Celebrating women that inspire us, this month, our Founder Anna Foster has highlighted four female founders and change-makers in their respective industries. These women - Rosh, Andrea, Chantelle and Sibylle from jewellery, hospitality, wellness - are all pioneering and challenging the status quo.
Alighieri was founded in 2014 by Rosh Mahtani in her search for a sense of belonging, whilst going
through a dark time in her life. After studying Italian and French literature at university, Rosh became immersed in Florentine poet, Dante Alighieri’s book of poems entitled The Divine Comedy. She dreamt of creating her own world, inspired by these mythical landscapes and stories of vulnerability of which she read.
Jewellery has been a universal vehicle of connection for centuries; Rosh created Alighieri to bring people of all cultures and ages together, creating communities through these tales of vulnerability. Human relationships are embedded in every part of the brand, and are embodied in her commitment to local craftsmanship and sustainable practice. The organic and inclusive nature of Alighieri is an invitation for our customers to write their own poetry.
Each piece starts with Rosh, a candle and some wax, as she hand creates the Alighieri signature molten textures, scraggy lines and bulbous surfaces, each symbolising an emotion or a feeling personal to her, before they are cast by a family run business just two streets away from our studio using recycled metals.
"I first met Rosh in 2014, and I was struck with her instinctiveness approach to jewellery design, each heirloom is to be treasured and loved. It’s almost as if the stories from Dante’s Inferno possess her as she creates her inimitable designs. I challenge you not to be moved to tears by the story of the lovers Francesca and Paola in Canto V." - Anna Foster
Andrea's goal is to create a new kind of wellbeing and skincare space with the flagship in London but we definitely have plans for global touch points. Uniquely create a space that treats self care as a collective (events and overall community) and personal experience (one on one treatments and experiences).
Bringing together ancient wisdom and modern science which traditionally has operated from opposing sidesBecome a central hub of where to discover brands, collaborate with brands in very unexpected ways and for our clients to be educated and discover treatments or wellbeing tools to improve their life - inside and out.
I truly want to set the bar for discovery, results and experience across the industry via great intuition in product selection which is not easy to replicate, product and service categories that appeal to a wide audience and an environment that exudes the right kind of feelings and energy via our creative residents and lastly constant change.
“What Andrea doesn’t know about the skin, isn’t worth knowing. Every treatment is tailormade to you because no-one is the same. She is constantly discovering new innovations to naturally support the skin on the surface and from within, wrapped in a holistic approach. She is my skin guru.” - Anna Foster
Sibylle Rochat is the owner and founder of Rochat Art Consultancy, an art advisory office based in London.Rochat Art Consultancy builds corporate and private art collections.
Sibylle founded Rochat Art Consultancy in 2016, having worked in the art world internationally for 20 years.At the heart of Rochat
Art Consultancy is art patronage. Sibylle co-founded Concrete Projects support artists and museums, and provide meaningful opportunities to balance art collecting with art philanthropy.
“Launched in 2016 after 20 years in the art world, Sibylle is recognised as one of the most trusted art advisors in the industry and is passionate about supporting artists. Concrete Projects is an initiative to enable artists and institutions to realise challenging and complex projects that would not be possible without external support. I am honoured to say that Sibylle was one of the first to buy a pair of tailored E.L.V. DENIM jeans, what can I say, she has impeccable taste. “ - Anna Foster
Chantelle Nicholson is a multi-award winning chef owner of Apricity, London, which celebrates conscious cooking and joyful dining.
Chantelle is an advocate for seasonality and sustainability, championing veg-forward cooking and being committed to creating a more sustainable future across her operation and activities, whilst also being an independent board member for ReLondon and a Food Council member for City Harvest.
“Chantelle opened Apricity in 2022, with the purpose of consciously reconsidering the traditional approach taken towards running a restaurant. From British sourcing to foraging for herbs Chantelle, like us, believes in creating a sustainable community where we share our learnings. I promise you need to try their Oyster Mushrooms, and their Chouxnuts… yes Chouxnuts.” - Anna Foster