Urbiana is thrilled to announce that we have been awarded a £10,000 grant which will support our East London Retail Entrepreneursproject. With funds up to a total of £560,000 from Foundation for Future London and retailer Westfield Stratford City, we are one of 26 East London projects to be part of this scheme which includes women-led textiles cooperative, start-up accelerator and school creative programme – creating 500 jobs and 6,524 skills, training and upskilling opportunities in Hackney, Newham, Tower hamlets and Waltham Forest.
Big news for big ideas!
The East London Retail Entrepreneurs project is part of our ongoing commitment to foster diversity and inclusion, providing valuable resources to entrepreneurs. Over this 10-month long project, Urbiana will reach out to 20 BAME participants, and teach them how to turn their passion into a business. Six startups will get the chance to launch their collection at Urbiana 156 Brick Lane in Q4 2024.
Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund is an ambitious five-year programme that aims to transform and catalyse the lives and careers of people in East London by putting funding, resources and support straight into local people’s hands.
We are one of 37 East London projects to scoop up a total of £669,000 from Foundation for Future London and retailer Westfield Stratford City – including women-led textiles cooperative, start-up accelerator and school creative programme – creating 500 jobs and 6,524 skills, training and upskilling opportunities in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.
Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund is an ambitious five-year programme that aims to transform and catalyse the lives and careers of people in East London by putting funding, resources and support straight into local people’s hands.
We are very excited to announce that Urbiana has been selected among 33 other small London based businesses to receive grant funding via ReLondon to develop new circular products and services. By tapping into the circular economy, we are developing new ways in how we operate our business, paving the way for future business growth with reduced waste and a better environmental impact. We will be updating our progress in the upcoming months.
A big shoutout to all of our customers in London, around the UK and the globe for supporting us through the years and helping us achieve bigger things. We are happy to be part of the London Mayor’s Green New Deal mission: tackling the climate and ecological emergencies and improving air quality. And we are committed to doing our best to improve and develop an even greener business.
We feel anyone should be able to accessorise based on their mood - whether you feel like a Rockstar, Dainty Princess, Fashionista or the Girl Next Door. We try our best to find hidden young talent around the world and bring them to the heart of London- Brick Lane, which we chose to launch our flagship store!
Not only do we travel to the remotest parts of the world in search of truly unique craftsmen, and designers, we pair it with exclusive designs from our very own studio.
Our mission
Planning your festival outfits for the upcoming months? Stuck on how to accessorise that fringed kimono? Not sure on what earrings to pair with those shoes? @Urbianauk is here to help! We are the ultimate style clinic since 2013 & can help you style your outfits by accessorizing.
Simple yet stunning, these hoops by Urbiana will make the rounds at every party
O U R S U C C E S S E S
The Mayor of London Competition
We managed to presell jewellery and accessories to raise the funds we needed to support and pay our artisan5 f0r their crafts(wo)manship during the lockdown period. The Mayor of London fundraising campaign was a successful event as we raised C5,260 with 58supporters
The Tower Hamlets Competition
In 2020, Covid-19 took its toll and we had to rethink our selling strategy making it revolve around e-commerce and social media. We applied for a Tower Hamlets Pivot Project grant to help fund our vision. We attended a number of Enterprise Nation webinars on digital marketing and social media, which allowed her to formulate an action plan. “Nith help from yourselv es and Tower Hamlets, we created stores on both Amazon and Numonday,” the Founder explained. “We also listed Urbiana on Google My Business, Yelp and TripAdvisor. And we discovered the power of social media - a market that we’d previouslyoverlooked".
Statement Earrings, Pearl rings and colourful beads: everything you need to know about the Jewellery Spring Trends in 2021
12th of April 2021: The date we have all been looking forward to since Boris Johnson announced the roadmap for lifting lockdown. Bars and restaurants outdoors will finally open and we will have a chance of sharing a meal with our friends after months at home.
Are you already stressing out about your outfits? Don’t worry, with our latest trendy jewellery we’ve got you covered.
This season is all about pearls. We have seen pearl jewellery all over the runways, from Marc Jacobs to Jason Wu. Urbiana decided to jump on the trend by combining the concept of the an elegant pearl with our bold and unique designs to create our own concept of Pearl rings.
