Every story has a beginning, and mine started a long way from Las Vegas, in the south of England, with my mum, Jenny.

My mum says I was creating out of whatever she gave me when I was little. I even have a photo of myself talking on a Play-Doh phone I made! That urge to make things never left me. It was Mum who taught me to make bracelets.

Pinewood Studios and Hollywood

I started out as a makeup effects coordinator at Pinewood Studios in London, then moved to Los Angeles in the 1990s. From 1994 I spent 17 years in Hollywood’s film industry in special effects makeup, alongside top directors and artists, working on 40+ films, plus TV, commercials and music videos. They included Blade, Sleepy Hollow, My Bloody Valentine and Exorcist: The Beginning. All those horror films are probably why I love skulls so much. To me they’re beautiful. We all have one!

2009: the first feathered handbags

Something was bubbling under the surface, though. I wanted to create on a more personal level and share it with the world. So in 2009 I launched ICJUK, which stands for Inspired By Claire Jane and the UK, starting with custom vintage feathered handbags and fascinators inspired by Old Hollywood glamour. Those first handbags were my mother’s influence through and through. Jenny’s love of making beautiful things is stitched into every one. I made them first for friends and family. As I’ve always said, “That’s how ICJUK got started. It was very organic, very real.”

That’s how my wearable art business began, and every piece I make still carries a bit of that journey.

See where it all started in my handbag collection and the Luxe one-of-a-kind pieces, or read more about me.

Sources: About Claire Jane; Claire Jane’s own memories; ZRockR Magazine, Sylvia Lee, 2013; Las Vegas Sun, Elly Brown, 2016.

Claire Jane x