Layla Kaisi

“I thought I might pursue research or clinical work, something structured and data-driven,” she says. “But life has a way of rerouting you when you’re paying attention.”

Hanging up the lab coat, she instead founded luxury jewellery brand Layla Kaisi Collection, which would become a favourite of global superstars such as Cardi B, Christina Aguilera and Ariana Grande.

It may seem like an odd pivot to go from the world of science to high end jewellery, but Kaisi says her life has always been about juxtapositions. She was born in Iraq, spent her childhood in Malaysia and then moved to Aotearoa, where she still resides today.

“This layering of cultures taught me early that identity is never singular,” she says. It’s a “playful tension” that she likes to explore through her pieces, contrasting fluid curves against angles, setting contrasting coloured stones and playing with asymmetrical lines.

And although she might not be in a lab anymore, Kaisi says her time studying at the University of Auckland was invaluable in helping LKC take form.

“It didn’t just grant me knowledge, it taught me to see systems, patterns and the human subconscious,” she says. “I learned that shapes carry feeling, and that design can be a psychology of the soul.”

The trial and error of experimenting also gave her permission to get creative, even when her ideas didn’t fit the mold.

“In the lab, failures were data; in the studio, they became forms,” she says.

It was eight years ago that Kaisi followed that creative impulse and made the leap from science into “something altogether unknown,” she says.

“That leap taught me resilience, how to build from nothing, adapt in real time, and experiment despite the fear.”

Her first pieces weren’t designed with any market in mind, but instead following her instincts and inspirations.

“Nature is also my quiet collaborator, its asymmetries, movement and restraint continue to shape the way I approach design: not as perfection, but as emotional geometry.”

Since then, what began as a “modest Instagram experiment” has grown into an invitation-only fine jewellery house. And even though her work has been seen on Cardi B and in the pages of Forbes and Fashion Quarterly, Kaisi says these milestones don’t come with fanfare but instead a quiet satisfaction.

“There was no parade, just a still moment of deep knowing – that was success to me.”

It’s also something she felt when a client cried holding their piece for the first time.

“That’s when I realised success wasn’t about recognition. It was about resonance.”

From the early days alone in her bedroom, Kaisi now works from LKC’s appointment-only design studio in Auckland’s CBD. Her role now includes everything from conceptualising silhouettes, to sourcing conflict-free stones, to working closely with clients. All that, and she is just getting started.

“I see us opening a private studio in New York, a sculptural flagship in Dubai and continuing to design for those who influence culture.”

Her goal is to keep resisting the demands of “speed and sameness” instead choosing quality over fast-moving trends.

“I’m not here to impress,” she says. “I’m here to express.”