Interview
Trovelore at Couverture
This May, we are hosting a Trovelore pop-up in store from the 18th to the 23rd, to coincide with Chelsea Flower Show, showcasing an extended collection inspired by the British summer. To celebrate, we sat down with the founders of Trovelore to talk all things drawn by nature, made by hand.
The embroidery studio has spent years translating the textures and intricacy of the natural world into wearable jewellery. Working with threads, beads, sequins, and wire, each piece is built through close observation and layered handwork, existing at the intersection of textile art and adornment.
For a limited time, the pop-up will feature both brooches and objects available to shop in store.
What sparked the idea behind Trovelore, and how did your journey into creating embroidered jewellery begin?
Trovelore began with a deep and enduring pull toward the natural world, an instinct to observe, collect, and interpret what we saw around us. "Drawn by nature, made by hand" has always been at the heart of that impulse. In the early stages, we were exploring how embroidery, traditionally bound to fabric, could take on form, hold structure, and exist more independently. That inquiry quickly found its most natural expression in jewellery. It allowed us to translate what we were observing into pieces that could be worn, intimate, tactile, and close to the body.
As we worked with threads, beads, and sequins, we began to see how these materials could echo the textures, fragility, and intricacy of the natural world, while also holding a certain permanence. Jewellery continues to remain the core of our practice. At the same time, it has led us toward creating objects and textile-based works that extend this language further, bringing in a more sculptural and expressive dimension, where the pieces can exist as art as much as adornment. Over time, Trovelore has evolved into a practice of interpretation, where nature is not replicated, but reimagined through handwork, memory, and material.
Your designs capture intricate details of flora and fauna, how do you research and develop each motif to make it feel so lifelike and distinctive?
Every piece begins with close observation, not just of form, but of presence. We study how something exists in the world: the way a wing rests, how a stem bends, or how a surface catches light. From there, the process shifts from observation to interpretation. What we're trying to capture is not just how something looks, but how it feels to encounter it.
This is where the hand becomes central. Within a very small surface, often no more than a square inch, we bring together a complex mix of materials and techniques, threads, beads, sequins, and other elements, layered with intention.
Matte and shine, rough and smooth, density and lightness are carefully balanced and built up in an almost organic way. These layers are not uniform; they shift and blend, much like they do in nature itself. It's this interplay, of material, technique, and time, that creates depth and a sense of life. The result moves beyond embroidery as a medium, becoming something more instinctive, an emotional response, a moment of recognition, a quiet reconnect with the natural world. In that sense, each piece becomes less a reproduction and more a tribute.
Trovelore pieces blur the line between textile art and jewellery. Can you walk us through the journey of a single piece?
For us, each design begins as a visual impression, something encountered in nature that stays with us. We study the subject closely, and then translate it into a sketch, where we begin to understand how it might take form. From there, the piece evolves through making. We explore how it can hold structure, how different materials behave, and how complex techniques can come together to support the form. There's a constant dialogue between making and refining. Decisions shift as the piece develops, sometimes guided by the material, at other times by the technique itself. Colour plays an equally important role. We approach it almost like watercolour, layering and blending tones through different materials so that light moves across the surface in a subtle, fluid way.
Over time, the piece begins to take on a life of its own, becoming less about construction and more about presence. We think of these as small sculptural works, where multiple elements come together seamlessly. The final piece should not reveal the complexity behind it. Instead, everything merges into a single, cohesive expression, something that feels instinctive, and in quiet harmony with the natural world.
Your work combines threads, beads, sequins, and stones, how do you experiment with these elements to achieve such depth and dimension?
For us, working with materials begins in a place of curiosity and instinct, almost a childlike excitement in responding to what we see in nature. Rather than thinking of each element in isolation, we approach them as gestures, like layers of paint coming together to build an image. Threads, beads, sequins, wires, each adds a different quality, whether it's texture, light, or structure.
There's an intuitive process of layering and blending. Surfaces shift between matte and shine, smooth and irregular, dense and open, much like they do in the natural world. Materials are not placed in a fixed way; they evolve together, responding to one another as the piece develops. At its core, it's less about the materials themselves and more about the impulse behind them. The combinations are driven by a need to express a particular feeling, something sparked by nature, and translated through the hand.
When it comes together, the piece doesn't read as a collection of elements. It feels unified, like a single expression, where texture, light, and form exist in balance.
Looking ahead, are there new categories, collaborations, or creative directions you're excited to explore?
"Drawn by nature, made by hand" continues to guide how we think about what comes next. We're interested in expanding this language into new forms, whether through objects, larger textile works, or collaborations that allow the pieces to exist in different contexts such as fashion, interiors, or more immersive environments.
At the same time, any new direction remains rooted in the same intent, to create work that feels considered, tactile, and closely connected to the natural world. Whether it's a piece of jewellery or a larger sculptural object, the approach remains unchanged.
Growth for us is not about scale, but about depth. We prefer to work slowly and deliberately, allowing each piece to carry a certain sense of attention and care. As long as the work continues to feel like a celebration of nature, something made with intention, the direction tends to reveal itself.
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