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Francesca is the on-trend designer jewellery label by sisters Hannah and Rachel Vasicek. Established at Tasmania’s famous Salamanca Market, Francesca has grown to be a much-loved Australian brand, with an international online presence and stores in both Hobart and Melbourne. Founded on the belief that success means nothing unless you’re giving back, Francesca combines beautiful design with an empowering purpose.
Our story, as told by Hannah I began making jewellery at the age of 12 and started selling it at Salamanca Market at 16. My collection gained popularity at the market and I soon rebranded to Francesca (the name my mother wanted to give me) while I was studying science and law at university. The business grew, and in 2013, after winning the young entrepreneur award for Australia, I decided to take the leap and pursue my passion, foregoing the possibility of a law career. It was the same year that Rachel finished school, so we grabbed this amazing opportunity to turn our dreams into reality and ran with it, and never looked back. In 2014 we won the Telstra Business of the Year award for Tasmania and were able to take the business from a startup to a legitimate brand that people have grown to know and love. This led to the opening of a new Hobart store for our local customer base. We were honoured to be a Tasmania state finalist in the 2023 Telstra Best of Business Awards in two categories, Accelerating Women and Building Communities. 2016 was a revolutionary year for Francesca, with the introduction of Francesca Create, a personalised jewellery service, enabling the customer to design and create pieces with special meaning. We also accomplished our dream of opening a store in Melbourne’s CBD, thanks to an incredible crowdfunding campaign from people who believed in our vision in exchange for Francesca handmade bracelets. In 2017 we opened our brand-new flagship store in Hobart. We also opened our first pop-up store in a Melbourne shopping centre. In 2019 our Melbourne Central store had a bit of a facelift to realise our dream concept. What started with just the two of us has become a team of over 70 women across two cities. They can help you with everything from treating yourself to buying the perfect gift for someone you care for. In our team are 10 specialist beaders, and we are so proud to still be hand making our beaded bracelets in our Hobart studio today. Our Franc HQ consists of an amazing online customer care and dispatch team, inventory management, and the creative marketing team. We love our Franc fam! Giving back is at the core of everything we do. We live by the belief that success means nothing unless you're giving back. Over the past 10 years we have donated more than $1 million to charities across Australia. Thank you for your continued support, it really means the world to us. We can't wait to show you what other exciting designs and plans we have in store for the future. Upstairs Cat & Fiddle Arcade, 51 Murray Street, Hobart francesca.com.au 0485 865 082 Open 7 days |