Founder & Designer

ABOUT ME

My name is Martha Lizarazo. I was born and raised in Colombia, but I have been living in London since the new Millennium. 

For as long as I remember I have always loved fashion design. Indeed, during my childhood, I designed my own earrings made from telephone wire and sold them to my school friends for pocket money.

As a teenager, I was influenced by my neighbourhood seamstress, who gave life to all my fashion ideas, this lovely lady inspired me to create my own designs. Also, my mother was a goldshmith jewellerer for many years, hence designing and jewellery making seems part of my genes.

I earned degrees in accounting & finances and worked in the London corporate banking sector for many years, where occasionally, I would design and make jewellery for my work colleagues and since 2012 when I became a mother, I decided to give up my career to do something more creative and meaningful… my true passion!

I believe that life purpose is about doing what you love and if you follow that path, success, fulfillment and contentment will follow.

 

MY INSPIRATION

My inspiration is taken from my native Colombia and I realised that by designing and producing pieces made from my country’s unique and eco-friendly natural raw materials, I could have a positive impact on both the environment and also the local community.

Also, having lived in London for many years, I wanted to combine the fashion of South America with British trends by creating designs which fuse the two together and reflect both the culture and heritage of my country as well as the style and influences of London.

MY PURPOSE

I am proud to introduce natural and ethical jewellery collections to meet the increasing consumer desire for ethical and eco-friendly products worldwide.

My collections introduce a material rarely seen in UK market, but which has been used for centuries in traditional South American jewellery making.  I use VEGETABLE IVORY as the main material for my designs, a seed produced naturally by the “PhytelephasMacrocarpa” palm tree from the tropical rainforest of Colombia.

Today, Vegetable Ivory has become increasingly important as the only natural alternative to elephant ivory, due to its almost identical texture and colour. As I am passionate about elephant conservation, one of the main aims of CALIZ London is to make a significant contribution to this cause via the introduction of the only jewellery collection made predominantly from this ideal, natural alternative material.

My aim is not only to provide high quality craftsmanship and innovative designs, but truly unique pieces with heart, soul and a story behind them, which allow the wearer to make a difference to the world by supporting a number of worthy causes from an environmental and social perspective through elephant conservation, rain forest preservation and fair trade practices.

Join me on this journey...