Interview with Linh of Maison Variée

Today, we’re excited to share an inspiring conversation with artist and designer Linh, founder of Maison Variée. A Berlin-based jewellery brand where art and jewellery come together. Guided by intuition and a deep appreciation for beauty, Linh’s work reflects her personal journey and her desire to create pieces that carry emotion and meaning. Each design begins as an artistic gesture and becomes something intimate, worn close to the body. In this interview, we talk with Linh about her background, her creative process, and what continues to inspire her.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?
My name is Linh. I’m a former market access and pricing expert in the pharmaceutical industry turned entrepreneur, based in Berlin with Vietnamese roots, and the founder and creative director of Maison Variée. I have been painting since childhood, and although my career initially followed a more analytical path, creativity has always been central to how I see and understand the world. Over time, my practice expanded beyond painting into form, material and design, which eventually led me to jewellery. Today, my work brings together sculpture, colour and emotion, translating a painterly approach into pieces meant to be worn close to the body, shaped by an interest in depth, nuance and lived experience.

How did you get started in jewellery line?
Once I knew that I wanted to build a jewellery brand, I entered the industry directly and intentionally. With very little prior knowledge but a clear sense that I needed to understand the system from the inside, I booked a flight to Istanbul to attend an international jewellery trade fair for professionals. It was an intense and unfamiliar environment, but it gave me immediate access to the realities of the industry, from production structures to material constraints.

From the start, I engaged directly with the ecosystem, speaking with manufacturers, asking precise questions and observing how decisions are made in real time. Being physically present mattered. It allowed me to understand not only how jewellery is made, but how vision, craftsmanship and production intersect in practice.

Following that experience, I completed several jewellery-making workshops and programs abroad to gain a hands-on understanding of working with metals. Developing a direct relationship with the materials helped me build an intuitive sense of form, technique and limitation, which continues to shape how I design today. Together, these experiences marked the true beginning of my journey into building my own jewellery line.

What inspired you to start your own jewellery brand?
I wanted to create a space where jewellery could exist as a form of self-expression rather than decoration alone. That impulse was shaped in part by someone significant in my life, who encouraged me to listen more closely to my inner world and to trust my own sense of direction. At the time, I was working in the pharma industry, a field that was highly data-driven and outcome-focused, with very little room for intuitive or emotional expression.

Ironically, the most creative part of my day was designing PowerPoint slides or colour-coding Excel spreadsheets. Looking back, that already revealed something important. Even in a highly analytical environment, I was instinctively working with structure, colour and visual language.

Starting my own brand became a conscious decision to realign my professional life with how I naturally think and create. It allowed me to translate inner states such as emotion, identity and movement into objects that feel personal and empowering, and to build a visual language shaped by art, intuition and craftsmanship. Creating Maison Variée meant working without compromise and placing creativity back at the centre as a deliberate choice.

The name of your brand is Maison Variée. What is the story behind this name?
The idea to explore jewellery first took shape in Paris during an art exhibition where I presented my work in January 2024. Being in that environment encouraged me to reflect on how my artistic language could move beyond painting and take on a more tangible, wearable form. Paris didn’t feel like a starting point as much as a moment of clarity, where different strands of my practice began to come together.

The word “maison” represents a creative home rather than a physical place. A space shaped by process, intuition and exchange, where ideas are developed slowly and with intention. “Variée” speaks to variation, individuality and multiplicity, to the belief that identity is not fixed but constantly evolving. Together, the name reflects a space where different expressions, emotions and ways of being can coexist through art and jewellery.

How does your personal story influence your designs?
My personal story influences my designs through a deep sensitivity to identity, emotion and transformation. Growing up with different cultural references and later moving between disciplines shaped how I relate to contrast, balance and change. These experiences inform how I think about form and meaning, as elements that evolve over time.

I approach jewellery much like I approach painting, as a way to translate inner states into visual language. The pieces emerge from feeling and movement before they become fully articulated, guided by gesture, rhythm and form. Rather than telling a literal story, I design with openness, allowing each piece to become a point of connection where the wearer can bring their own experience and identity into the work.

