When I started ISLA,
I wanted to create a
space for like- minded people, focusing on women, to create opportunities together and for each other.
ISLA has a strong Brand identity: what is story behind it and why is it important for Isla today?
We started seven years ago with just a logo, but an amazing one by Madame Buraka, the tattoo artist. That was all we had. We got a lot of love for it and we made an amazing, iconic neon sign, but that was it. Then The more we started making products, events and flyers, the more we needed a proper brand identity, besides just having a logo. The previous one was focused on nails, but we wanted to kind of step away from that, because we were more than just a nail salon. That's when I found Laura – a Milan based creative director, with whom we developed a whole new CI, which I think turned out really great. Even now, with launching the products, the whole packaging works really well. It's such a strong brand identity, I'm really happy with it.
If you had to describe ISLA to a stranger—its essence and everything it includes beyond the products, how would you describe it?
ISLA is almost like a cultural platform, and that's how I intended it to be. When I started ISLA, I wanted to create a space for like-minded people, focusing on women, to create opportunities together and for each other.
We got famous for our nails, but we've always been more than that.
What has been an unexpected and positive thing that evolved with Isla over the years?
So many things! ISLA has opened so many doors for me, also on a personal level – I was creative director of a whole festival, I've travelled all over the world…! Especially when we started, there was not really a brand or salon like ours, so we got to travel to do nails all over the world, same with tooth gems. When we started doing tooth GEMS six years ago, we were flown out to Miami Art Basel to them for Diesel, for instance. I never expected it to pick up that fast.
Do you think Isla grew the way it has because of the community that came to it, or do you think Isla created the space for its community as it is today?
A bit of both. We have been a really important connector in the city, so to this day, a lot of people know each other through us and our events. I see a lot of collaborations come from people that I introduced, or that I know got to meet at one of our events. We have definitely been embraced by the community from day one, but we've also given a lot back to that community.
What could you see ISLA do for its community and people in general, moving forward?
I really see ISLA and all the things that we do as an expressive beauty brand. On top of that, I just see it as part of our giving back and activating our community: all the music related projects, all the activations or events are just something for us to reconnect – but our core business is being an expressive beauty brand.
ISLA ITEMS
ISLA ITEM #1: LOGO
the neon sign kind of goes hand in hand with identity, it has just been very recognisable or iconic. The previous logo was also a neon sign - same again now, and it's just something people always take pictures of and love to pose in front. At the moment with the construction work, it's not ideal, but it usually is very much like a place that people take pictures of and selfies.
ISLA ITEM #2: Miss BURAKA DRAWING
She is an iconic tattoo artist. I didn’t meet her in person until last year, but I reached out to her on Instagram back then. She was a good friend of my ex, and I just asked her “Hey, I'm opening this store, could you help me with the logo?” She was and still is really big, but was so supportive from the get go – she was like ‘Yes, of course!’ and just drew the hands – the logo was a hand holding a necklace with Isla on it. That meant a lot for us. People would walk in recognising the logo, asking if this was kind of her shop or if my Dumbo aka was doing something here. So yeah, we've tried to do some pop-ups with her and collaborate with her. A pop-up has till this day not worked out yet, but we have a really good relationship. Yeah. How are you doing time? I need to be here. I'm going to say.
ISLA ITEM #3: DECKS
The decks have been a really important part of ISLA. Seven years ago, the Berlin music landscape looked very different: it was very techno focused and very male dominated. I started DJing 10 years ago and for me it was very much like a hobby, but I realised that at the time, you needed to know club owners or people with decks, and it was just a very bro-y landscape, so when I opened Isla, I really wanted to have good CDJs. Pirate Studios didn't really exist at the time, so from day one we had a lot of female DJs come through, whether they were travelling or they had a gig and needed to practise or record their sets, as well as beginner DJs. There are at least a couple of DJs in Berlin that now are pretty big that I remember coming to Isla to practise and just figure out how it all works. Music and especially DJing have played a really important part for ISLA. It was only last year that we decided to do something more with it all: we started Isla radio and had a pop-up in Paris where we kicked it off, and now we post three to five sets (weekly? monthly?) from girls all over the world, who either come to the shop to record or send us their sets. So yeah, the DJ community and especially the female DJ community, plays a really important part, and a lot of female artists are our inspiration as well when it comes to nail art too.
ISLA ITEM #4: ISLA press ons!
this is something I've been wanting to do from early days Isla, but it was just such an overwhelming project that I never really knew how to start.
last year we finally decided to go with the project and We're starting with 10 designs.
I'm really, really excited!
