Crystal clear

This time two months ago Jenny Mercian headed to New York with a suitcase carrying $360,000 worth of uninsured crystal because she couldn't afford the premiums. Just last month the Sydney-based jewellery designer added Deborah Harry to her growing database of international celebrity clients. So what next for the sector's surprise bundle? Tracey McEldowney reports.

It's a little eerie but almost always fun when someone's name matches their occupation. So try this one for size: couture jewellery designer Jenny Manik Mercian. Clear as mud?
Unfortunately the coincidence is lost on all - except those familiar with Sri Lankan dialects. In Mercian's native tongue Sinhalese, the name Manik means precious gemstone. Very apt for a top-end jewellery designer who uses crystals as her signature look.
Taken in its more literal meaning, manic is exactly what the past few months have been for Mercian and her burgeoning jewellery design business.
Since facing the unenviable choice of blowing her last $6,600 on a stand at last year's Mercedes Australian Fashion Week or giving up on her dream to propel her self-titled label onto the world stage, Mercian's feet have barely touched the ground.
Sponsorship deals with crystal manufacturer Swarovski, a ground-breaking appearance in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, high profile stockists including department stores Harvey Nichols and Myer, as well as a none too shabby celebrity client list suggest the designer's days of surviving on a pittance are well and truly over.
The 26-year-old's story dates back to 2001 when Mercian graduated from a Fashion and Textiles degree at the University of Technology Sydney with first class honors. With her Sri Lankan heritage making her a deft hand at sari beading as well as her natural passion for all things "sparkly", Mercian was still studying when she found work with various well-known Australian designers, including Gabriel Scarvelli and Terry Biviano.
She then opted to take time out from fashion to travel "to relax, take a break and decide what it was I really wanted to do".
Among the options she was considering was striking out on her own.
In 2002, while visiting Paris, Mercian says she was moved by the fashion capital's couture culture and high-end fashion statements. Inspired by cutting-edge fashion houses such as Christian Dior, Dolce and Gabbana, and Jean Paul Gaultier, Mercian began her own company with the same premise and Manik Mercian was born.
It was not until MAFW '05, however, when Mercian's star really took off.
It was there a chance visit from Vincent Daudin, a scout for lingerie label Victoria's Secret, offered her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"He was saying all this positive stuff about my range and how he would really like to with me on product development. I'm sure he thought I was the biggest dag in the world because I was a bit overwhelmed and kept going on about how much I loved Victoria's Secret.
"Then in September I got an email from their stylist [Vogue UK contributing editor Charlotte Stockdale] saying she was in love with my range and asking me to be part of the Victoria's Secret fashion show."
Mercian then had just a few weeks in which to come up with 10 looks across two themes - crystal princess and Russian ornaments.
A sleepless period ensued where Mercian had just three weeks to deliver the $360,000 worth of crystal-studded and fringed showpieces for the November event.
Engaging the help of sisters Sharon and Candi - both of whom do "all the boring bits" associated with running a profitable business - as well as numerous aunts, uncles and other family members, Mercian not only met the tight deadline but did so in spectacular style.
"To be honest I was that busy I didn't even think about insurance, I probably couldn't have afforded it anyway. So I carried some of the pieces with me as hand luggage and put the rest in my checked baggage. The whole time I kept thinking 'please don't let anything happen to it'.
"I literally got to the US, was met by their clearing agent who got us through customs and went straight to the show. Fortunately nothing was damaged and it all went really well."
On the back of her trip to New York, where Mercian also took her own collection, the label has secured talks with US-based department stores Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Bergdoff Goodman. Mercian hopes talks held with Dolce & Gabbana stylists with a view to the label providing pieces for other "high profile celebrities" may also prove profitable.
Mercian, whose pieces sell at price points of between $280 and $4000, acknowledges there is only a limited market for her range in Australia but plans to team up with a local designer to produce a more affordable range, may go some way to addressing the problem.
"The past six months or so has been a great learning experience and it's all a lead up for me to have the confidence to do what I want to do. There's still a long way to go . . . but I'm getting there."