“Creating Maison Variée meant working without compromise and placing creativity back at the centre as a deliberate choice.”

How would you describe your brand’s style?
Maison Variée’s style is a direct extension of how I see and experience the world. I work intuitively, guided by emotion, movement and form, which translates into sculptural silhouettes and painterly surfaces. The pieces often feel fluid yet grounded, balancing softness with strength, and structure with ease.

There is a strong focus on presence and tactility. I’m drawn to forms that feel considered in the hand and expressive on the body, where line, weight and surface interact with movement. Jewellery for me is never just decorative. It is personal and expressive, designed to feel like a quiet companion that reflects individuality and carries meaning for the wearer.

Where do you usually find inspiration for new designs?
Inspiration often begins internally, but it’s closely tied to observation and presence. I pay close attention to how people move through space, and to how emotion appears in gesture, posture or rhythm. Painting remains a constant influence, particularly the way colour, texture and line can suggest feeling without needing to be defined.

I’m also drawn to organic forms in nature and to moments of transition, where something shifts quietly rather than dramatically. Inspiration rarely arrives as a clear image. It begins as a sensation or rhythm and slowly takes shape through sketching, painting and working with form, until it finds its physical expression in jewellery.

When you started your brand, who did you imagine wearing your designs?
When I started the brand, I imagined women who see jewellery as a form of self-expression rather than something purely decorative. Women who have moved through change or challenge and developed their own sense of lightness and strength along the way. They are emotionally aware, comfortable with complexity, and confident in their identity without needing to prove it.

Rather than a specific type, I thought of individuals drawn to art with meaning, who value sustainability and craftsmanship. They pay close attention to detail and design, and they connect with the pieces intuitively, making them part of their own story rather than wearing them for effect.

How did you figure out who your main audience would be?
Understanding the audience was an intentional process that combined analytical structure with creative judgment. In the early stages, I worked with market research, audience segmentation and performance metrics to inform positioning, pricing and communication. These tools helped establish clarity and direction, but they were never meant to define the brand on their own.

As the collections developed, I paid close attention to qualitative feedback and emotional response, observing how people engaged with the work rather than how they were expected to respond. Bringing data and intuition together allowed me to shape a brand that is strategically grounded while remaining artistically authentic, one that speaks to people who connect with the work on a deeper, more intuitive level.

What kind of customer do you feel connect most with your brand?
The people who connect most with my brand are those who respond to the work on an emotional level. They value depth and intention in the objects they choose and are drawn to design that feels considered and expressive rather than immediate or loud. Often, they are in a phase of personal growth or transition and look for jewellery that feels grounding and personal.

What connects us is a shared sensitivity to nuance and meaning. They choose pieces that integrate naturally into their daily lives and evolve with them over time, becoming familiar companions rather than one-off moments. The jewellery reflects something internal, quietly supporting how they move through the world.

Do your pieces usually have a meaning or story behind them?
Meaning plays a central role in my work, while leaving space beyond fixed or prescriptive narratives. I prefer to create pieces that act as vessels for experience. The Aria Heart Ring explores love as a universal symbol, yet one that is deeply shaped by culture, memory and personal history.

Across cultures, love is expressed in very different ways, sometimes openly and outwardly, sometimes quietly through care, presence or responsibility. There is also a difference between loving others and learning to love oneself, and that balance often shifts over time. As we evolve, so does our relationship to love.

The way we experience love in our twenties is often different from how we understand it in our thirties, forties or beyond, shaped by growth, loss, resilience and self knowledge. While the heart remains a shared symbol across cultures and ages, its meaning is never static.

The Aria Heart Ring reflects this fluidity through layered enamel petals and crystal accents, allowing emotion, light and texture to become part of the form, and inviting each wearer to connect with it through their own stage of life and personal understanding of love.

What were some of the biggest challenges you faced when starting your jewellery brand?
One of the biggest challenges was starting without any background in jewellery making. I don’t come from a family with a jewellery background, and at the beginning I had no formal training in the field. I gave myself a very intense timeframe of two months to learn all the digital tools I needed, often working day and night. During that period, I created around forty pieces.

