To back up its pledge to support British jewellery talent, The Jewellery Cut has launched a bursary scheme that awards one promising jewellery brand the opportunity to be part of The Jewellery Cut Live for free each season, supported with six months of PR services from Push PR. The first recipient of this award is Cult of Youth.

Cult of Youth is a London-based silver jewellery brand founded by Kelly Seymour in 2011. The brand started out on a stall at Portobello Market, before being picked up by Urban Outfitters and sold at its stores in key locations including London, Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris.

In 2015, the brand shifted tack as Seymour gave birth to her son, Elvis, and started to document her life as a single mother, entrepreneur and jeweller. Her honest accounts of parenting and the struggles of running a business at the same time, both single-handedly, as well as the poetry she shared with her followers won her huge engagement levels on Instagram. A silver letter necklace spelling out MAMA became a bestseller, and this motif has been applied to new styles including rings and lockets.

The Cult of Youth collection has since expanded to include on-trend, fashionable jewels with a rock ‘n’ roll edge at accessible price points. Motifs in the current collection include lightening bolts, skulls, colourful fabric tassels, balloon dogs, engraved lockets and tumbled crystals.

“I’ve watched Kelly from afar, like many of her Instagram followers, in utter awe as she has navigated parenting and running her own business,” says The Jewellery Cut editorial director Rachael Taylor. “I’ve seen her put in the 3am finishes, the superhuman post runs; juggle breakfast time with making jewellery at her kitchen table. All the while, replying diligently to each of her tens of thousands of followers and trying to keep a four-year-old amused. She’s an inspiration for many women and business owners out there, and after seeing her put so much effort into building up Cult of Youth, I wanted to do something to help push it that bit further.”

As winner of the first The Jewellery Cut Live bursary, Cult of Youth will take part in the upcoming show on February 18^th& 19^th, 2019, at The Apartment within The Hoxton Holborn in London. The brand will have a dedicated cabinet, supplied by Visionary Creative Displays, with insurance provided by ARB International. Cult of Youth will have the opportunity to meet key jewellery buyers and press, as well as sell jewellery over the two days as the show is open to all (simply register for a free ticket here). Seymour will also be taking part in a panel discussion during the show at 11.30am on Monday, February 18^thabout motherhood and entrepreneurship – tickets are limited and can be bought here.

“I am delighted to have been awarded this bursary and am honoured to be working with The Jewellery Cut and Push PR over these coming months,” says Seymour. “It’s been a slow and steady journey since I began my career in jewellery, with ups and downs and swings and roundabouts, like many small businesses, but I hope this shows that it is possible to achieve your dreams from scratch without any investment or connections to the industry.

“It was only when my son was born that my business started gaining real momentum and I hope this can help to encourage and support those questioning whether it is possible to build a career you love whilst performing the role of a single mother. If you’ve caught any of my stories, you’ll have seen it’s mostly me in my kitchen working until the early hours, and I am blown away to have been acknowledged in this way. I am aiming to remix some old classics and to create and present some new [designs at the show], and I’m very much looking forward to seeing it pull together. Thanks so much to Rachael and Andrew for giving me this opportunity, and to Push PR for welcoming me into the fold. I’m so excited to be working with all of you.”

As part of The Jewellery Cut Live Bursary, Cult of Youth will now be on the books at Push PR for the next six months. The jewellery team at Push – which also represents Dinny Hall, Vieri Fine Jewellery, Olivia & Pearl and The Jewellery Cut – will be handling all press requests regarding the brand, a role Seymour was previously managing alone. It will also implement a strategy to raise the brand’s profile in the media.

Book your free ticket to attend The Jewellery Cut Live on February 18th & 19th at The Hoxton Holborn in London. You can also book a ticket to How to juggle work, life and motherhood with Cult of Youth and The Jewellery Cut at 11.30am on Monday, 18th February, for £20 (tickets include a welcome drink and entry to the main show).