Statement earrings will play a key role in your spring outfits. An eye-catching choice to add a touch of personality to a casual outfit. Our favourite ones we recommend are the Urbianaukcross earrings or the tree of life earcuff. Simple, yet unique. The right statement earring can turn even the most basic white t-shirt/black jeans outfit into something special.
Lastly, colourful beads have been all over social media. The popstar Dua Lipa was one of the first celebrities endorsing candy-coloured necklaces.
We played with colourful beads by adding them to our earcuffs, necklaces, bracelets and earrings designs to help you spice-up your wardrobe in a fun way.
Tower Hamlets Pivot Project: Three successful applicants share their stories
March 2021
Urbiana: ‘It’s amazing to think that only a few months ago we were virtually invisible online’
Akriti Puri, the founder of Brick Lane-based jewellery companyUrbiana, left her job in the City to pursue her entrepreneurial dream in 2014. And she hasn’t looked back, with Urbiana curating bespoke, handmade, fair-trade and ethically produced jewellery from local artisan designers.
“We take great pride in supporting the Tower Hamlets arts and crafts industry by providing a platform for designers and craftsmen to sell their jewellery and accessories”, Akriti said. “In 2020, though, COVID took its toll. Like many businesses around Brick Lane we rely heavily on footfall and tourism. For a few months there weren’t any sales at all.
“We had to change the way we worked; to find an alternative to the traditional display case. We focused all our energies into improving our online presence and rethinking our digital marketing strategy. We applied for a Tower Hamlets Pivot Project grant to help fund our vision. £1,000 may not seem like a huge amount of money, but it proved to be a real game changer for us.”
Since receiving the grant, Akriti has attended a number of Enterprise Nation webinars on digital marketing and social media, which allowed her to formulate an action plan. “With help from yourselves and Tower Hamlets, we created stores on both Amazon and Numonday,” she explained. “We also listed Urbiana on Google My Business, Yelp and TripAdvisor. And we discovered the power of social media – a market that we’d previously overlooked.
“We spent time and money on ads and content creation to strengthen our presence and build our brand on Facebook and Instagram. Reaching a wider audience through these new channels has helped ensure the survival, and shaped the future, of Urbiana. I’d like to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the entire Tower Hamlets and Enterprise Nation teams.”
The lovely people at Pocket Highstreet have chosen Urbiana as one of the 8 best stores in their 'Best of Shoreditch' campaign! Check out the video below and the blog posts here and here.
Urbiana featured on SassyBlack.com
February-March 2015
The incredible Shope Delano, aka one half of sassyBLACK, featured our Hamsa necklace in various different blogposts! Check out her blog posts featuring Urbiana here, here, here, here and here!
Urbiana featured on cl-a-sh
January-February 2015
Our favourite blogger Linda Hyh featured us on her blog! Check out the Urbiana-featured posts here and here.
Urbiana featured on Alessandra Kamaile
November 2014
The effortlessly stylish Alessandra featured a few of our pieces in some wonderfully-styled shots for her blog. Check them out here and here!
Urbiana featured on Lotta Liina Love
August 2014
Blogger Lotta featured our Silver Chainmail Hand Harness in her blog post! Check her outfit post here.
Urbiana featured on elle-may
August 2014
Blogger Elle-May Leckenby featured a pair of our earrings in her beautifully-shot blog post. Check the post out here.
Urbiana featured on The Stylish Senorita
August 2014
TheStylishSenorita looks amazing in a green ensemble, accessorised with one of our bracelets. Check the post here.
Urbiana featured in Candy & Style Blog
July 2014Lilli Ludo of Candy & Style has blogged about Urbiana here, here, here & here! Check out her blog at Candy & Style!
EastLondonStyle mentions Urbiana!
15/02/2014
EastLondonStyle a popular fashion blog in this part of the world, blogged about us and took out time to draw these lovely illustrations of our products
This is what Indigo Memoirs , a popular urban lifestyle blog had to say about Urbiana:
Urbiana offers stunning statement jewellery pieces at affordable prices. The jewellery is contemporary, feminine and ethnic- meaning we don’t need to travel all the way to India, Tibet and South East Asia in quest for the hidden treasures- instead we can save money and baggage kilos! The necklaces look especially beautiful with button up shirts and oversized sweaters. We recommend choosing the investable dark winter colors and natural browns and nudes with one of Urbiana’s statement necklaces to bring some attitude to your winter dress-code!
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