Jewellery pieces from Bon Ami by Bonnie Mbuli
When I heard that internationally recognised actress Bonnie Mbuli had launched a jewellery range, I was intrigued. What will she offer that we don’t have from countless other jewellery ranges?
Born in Soweto, Mbuli was discovered by an actor’s agent when she was just 13 years old. She began her acting career in local television shows and later went on to be a television host for shows such as Technics Heart of the Beat. Her acting career blossomed when she starred in the hit television soap opera Backstage on eTV. The actress recently starred in the BBC One show Noughts + Crosses, a series that follows two young people who are divided by their colour but united by love.
Mbuli wears many hats in her demanding daily life and now she has added the role of entrepreneur by launching her jewellery line, Bon Ami by Bonnie, in July.
“Bon Ami is a French word meaning ‘a good friend’,” she says. The name is also a play on Mbuli’s name, Bonnie and a derivative of the Zulu word “eyami, which means “mine”.
“Bon Ami is an idea of coming home to self, my realisation, my evolution,” she adds.
In 2012, Mbuli published her autobiography, Eyebags and Dimples, in which she bares her soul about her struggles, trauma and battle with depression. Mbuli spoke about mental health when it wasn’t trendy to talk about it even though the silent killer wreaks havoc in the industry.
Not many people are aware that Mbuli has always had a passion for writing. And, since the launch of her book, she continues to openly discuss her battle and journey of healing.
“For me I look at my own life and my own healing journey. The things that have really been at the forefront of making me well are changing my internal dialogue, how I speak to myself and changing how I speak about my life,” she says.
This awareness is how Bon Ami was born. Each piece of jewellery is engraved with affirmations such as “Let love in you’re worth it”, “Be kind to yourself” and “I love and accept myself”.
The stainless steel, 18 karat gold-plated jewellery is sourced from manufacturers around the world. The jewellery range consists of anklets, chains and earrings.
Bon Ami is an ode to mental health. Mbuli created the brand as a reminder of her promise to herself and as a way for women to begin to heal themselves. She hopes women will use these affirmations to start to re-engineer how they see themselves. Mbuli says of the engraved jewellery, “you’re wearing a mantra”.
Her jewellery is about much more than mass consumption, it is about healing.
“I am speaking to young women, women younger and older than me, who want to self-actualise and become better people, and employ tools in their life for their personal development goals,” she says.
Bonnie Mbuli wears her jewellery range Bon Am
Mbuli also spoke of her fears in venturing into business as a public figure and the pressure for her business to be an overnight success. “For someone like me, there’s an expectation that this had better work, that if it doesn’t work quickly and immediately it’s a flop.”
The distribution of the jewellery range is a collaborative effort with the ZacKia Jewelry website because it has operated an online store for several years.
In the future, Mbuli wants to design her own jewellery and manufacture them locally. “My plan is to find young jewellery designers and makers who don’t have a platform of their own, curate the pieces and bring their pieces to the public on my public platform,” she says.
Mbuli lives in Los Angeles and is working in New Orleans while shooting AMC’s upcoming drama The Driver, starring alongside Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul) and Paula Malcomson (Ray Donovan). The series is a remake of BBC drama of the same name and is about a taxi driver, Esposito, whose life is turned upside down when he agrees to chauffeur the New Orleans-based Zimbabwean gangster, The Horse. Mbuli plays Shamiso Tongai, The Horse’s smart older sister.