Bianca Barr creates unique jewellery pieces that show off her style. Barr makes each piece herself which she said is satisfying but can also be exhausting and sometimes hard on the body. “I wish I didn’t need to sleep!” Barr said jokingly. She grew up in Surrey, British Columbia and did a fashion design program at Vancouver Community College. Barr started her brand in 2004 with several purses that had old records attached to them. “I print on vintage clothing, sew original clothing that is hand printed and make jewellery,” said Barr. “I sell my designs in local shops, markets and online.” In her spare time, she DJ’s a weekly 1980s music night at the Fox Cabaret and plays music in her band Black Magique.
When Barr was younger, she always paid attention to outfits on TV, movies and music videos. As a teenager, she was obsessed with fashion magazines and watching the Canadian television show Fashion Television. Her father was the one who got Barr and her brother into making things. “He is a jack of all trades with an awesome workshop. Eventually, he got us into making jewellery out of metal and stones, we had a rock tumbler and would make cabochons.” After that, she loved making weird found object jewellery, and her glue gun was her best friend. Later in her 20’s, she was making things out of resin, leather and vintage jewellery. “It’s only been in the last couple of years that I decided to finally learn proper silversmithing and stone setting techniques,” Barr explained. She took some classes at a local jewellery shop and recently taught herself how to use a glass enamel on copper. Barr hopes to keep learning new techniques to develop her skill set further while gaining more stockists.
For more information, visit www.biancabarr.com.
