Since 1986 Jo Tory has designed NAJO’s unique jewellery to empower women of all ages to express themselves creatively and beautifully while staying true to their personalities.
"Over the years, NAJO has grown a loyal following who have remained faithful to the brand, and we felt it was important to reflect these customers in our campaigns. Within a world often fixated on youth, we recognise the significance of ensuring our treasured customers feel seen and celebrated."
-Our founder, Jo Tory
Jan Jacobson was 40 when she called curtains on her “extraordinarily long” modelling career to raise her two children in Vaucluse and refocus on designing fashion.
“I started my first job at 19 but wasn’t taking it seriously,” she said. “At 22, I got signed by a German agency and thought I’d do it for a month or so.”
“Just because you’re a model doesn’t mean you’re beautiful,” Jacobson said. “It’s still really hard for me to say that. I don’t think I am.”
“I started to travel for the next couple of decades and I didn’t think it would even last long.”
Her husband’s family brought the US-born talent to the eastern suburbs.
Jacobson is now 59 and modelling once more.
This year, she signed on with Chadwick Models to walk in Australian Fashion Week and since then, has appeared in campaigns for Australian slow jewellery brand Najo and Mecca.
“I started as a runway model because I was told I wasn’t beautiful, that I have a ‘character’ face.
“They would say your face doesn’t match your hair colour. You have a brunette’s face.
“I was tall and knew how to walk well in heels, and knew how to carry clothes because I used to make them.
“There was a definite divide between runway girls, and photo girls. A catwalk is from a distance, you don’t have to be pretty.”
During our casting process, Jan's graceful demeanour, unwavering self-assurance, and timeless beauty caught our eye. It was an instinctive decision to invite her into the heart of our Serenity campaign.
"Jan possesses an elegance that seems to only deepen with the passage of time. Her presence emanates a certain refinement that experience brings, and the resonance has been nothing short of remarkable, resonating throughout our cherished network of stores. The reaction she's received reaffirms our conviction in celebrating the allure of maturity.”
-Our founder, Jo Tory
“I still always carry my insecurities from before, it’s impossible to get rid of those.”
There was a time when models were signifiers of an ideal, and not emblematic of actual customers.
This was the accepted wisdom — that fashion was aspirational, not accessible, and by its very exclusivity, alluring.
That has changed.
Supermodels such as 79-year-old Lauren Hutton have no plans to retire and 60-year-olds are signing up to open casting calls.
NAJO jewellery founder Jo Tory said that “within a world often fixated on youth, we recognise the significance of ensuring our customers feel seen and celebrated.”
Adding that hiring Jacobson to be the face of her new Serenity campaign was a no-brainer.
“Jan’s presence emanates a certain refinement that experience brings, and the resonance has been nothing short of remarkable. The reaction she’s received reaffirms our conviction in celebrating the allure of maturity,” Tory said.
A glimpse at AFW runways, a scan of a fashion magazine, a scroll of Instagram — all confirm that models, once paragons of unattainable, unreasonable beauty, are now decidedly more real.
That’s good for them and good for business.
"Seeing models reflect diversity is a value I hold close to the brands I hold dear. Thus, it becomes imperative to illuminate our unique jewellery designs through models that mirror the tapestry of our beloved clientele. Just as every piece of our jewellery tells a distinctive story, so too does each unique face that graces our campaigns.”
-Our founder, Jo Tory