Technically, the work was strong, but it didn’t feel true. The feedback I received stayed with me. I was told, “Linh, the pieces are beautiful, but that’s not you. You’re an artist, where is your signature?” It was a difficult moment, but a necessary one. I chose to discard everything and start again from scratch, knowing that moving forward without authenticity would compromise the foundation of the brand.

Another major challenge was finding the right production partners and learning how to work across different cultures and work ethics. Expectations around communication, timelines and process vary greatly, and aligning those differences required time, patience and constant dialogue. Translating a very specific artistic vision into jewellery also demands trust and precision, particularly because the techniques I work with are complex and time intensive. While the production phase involved continuous back and forth and was often draining, it ultimately deepened my understanding of collaboration and reinforced the importance of clarity, respect and shared standards in building something meaningful.

How did you overcome these obstacles?
I overcame these obstacles by staying committed to both the artistic vision and the learning process. Letting go of work that no longer felt authentic was difficult, but it created space for something more honest to emerge. Rather than rushing toward solutions, I focused on understanding the gaps and approaching them with curiosity and discipline.

When it came to production and collaboration, patience and communication became essential. I learned to articulate my expectations more clearly, to listen carefully, and to build working relationships grounded in trust and mutual understanding, especially when working across different cultures and work ethics. Over time, this persistence helped establish stronger partnerships and a process that better supports the complexity of the work.

What has been the most rewarding part of running your own brand so far?
The most rewarding part has been seeing the vision take shape in a way that feels true to me as both an artist and a designer. Building something from the ground up and watching it evolve from an idea into tangible pieces has been deeply fulfilling.

What makes it especially meaningful is when people connect with the work on an emotional level and recognise something of themselves in it. Knowing that the jewellery can accompany someone through moments of growth, change or self-expression makes all the challenges worthwhile.

 What are your goals for the future of your brand?
My goal is to grow Maison Variée in a way that remains true to its artistic foundation. I want the brand to continue evolving as a creative space, expanding thoughtfully through new collections and collaborations while staying focused on quality and meaning rather than scale.

Over time, I hope to deepen the dialogue between art, design and jewellery, and to build a community that connects with the work beyond the object itself. Ultimately, the aim is to create something lasting, a brand that grows alongside its audience and continues to reflect individuality, expression and craftsmanship

“Inspiration often begins internally, but it’s closely tied to observation and presence. I pay close attention to how people move through space, and to how emotion appears in gesture, posture or rhythm. “

Are there any upcoming collections or projects you’re excited about?
Yes, new projects are in the planning. I don’t want to reveal too much, but all I can say for now is that it might take on a coastal approach. :

How do you hope people feel when they wear your jewellery?
I hope people feel confident, grounded and connected when they wear my jewellery. I want the pieces to feel empowering yet intimate, supporting self expression rather than defining it. In the world of Maison Variée, we don’t believe in flaws, only in complexity and diversity.

Calling something a flaw assumes there is a fixed SOP, a standard optimization process, to measure against. When it comes to human evolution and personal growth, no such standard exists. We are constantly shaped by experience, culture and time. What is often labelled as a flaw is simply part of that complexity. If the jewellery can help someone feel fully themselves, in all their layers and nuance, then it has fulfilled its purpose.

Do you have a final message to the reader?
If there’s one thing I’d like to leave with the reader, it’s an invitation to be gentle with yourself and curious about who you are becoming. There is no fixed standard to measure against, only movement, growth and lived experience. Allow yourself the time and openness to sit with what feels layered or unresolved, rather than rushing to simplify it.

Remember that your identity is not defined by achievements or outcomes, but by who you are and how you move through the world. Trust your intuition, follow your heart, and don’t be afraid to take risks, whether in your personal or professional life, even when the path feels uncertain. Real-world learning often comes from stepping into the unknown and allowing experience to shape you. Let your complexity guide you. It is not something to simplify or correct, but something to honour.

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thuylinh.vu@maisonvariee.com