Swedish expat establishes accessory brand in Shenzhen

Zhang Xiaoyi

Niklas Frisk, a 27-year-old Swedish jewelry designer, came to Shenzhen to realize his dream.

Frisk originally comes from Karlstad, a small city located in central Sweden.

Having founded his own jewelry brand, Nickelle, back in Sweden with his business partner, identified only as Emanuel, he came to China with a vision to produce bracelets here.

“Nickelle’s purpose and reason for being is to provide and serve discerning, trend-conscious women and men with trendy and unique jewelry,” Frisk said.

Nickelle produces bracelets with Scandinavian simplicity and elegance, he said. Its underlying idea is best reflected in their slogan “From Sweden with Love,” according to the Swedish designer.

Nickelle has three lines of products, according to Frisk, which are exotic leather bracelets made from python and sting ray leather, gem stone bracelets and bangles made of solid metals. Prices of the bracelets range from 200 yuan (US$31) to 5,000 yuan.

“We want all trend-conscious, unique women and men with an eye for fashion and style to be able to afford to wear Nickelle,” he said.

Frisk said inspirations for their designs come from cities and scenic spots around the world that also gave names to their products.

“Inspiration can also spontaneously occur while reading a book, enjoying a nice meal and watching other people. I’m a people watcher,” he said.

One of the reasons why he came to Shenzhen was to gain more perspective on life and to challenge himself.

“When I work with Nickelle, whether I am designing new pieces of jewelry, meeting customers or whatever it is, I sincerely enjoy every single minute, even the hard times,” Frisk said. “Because it’s in the hard times you make progress. And progress is what life’s all about. Progress is, and will always be the true, lasting happiness in life.”

Frisk is aiming to first establish his brand in Shenzhen and then expand to the rest of China.