When smash hit series The White Lotus returned for a second season earlier this year, celebrated costume designer Alex Bovaird had really upped the ante.
From Tanya’s Dolce & Gabbana kaftans to Lucia’s beaded Clio Peppiatt mini, the sensational style moments on the series led to many a spike in google searches for certain brands.
For the brand behind some of the best jewellery moments on the show, Luna Flo London, the impact has been immeasurable. “The impact on sales has been big, very big,” says London-based designer Charlotte Pearson, an old friend of fellow Brit Bovaird’s from the 20 years she spent living in LA.
“We’d met in an LAX bathroom, and she’d admired my jeans and we had a great conversation and realised we were kindred spirits and became good friends,” recalls Pearson, who was running restaurants at the time and designing jewellery on the side. “She knew of my jewellery… she used my pieces a couple of times in various films, but when The White Lotus show came around she was like ‘OK this is the perfect show for your stuff.’”
The first commission was for the sexually provocative, high end call girl character Lucia. “Alex wanted something very specific for her so I came up with some ideas for this chain with charms,” says Pearson, who launched her brand the year she returned to London in 2017. “I did the female body for her and some Aphrodite charms.” The necklace, now one of her bestsellers, comes with mix and match charm options, but the combo Lucia wore on the show are the the most popular — “particularly with customers in America.”
They also put preppy mum character Daphne in Luna Flo’s star necklace, which was already “quite a big seller” for Pearson. “She felt that was quite a good fit for her because she had this idea that Daphne had been given this start by her kids — this sort of Mummy’s the star type thing,” says Pearson, who has just two assistants and makes her pieces in two workshops: one in London and one in Istanbul.
“What was funny was that no-one could find me at first,” says the designer, who was in hospital having her appendix out when the show aired. “I was expecting a few sales but nothing so major, and after a few days Alex contacted me and was like ‘Charlie, no-one can find you! Everyones contacting me to ask who you are and where they can buy it.’”
Now, she’s wised up to SEO and Instagram and has a dedicated The White Lotus section on her site, and sales have come flooding in. “I heard from my 15-year-old that people were talking on TikTok about how difficult it had been and how they were so relieved!”
Now Pearson is working on designs for the next season, based on character descriptions (the script is still being written) — “It’s really fun because you can play around with things that character might wear.”
Roll on season three and its brilliant bling.
Shop the pieces from The White Lotus Season 2
Luna Flo London gold charm necklace, £4,275; shop here
Luna Flo London Shooting Star necklace, £1,350; shop here
Luna Flo London white gold and diamond Ecilpse earrings, £2,430; shop here
Luna Flo London Love is a Four Letter Word ring, £632; shop here
