Lea Saban is a jewellery designer driven by a genuine love for craft and the visual world it opens up. Colour, texture, beadwork, intricate pattern – the details that make an object feel alive. Her practice is built on a deep respect for handmade processes and the time, skill, and intention embedded in them, where the choice of a bead, a knot, and a woven structure carries meaning beyond decoration. The work she makes is considered, tactile and rooted in a real love for the handmade.
Current Obsession: Could you tell us the story behind your graduation project and what drew you to the subject?
Lea Saban: Rooted in the concept of ‘Katman’, meaning ‘layering’ in Turkish, my collection draws from the material and cultural language of Anatolian women. I look to textiles, garments, and domestic surfaces, where layers are not only worn but lived. Working with leather, lace, and hand-applied beads alongside silver, I build shifting compositions that reveal and conceal, reflecting the quiet complexity of inherited traditions. Beading introduces a subtle shimmer, echoing the decorative gestures found in traditional craftsmanship. Rather than direct replication, I translate these references into refined, contemporary forms. Through repetition, variation, and delicate ornamentation, I explore how identity, memory, and femininity are constructed over time, forming a layered, enduring structure.
CO: Beyond the gallery, where do you see your work taking root and finding its life? Who do you hope to reach with your work?
LS: Beyond the gallery, I see my work returning to the communities and traditions that inspired it. I want it to exist not only in exhibitions and collections, but also in collaborations with artisans, museums, cultural institutions, and contemporary fashion and jewellery spaces. My practice is rooted in Anatolian craftsmanship, and I hope it can help preserve techniques that are gradually disappearing by giving them a contemporary voice. My collection, ‘Katman’, explores the layers of identity, memory, and making through the material and cultural language of Anatolian women.
More than anything, I hope to reach people who value the stories behind objects. Whether someone is drawn to the craftsmanship, the cultural history, or simply the beauty of the work, I want each piece to encourage a slower way of looking – one that recognises the time, skill, and human connection embedded in handmade objects. If my work can spark curiosity about these traditions and contribute, even in a small way, to keeping them alive, then it has found its purpose.
CO: What’s your favourite studio ritual?
LS: My favourite studio ritual is laying everything out before I begin: beads, threads, sketches, colour tests, and small material samples. It helps me slow down and understand what the piece is asking for before I start making.
There is something very grounding about this quiet preparation. Once everything is in front of me, the studio becomes less like a workspace and more like a conversation between materials, memory, and instinct.
