Feature with Isabella Rose Celeste & Conch Books
Isabella Rose Celeste is a fashion industry leader, contributing editor,
and tastemaker with an instinct for what resonates - culturally, aesthetically,
and intellectually. Known for her impeccable eye and considered point of view,
she moves fluidly across the worlds of fashion, culture, and narrative. It's
precisely this sensibility that drew us to her. At Ragbag, we believe in the
power of objects to tell stories - and Isabella brings that same conviction to
everything she touches. To mark the collaboration, Isabella sent a personally chosen book to a selection of friends and fellow readers - each accompanied by a Ragbag bookmark, our newest design. A small object with intention featuring the turquoise stone from our Lyra collection. A quiet way to enter someone's world. Consider your summer reading sorted.
Conch Books
Conch Books is a cultural community activator built around the
connective power of literature. Through intimate, immersive gatherings in
global cities - from private dinners and bookstore takeovers to studio visits
and cultural salons - Conch Books brings together creative, curious minds who
crave depth, real-life connection, and long-form narrative. Each club is
curated with intention - books as entry points, gatherings as the catalyst, and
community as the outcome.
You can shop the bookmark here.
5 Quick Questions
What’s your everyday jewelry essential?
I will always wear two bracelets, one given to me by my mother, and the other a beautiful, handcrafted silver bracelet my godmother’s stepfather Maxie made me. Maxie retrained as a silversmith much later in life (in his 70’s!) and my godmother asked him to make me this bracelet. For me it is my most valued possession, as the little figure of 8 loops remind me that all things work out in the end, and as someone who sometimes feels so far from home, they are closer than you think.
Do you prefer silver, gold - or a mix of both?
A mix! I am no purist.
What makes a piece of jewelry feel timeless to you?
Jewelry has an innate ability to absorb meaning, no matter what the value or design.
I have saved so many small moments of jewelry that might hold near to zero retail value – the ring I got in the zoo with flat mates when I was living in Sydney during university, the brooch I bought with my mum, a safety pin from a kilt my friend designed – the value of memory transforms jewelry into vessels of meaning and purpose.
For me if it is tied to a memory, I will keep it forever.
Bold or minimal?
A balance of both!
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the name Ragbag?
A collision of ideas, that come together through a range of perspectives.
When and why have you started your book club “Conch Books”?
I wanted to create more opportunities for strangers to connect, to hear new ideas, and to celebrate the everyday reader. Reading can seem intimidating for people,
especially book clubs. I wanted to rethink what the modern book club could look
like and put a focus on building real community and connection in a society
that feels more and more fractured.
We discover some of our favorite books through recommendations, and I have woven that into the ethos of conch books: planning events and activations with co-hosts so we can step into their world.
The club will evolve next year into a curated audiobook platform: the modern life we lead means book can seem like another aspect we need to fit in, while audiobooks can seamlessly intercept around us. There seems to be a strong differentiation about audiobooks and physical books but these need to be broken down somewhat: audiobooks allow me to still nurture my love of reading, and I want to help people discover these too. I have friends and family that also struggle with reading, so audiobooks can open new worlds for people that might have felt this pastime was one that was closed to them.
How has literature influenced your life?
I have always loved reading, but reading in my own time, in my own way. I call it the everyday reader, as I don’t consider myself particularly smart or enlightened – I just adore the experience books can give of steeping oneself in another world, and the opportunity book clubs can hold about sharing these perceptions and experiences with others.
I am quite a private person in ways, but when people start discussing books so much of their self is revealed in such a beautiful way.
Not being from here, how did you end up choosing to live in Copenhagen?
I was relocated for a role: at the time of moving I was at a crossroads in my life: I had a job offer in London and an opportunity for adventure on the table. I went with adventure, and seven years later I haven’t looked back once.
What is your recommendations for summer readings?
It would be a selection that I have both read and loved, wish to reread and that I have on my list to read this summer.
The Hour of the Star was penned by the Brazilian author Clarice Lispector, one of the most poignant writers of the 20th century. A book I plan to reread while hiking this July. The intimacy of her words is exceptional.
City Like Water is a book on my reading list. Published by the brilliant folk at
Fitzcarraldo Editions, the author Dorothy Tse has been described as holding a
seductive beauty with her writing, which I am excited to discover.
Albertine Sarazin lived a life of extreme hardship from an early age and as a prostitute and a criminal as a teenager, while becoming a celebrated writer as a young woman in France before dying young from complications in surgery before she was 30. A book beloved by Patti Smith, Sarazin was a maverick writer and Astragal is her semi-autobiographical masterpiece.
Jazz is a book I read last year and absolutely loved every second - Toni Morrison is a master of language and narrative. With Jazz published in 1992, a year before Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, Jazz was written by Morrison through a style akin to the way jazz is played: richly complex with searing beauty.
Monkey Grip is a book I have recommended countless times, a story of resilience and love, in all its doomed failings. Written by Australian author Helen Garner, it s a novel that has been marked as a leading example of the Australian genre grunge lit.
What is usually tucked between the pages of your books - a proper bookmark, a receipt, a photograph, or something else entirely?
It could range from a ticket for a gig, a dinner, sometimes a photograph – always a memento or a memory that reminds me of the book!
What’s your first memory with jewelry?
I grew up in a home where my mum wore jewelry that was colorful, unique and always told a tale. I still love her exuberant yet elegant approach to this day, and I feel that summarizes the beautiful Ragbag bookmark perfectly: it has a beautiful, dazzling energy with such an elegant purpose. My mum is a voracious reader, so perhaps the bookmark reminds me of her in a way, which makes me love this piece even more.
