Nadja Swarovski is Vice President of International Communications for Swarovski, the world’s leading crystal brand which was founded by her great-great-grandfather, Daniel Swarovski, in 1895.
Nadja was born in Austria in 1970, educated in Europe and America and is currently based in London. She decided at an early age that she needed the objectivity of an outsider’s perspective before she could consider a role within the family business and therefore graduated with a degree from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas before completing art and gem courses at both Sotheby’s and New York’s Gemological Institute of America.
She started her career at Larry Gagosian, one of the world’s most powerful and influential gallerists and then went on to work for Eleanor Lambert, the legendary New York fashion PR. This extensive experience and training at the heart of the art and fashion worlds provided her with a perfect platform from which to initiate her new branch of her family’s business. She is also a graduate of Harvard University and INSEAD.
In 1995 Nadja stepped into her first role at Swarovski, and began a visionary series of initiatives which have not only resulted in a complete turnaround in the company’s image, putting it at the forefront of creative trends within the design, art and fashion worlds, but which have also altered an entire aesthetic relating to crystal, exposing it as a new and revolutionary must have component for designers across the creative board.
Nadja’s first initiative was to set up a creative services centre, which supported innovative emerging fashion designers by offering them crystals at the same time as educating them in how they could be used. The importance in communicating the vast variety of application technique, colour, shape and sizes of the crystal has also been a central aspect of the creative services centre, where Nadja Swarovski encourages designers to experiment with the myriad possibilities and effects that can be achieved.
Encouraged early on by her long term supporter Isabella Blow, Nadja demonstrates an extensive ability to identify and nurture talent and her first collaborations with Alexander McQueen and Philip Treacy were not only incredibly impressive but at the same time kick started ongoing relationships with other designers, from Hussein Chalayan to Christopher Kane.
Inspired by the rich history surrounding chandeliers of the fifties, Nadja Swarovski extended her vision to the world of product design with an ambition to reinvent the chandelier, believing that an understanding of how the combination of crystal and lighting can be combined had been lost; the result was Swarovski Crystal Palace, first shown at the Milan Furniture Fair and then developed at Art Basel Miami. Swarovski Crystal Palace is now one of the most eagerly anticipated projects within the design industry, working with new and established talents such as Ron Arad, Tokujin Yoshioka and Tord Boontje to successfully change the perception of chandeliers.
Nadja has also developed close links with the film industry, with a nod to the company’s heritage when it provided the crystals for the memorable gown worn by Marilyn Monroe when she sang ‘Happy Birthday Mr President’. More recently initiatives have included collaborations with the industry’s top costume and set designers featuring Swarovski crystal in films such as James Bond, Oceans Thirteen and soon to be released the all star casted ‘Nine’. Meanwhile Swarovski crystals are regularly requested by costume and set designers for music shows such as Kylie Minogue, Beyonce & Madonna’s recent sticky and sweet tour.
Nadja’s seemingly endless array of initiatives also includes the introduction of Atelier Swarovski, a line of high end jewellery available to buy from only the most exclusive outlets in London and around the world. Atelier Swarovski brings the brand back to its jewellery roots, creating unexpected, innovative and utterly desirable pieces by some of the most cutting edge fashion designers such as Giles Deacon, Viktor and Rolf and Jonathan Saunders.