Our KIND: Your Craft with Chloe Partridge-Reeve

At KIND Collection, we love celebrating our customers who are making waves in their communities. In our series Our KIND: Your Craft, we highlight the inspiring individuals who share our values of creativity, sustainability, and kindness. Today, we are thrilled to introduce Chloe Partridge-Reeve, an award-winning comedy writer and actress, who was recently awarded the Funny Women Awards 2023.

Chloe’s creative journey is nothing short of inspiring. Along with her success in acting and writing, she is also the force behind the popular vintage Instagram page, @the_flux_vintage, where she curates unique fashion finds. We’ve had the honour of working with Chloe to create her wedding ring, rework her engagement ring, and craft a custom mini Soleil disc necklace, each piece designed to reflect her individual style and story.

In this interview, Chloe shares her thoughts on creativity, community, and how she incorporates sustainability into her life and craft. Whether it’s through her award-winning comedy or her love for vintage fashion, Chloe’s passion for reworking the old into something new perfectly aligns with our values at KIND Collection. Read on to learn more about her journey, her craft, and what it means to her to live creatively and sustainably.

Images by: @willwillynash

Firstly, a massive congratulations on winning the Funny Women Writing Award 2023! Can you tell us how your unique approach to comedy – finding light in the darkest places – influences your writing?

Thanks! I’m not sure it’s a unique approach, but I think a lot of great jokes work on the premise of making you feel slightly uncomfortable before giving you the release of laughter. Dark topics lend themselves well to this formula and I’ve always been fascinated by what some might call ‘magic’ or ‘the occult’, but I like to call ‘things we don’t understand yet’.

You’re developing an environmental comedy drama. What inspired you to explore environmental issues through comedy, and how do you balance humour with such a serious subject?

 I’ve never really shied away from difficult subject matters – in fact… I’m drawn to it, like a moth to a flame! Religion, death, eating disorders and the climate crisis are all topics I’ve attempted (and not always succeeded) to bring levity to. It’s not that the topics make me laugh, they’re complex and at times horrific – but at the same time, there’s humour to be mined in the human behaviour that surrounds them. Tricky topics make us awkward and clumsy - a trope that shows like Baby Reindeer capture so well.

It’s always nice to find joy in sadness because the two are intertwined. I think comedy can be a powerful medium for change - at worst, it’s tone-deaf – at best, it educates people and is a great way to sugar a bitter pill.

We had the pleasure of creating your wedding ring, reworked engagement ring, and Mini Soleil Disc necklace. Can you share the personal story behind why these pieces are meaningful to you?

My engagement ring originally belonged to my Grandma (or Gaga as I called her). It was given to me when she died and I wore it for many years. It was a modest, wartime ring. A simple gold band with a sapphire flanked by two tiny diamonds. At some point (during my wilder youth!) the sapphire was lost, so it sat unloved in a jewellery box. My (now) husband managed to sneak it out of the house and take it to Tansy who suggested replacing the stone with a fairtrade diamond. (I think she may also have counselled him on how best to propose – so I owe her the world!).

Our wedding rings were made from some family jewellery on my husband's side, which not only made them more meaningful but also saved us some cash when we realised we’d blown all the wedding budget on ornamental shells.

My Mini Soleil Disc Necklace is my go-to piece that works with anything. Often I’ll wear it with a simple pair of gold hoops or layer it with some pearls or another chain. I like the way it twinkles - it feels subtle and classy, two things i’m not usually very good at.

Reworking your engagement ring is a beautiful way to honour the past while creating something new. How did this process of reimagining your ring resonate with you, especially as someone who finds beauty in reworking stories and themes?

Well, old things tell stories too don’t they? Maybe that’s why I love old things. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing like a new pair of socks or the feel of crisp bed linen, but largely I like to surround myself with beautifully made old things.

Tansy is extremely sensitive when it comes to reworks – she knows exactly how to make a vintage piece feel fresh and personal whilst intuitively preserving what made it special in the first place. With my engagement ring, she added two tiny crescent moons to either side of the diamond- a little nod to the white witch in me, perhaps.

At KIND Collection, we focus on slow craftsmanship and the art of creating meaningful, sustainable jewellery. How do these values align with your own creative process, both as a writer and as a person?

Since discovering KIND Collection, I can’t really imagine going to a big-brand jewellery store and buying something off the rack - especially if they don’t prioritise sustainability. And I don’t know how impressed I’d be if someone bought me diamonds from Cartier - I mean I’d keep them, obviously, and probably force myself to wear them - but it seems so impersonal when compared to working with independent designers like KIND.

Vintage fashion is clearly a passion of yours, as seen with your page @the_flux_vintage. Do you see any parallels between curating vintage pieces and the idea of creating or reworking jewellery that carries history and meaning?

I’m so in awe of what Tansy does with KIND. And designing new collections sustainably and reworking vintage is something I’d love to do with The Flux. But it takes years of training and innate talent to be a jeweller or a seamstress. I can visualise redesigns, but don’t have the skills to put them into action. One day, I’d love to work with somebody that can!