Meet Veronica Tharmalingam from Paris and London who moved to LA 11 years ago to pursue acting and fashion design
Was there a particular reason you chose LA?
Yes! LA is the mecca for acting and my fiancé at the time (now hubby) was into media and entertainment so voilà.
What do you miss most from home?
Food, friends, culture and four seasons.
What was your first impression of LA and has it changed since?
For me LA is not a big city, I only lived in big cities be it in India, France or the UK growing up. So LA felt more like the suburbs of a big city. I was so excited to drive to everything at first, that excitement lasted a week even though I had my first car ever which was a boat on wheels – a seven foot-long Chrysler Cordoba.
What do you find the biggest difference is living here versus London or Paris?
People are nicer but not when they are in their cars (have you noticed it too?) t is always or most of the time sunny and that is a game changer for me because no matter how bad I feel I can step outside my door to get some sun and feel better instantly. We can be outdoors almost every day and be at the beach every day if we want to (my fantasy, because I never think of doing it unless we have visitors over from elsewhere).
Do you have a hidden gem in LA that you want to share with us?
If you want to have a decent croissant or light lunch and yummy coffee check out Euro Caffe on Canon Drive. They serve delicious Italian breakfast and lunch, and their coffee is superb.
What would you suggest to others who are thinking about making the move here?
Test it out for a few months and see if you like it before doing the big move. We did six months and then decided to stay. There are some things to consider like distance from the rest of your family/friends etc. (you are the furthest you can be). The time difference to be in touch with your loved ones is also challenging. There are a lot of costs involved that we are not used to in UK or Europe in general like health care.
Lots of our members join our group Brits in LA seeking out words of wisdom – what is the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
LA is like In N Out Burger: you can spend a lifetime ordering just burger here if someone doesn’t tell you about the animal style from the Secret Menu. There are so many under-the-radar things here that we don’t know about and discover every day in LA, so always be curious and ask questions – you never know what you will discover that day.
Lastly, how can we find out more about you? Are you working on anything at the moment?
I have a handbag and jewelry brand, all of which are hand-made in India by skilled artisans. We launched at New York Fashion week in September 2021, we have been published in international editorials like Vogue, L’Officiel, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Grazia to name a few and have been on red carpets too. We just opened pop up stores in Miami beach and Washington DC, soon in LA.
Our handbags and jewelry are all limited edition.
Handbags run $150 per model per season, and jewelry are either unique pieces or under $10 per model. We use 18carat gold plated hardware on our bags, and premium raw materials: beads, pearls, crystals etc.
And we use copper or silver base for our jewelry which are then gold dipped in 18-22-24 carat gold. We also use premium crystals, stones (precious – semi precious), beads, and baroque pearls.
For this holiday season shop local from one of your fellow members (wink wink) and get one-of-a-kind jewelry and handbags for your loved ones. Your purchase holds power as 30% of all our profits are given to charity that are dear to our heart (to abolish child labor, medicine/ hospital care in India and Sri Lanka). We are a feel-good brand in all ways.
For more information about the brand visit veronicatharmalingam.com or Instagram @ veronicatharmalingam. Use code BRITSINLA for a special surprise gift for each purchase.
