of the new space. “It’s a moment of connection, understanding, and discovery. From our first garage studio to three stores across the world in one year, it’s remarkable to see the brand grow while staying true to our values.”
Spinelli Kilcollin in New York City.
Courtesy Spinelli Kilcollin
Founded in 2010, the brand grew organically through a mix of wholesale accounts then branching out into private showrooms in Los Angeles and New York with appointment-only spaces that reflected the personal nature of the jewelry. In the early years the founders would travel for one-on-one appointments and host collectors in their L.A. studio, helping to foster relationships through a hands-on experience.
The move into opening their own boutiques has been part of the brand’s evolution that has resonated strongly with customers in New York and L.A. “I think the biggest revelation has just been how overdue we seem to be with our stores. We should have opened them years ago,” Kilcollin, who uses they/them pronouns, said. “Funding aside, the clients are there, and the ability to create a physical environment customers can move through and be enveloped by our brand identity is completely irreplaceable by anything else.”
Inside Spinelli Kilcollin’s flagship.
Courtesy Spinelli Kilcollin
Direct-to-consumer now represents 73 percent of their business — a dramatic shift from the brand’s wholesale beginnings and one Spinelli says started taking root during the 2020 lockdowns amid COVID-19.
“Previously, our business was about 80 percent wholesale. We’ve always had a website and worked directly with clients whom we met through friends and events, but it was difficult to grow our business solely through DTC. During lockdown, clients wanted to shop, but stores were closed, and we had a lot of stock. It was an excellent opportunity to connect with our clients and work closely with them.”
Kilcollin added that the duo always wanted to build a “stronger” direct business, but scaling required more resources than working with wholesalers, whose audience and footprint are already more established.
“When we started, brands were still extremely reliant on wholesale accounts to connect with customers and to validate a brand as being important,“ they said, pointing to their debut at Barneys New York, which increased business and exposure. “To be able to say, ‘Oh, we’re carried in Barneys,’ then people started to pay more attention to what we were doing. “
COVID changed the playbook when stores were forced to close, pushing consumers online. “So we had all this inventory. And the customers found us. I think many brands in our sector experienced a lot of direct growth at the time. When stores began to reopen, we all discovered — brands and stores alike — that our terms had changed,” they said. “Brands were not as reliant on stores, which previously had the upper hand. We were able to negotiate much better business terms at that point and were more comfortable walking away from relationships with stores that no longer benefited us.”
Spinelli Kilcollin’s assortment.
Courtesy Spinelli Kilcollin
The founders reported that year-over-year their DTC business is up 90 percent.
“Our brand identity is rooted in its appeal to and embrace of a wide audience,” Kilcollin said, adding that building a collection of “incredible pieces within the $250 to $500 price range has helped us reach new audiences, and that is really important to us. We still retain a substantial mid- to high-price point business, including customization at every price point, and our young audience loves the entry-level price points. We still feel young ourselves, so the idea is to grow with our customers. Sixty percent of our business comes from referrals. Clients have a great experience with our brand, and tend to build on their collections over time.”
At the heart of the brand is the product — their Galaxy linked rings are easily identifiable and a pillar of their brand ethos. From there they have added a range of collections built on their craftsmanship. “But storytelling amplifies it,” they said. “When someone understands the idea behind a ring, the craft, the intention, it becomes more than an object; it becomes personal. And when that’s paired with thoughtful service, experiences, and access, the momentum builds naturally.”
Some of our the brand’s most popular items are in all silver or a mix of silver and gold, helping to buttress them through a period where gold prices have skyrocketed. “Gold has increased almost 40 percent in a year, so we’ll need to reevaluate prices,” Spinelli reported, adding that they will continue to work with the same jewelers and suppliers to develop collections to sell exclusively in their stores and website.
But as they expand their retail footprint, wholesale remains “a crucial part” of their business. “We cannot possibly reach all of the clients we want to on our own. Partnering with stores allows us to have a presence with people we would not otherwise be able to reach. To allow people to try on the jewelry and learn about our story from stores they know and trust,” Kilcollin said.
Success rests in “remaining authentic as we grow,” they explained, noting that growth is limited since the duo are sole owners. “We can only scale with the money we make each year. But that is our money, and it is our growth. So we open one or two stores at a time. Opening 20 stores at a time wouldn’t work for us at this stage, because those would be private equity stores, not Spinelli Kilcollin stores,” Kilcollin said.
They added, “this brand is our life. It is the way we choose to interface with the world as individuals, as a cultural entity, as a job, and also as a purpose in life. Outside investment has no part in that. We are here to feel and to be free to navigate this journey as we choose.”
