Meet The Designer

Ashley Marshall, founder and designer of Azuni London, has always sought his inspiration from his extensive global travels. Beginning his career working as a professional chef in some of London’s top kitchens, such as The Dorchester, The Ivy and La Caprice, he learnt to harness his creative intuition through blending different flavours and ingredients to create exquisite dishes. It is this 'mix it and shake it' talent that Ashley subsequently applied to designing jewellery to establish the Azuni Brand back in 1995. A unique approach to design, evoked through each and every Azuni collection over the last twenty years. Ashley's interest in jewellery and design was sparked during his travels in South America. He took an ethnographic approach to his research, immersing himself in a variety of native cultures and uncovering their ancient arts and philosophies. The relationships developed with indigenous artisans during this time, resulted in the evolution of Azuni's first collection of beautiful beadwork. On his return to the UK, Ashley pursued three years studying at Sir John Cass faculty of Art, Architecture and Design in London, to nurture this interest and refine his craftmanship . This led to him blending ancient and tribal artforms with contemporary pop culure and fashion trends to develop a jewellery style that quite literally sat ‘Between Two Worlds’. Thus, Ashley’s concept of ‘Urban Tribes’ was born. Ashley's first show in Paris was met with huge acclaim, leading to Azuni being showcased in fifty premium stores, including Gallerie Lafayette, Le Bon Marche and Frank et Fils, in the first year alone. Established brands including Whistles, Jigsaw, Paul Smith and Emanuel Ungaro, have also commissioned collections. Most recently, love for Azuni has spread due to our very own Duchess of Cambridge who wore Azuni’s Semi-Precious Drop Earrings on a visit to Australia and on many other occasions since. Azuni has additionally long been a stylists favourite, reguarly featuring most notably in Vogue, Elle , Conde Naste, Tattler, Grazia and Cosmopolitan, amongst others. Just a glance at the Azuni Range instantly tells you that each collection is unique , yet simultaneously contemporary and highly wearable. A variety of techniques such as hand texturing, beading, engraving and oxidizing, carried out by artisans across the world, add a quality hand-crafted edge to every piece The narrative behind each individual collection brings a personal sense of meaning to every wearer, making Azuni Jewellery enchanting for everyone!