Suma Cruz: "You dream, therefore you exist"

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who always wanted to tell the most beautiful story ever told. As a little girl, she played in her grandfather's jewelry workshop while, in her imagination, she built dreamlike worlds starring fairies, dragonflies, ferns, insects, and flowers. Years went by, and that little girl, who has never stopped being a child, through hard work, patience, and her personal touch of magic, turned all those dreams into unique jewelry that reflects the creative imagination of jewelry designer Susana Cruz. 

We interviewed her in her workshop in Madrid, in a fairy tale room, where mirrors, bridal tulle, headdresses, jewelry, flowers, and antique furniture transport us to a dimension in which time and reality are diluted and where Susana and her inner child are able to continue imagining, playing, and creating her dreamed jewelry. 

Who is Suma Cruz? 

Suma Cruz is me, Susana Cruz, and a huge team that works with me. I design the jewelry and manage my company and my brand, but my team is the one who makes those designs.

 
How do you take the step from Susana Cruz to Suma Cruz? 

Well, with a lot of patience and work. I studied history and fashion design. At that time, I worked in an NGO and I was dedicated to traveling to countries like Guinea or Brazil to help women set up their own clothing workshops. I spent six months a year away from home. Then I worked for two years as a fashion stylist for magazines like Vogue or Marie Claire, but I had always wanted to design jewelry, and I jumped into the pool in 2008 and began by designing bridal headdresses for my friends at home. The demand was growing, so I set up my workshop, where I was for 10 years, and, in March 2021, I moved to my current workshop, on Claudio Coello street.

Why jewelry? 

My paternal grandfather was a jeweler, and I have lived in that environment since I was a child. I would go to his workshop and see all the jewelry, the stones, the pearls.... It was a fascinating world for me. The thing about jewelry is that jewels are actually little amulets. My first rings were given to me by my grandmother, and they were from India. Since then, when I wear them, they have transported me to that country. There is an energy in jewelry. For me, the jewel as an accessory is much more important than the garment itself that one wears.

So, for you, the accessory is the main thing? 

Totally. Since I was little, I have had a fixation on jewelry, and I love to wear and combine many jewels. That of "less is more" does not go with my style or my way of being.

Do you consider yourself a dreamer? 

Yes, I have an overflowing fantasy, and my motto could perfectly be: "You dream, therefore you exist". Despite being 40 years old, I still consider myself a child. I enjoy visiting an amusement park or watching a children's movie more than doing other things. For example, I feel very identified with all the imagination that appears in "Pan's Labyrinth". I always see myself as that little girl who lives a fantasy inside her head that is different from her reality.

You say you have to live with your feet on the ground, your heart happy, and your head in the clouds. How do you achieve that?
I have a family with 3 young children, and they are the ones who help me keep my feet on the ground. Having a happy heart is due to the luck of working in what I am passionate about, and my head is always in the clouds; I am very absent-minded, haha.

What kind of aesthetics do you like, and which ones inspire you?
I love history, decadent things, nature, insects like dragonflies and mantises, which to me represent fairies that bring good luck. That's why I was so impacted by the movie "Pan's Labyrinth", because in it, the mantises are fairies, which is what I had always imagined and believed since I was a little girl.

What role does the dreamlike world of fairy tales from your childhood play in your designs?
I'm still very attached to Susie's work. I am still very attached to the child Susana. I always comment with my friends that I am either an adult or a child. I think I skipped the adolescence phase. My favorite stories have always been "Swallow Dreams", which has a scary touch, the movie "Oz, a Fantastic World", and "Pan's Labyrinth".

What do your jewels convey?
What is most appealing about Suma Cruz jewels is not the jewel itself but the way of combining them. I have always liked to wear a lot of jewelry. I'm very rococo about it. I prefer to dress in a sober way to give prominence to the jewelry. I'm not a minimalist at all, I consider myself a maximalist. Knowing how to mix jewels together and create a Nefertiti or Cleopatra style look is very inspiring.

What materials do you use?
I love quartz and I love smoky colors, but I work a lot with metals, although many of my jewels have stones as well. 

What do your customers look for when they wear one of your jewels? 
Well, I can tell you that someone who enters Suma Cruz ends up being a maximalist. They start buying just one ring and end up buying more pieces to combine them together. I like it because my customers are very different from each other: I have from the typical classic woman to the rocker, different ages, from 18 years old to customers of 80. 

Which is the most demanded piece?
The "fern earrings" for me are the best design I have ever designed in my life because you put them on and it changes your face. They beautify the face of any woman who wears them because they frame the facial oval. I give a lot of importance to the volumes and shapes of the jewelry. They are organic jewels that wrap, cover, and integrate with the body. As for the rings, without a doubt, the beetles are always very successful.

What does your creation process consist of? 

I usually think and imagine the design in my head, and then my team does the 3D design, the mold of the piece, etc. But other times, for example, as it happened to me this summer in Asturias, I found two dead beetles and I picked them up and made a mold to turn them into rings.

 
If you were an insect, what would you be? 

A dragonfly without a doubt. Although I am also fascinated by beetles, spiders (which I know not everyone likes), and I even have some designs of rats because my mother always called me a rat when I was little and it's an animal that I like too.


What does the word luxury mean to you?
For me, luxury is exclusivity. It doesn't have to be something expensive or inaccessible. The artisanal, the handmade, is luxury too. Many times we make limited editions, or when a design sells a lot, we leave it on standby for a few months so that it doesn't lose precisely that halo of exclusivity.

What is travel for you?
I have always been lucky enough to travel since I was a child with my parents, especially to Morocco, which they loved. For me, travel means the joy of living, it is something indispensable in my life, something that helps you to always learn. On this last trip to Tanzania, you can't imagine what my children learned, even with how young they still are. 

An inspiring trip ...
There are many, but Guinea Bissau is probably one of my favorites, not because it is a beautiful destination, but I spent a lot of time there alone with myself teaching men and women to sew. I am passionate about Morocco and India, where I have traveled many times. I love countries in which I can discover cultures very different from ours, with lots of nature and authentic tribes.

An unforgettable trip...
This last trip to Tanzania with my family without a doubt. I look forward to returning because of the experience of being on a safari, in silence, surrounded by nature, for hours, waiting to see a specific animal. That really is authentic luxury and is priceless.

Your next destination...
I want to know Guatemala, its people, and its colors.