Presentation of: " Lauren Adriana" a stylish and tal;ented jewelry designer....
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Unlike many a scion of a famous name, designer Sir Paul Smith's granddaughter has not relied on family connections to get on.
After graduating from St Martins College of Art and studying at the Gemological Association, Lauren Hassey, 23, has launched her first jewellery company.
But she has changed her name for the purposes of her business.
'I've dropped my surname and I'm now calling myself Lauren Adriana - Adriana is my middle name - because the "a" in Hassey always gets changed to a "u",' says Lauren.
'Whether it's BT or Barclays Bank, there's always a bored person in an admin department who decides I'm a Hussey.
'So I decided to dispense with Hassey for my business.'
But why not use the name Smith? 'No, I wouldn't have taken Paul's surname,' she says. 'Even my grandmother didn't because it's Smith - which, let's face it, is bloody boring.
'He's given me encouragement and support with my work. But jewellery and fashion are different worlds, so he hasn't been able to offer much industry advice.'
Earlier this year Lauren has made two stunning pieces for the famous jewelry collector Lee Siegelson which were unveiled at Masterpiece show in London. One of them, a stunning ring, includes a rare type IIb deep blue diamond (the same certified colour as the Hope diamond) and is surrounded by coloured pave diamonds with each stone hand-selected to bring out the unusual colours of the centre diamond.
