Congratulations to scarf designer Philippe Mermi! This new designer was awarded the Prix de la mode Printemps 2012. After a week exhibiting in a Printemps store, Mermi was selected to have the opportunity to open a pop-up shop within Printemps during the holiday season. They will also receive some financial advice and some help setting up booths at trade shows.
Mermi is about to become the hottest scarf designer in Paris – snag your own Mermi scarf here on Boticca.
Because you’ve been such lovely loyal customers, we’d like to give you a little present. From now until the end of September, we’re running a Pinterest contest – all you have to to is pin to win your favorite pieces!
Here’s how it works:
-Visit Boticca.com & pick your favorite piece from the site.
-Pin it to your boards.
-Bonus entry: Tweet a link to the piece with the hashtag #winboticca
Three winners will be chosen each week, so pin as many pieces as you like – each pin is another entry. Our contest will run through the end of September, so let the pinning begin!
We have to extend our congratulations to jewelry designer Rebecca Boatfield. Rebecca won the Tresor Paris RAW competition! She found out about it through the Holts Academy and decided to give it a shot. “Winning was amazing, it was definitely unexpected,” Rebecca says. “It’s definitely given me more confidence to work harder and be more creative, I can’t wait to see where this takes me.”
Gold Group Triangle necklace
Rebecca’s piece may be for an established brand, but she managed to create this piece while staying true to some of her favorite design signatures.
Double Triangle Brooch Gold Mirror
“I have a real love for triangles and the shapes and tessellations they create,” Rebecca says, explaining that she wanted to apply her love of triangles to a piece for the Tresor brand. As for Rebecca’s own collection, she works with a mix of materials to achieve unique, often surprising results.
Mr Wolf necklace
“My jewelry collection is inspired by the Art Deco movement and whilst researching my designs I took particular inspiration from the use of triangles,” Rebecca says. “Working with unusual materials is a passion of mine and I love to create gorgeous statement pieces that women love and feel gorgeous in.”
Congratulations, Rebecca! Don’t miss out on this rising star’s collection – see her original pieces here.
Photo credit: Paige Lowe, www.paigelowephoto.com
All of our pieces have a unique story, but when we heard the story behind Michelle Oh’s custom Twig Engagement ring, we just had to share it.
London-based designer Michelle creates a series of rings cast from a lovely twig. “I found the twig and it had sentimental value to me so I hand-molded it into an original ring design which is now immortalized in the rings I make for others through Boticca,” Michelle explains. U.S.-based customer Keith contacted Michelle to ask about turning that ring into a bespoke engagement ring (see one like it here). “My customer had told me that he needed the ring before a specific date as he had already booked and planned a surprise trip to Iceland where he would propose to his then girlfriend, Paige. I was just happy to finish the ring on time!”
Photo credit: Paige Lowe, www.paigelowephoto.com
The rose gold ring (complete with a lilac-blue sapphire to match Paige’s eyes) reached the customer in California in time to cross the Atlantic again with Keith, who kept the ring safely packed away until the perfect moment arrived. And boy did it ever! The recipient (and newly engaged) photographer Paige Lowe told us all about it:
“The trip had already felt like a fairy tale, like I had been dreaming the entire time and then I felt him fumbling around in his pocket for something and he had a ‘huge question to ask me.’ I can’t even remember every word he said because I immediately started crying and picturing flashes of our past memories and future all combined. Apparently, I forgot to say yes because he had to ask again a few moments later, at which point I started shaking him and saying ‘Yes, yes! Of course yes!’”
The proposal was beautiful (see for yourself on Paige’s blog), but there’s another detail Paige mentioned: the ring.
“My mother’s favorite stone is a sapphire and I adore rose gold; the twig band and simple setting could not be any more perfect. It truly is everything I ever wanted in a ring, and he figured it out before I did!”
Of course, this ring helped mark the start of a lifetime of happiness for Paige and Keith, but it also sparked a connection between Paige and Michelle, who connected through Facebook. “I honestly feel like somehow Michelle and I must know each other, in a past life perhaps, because the woman just ‘gets’ me,” Paige says. Apparently, the feeling is mutual. “It’s amazing to think that my ring has traveled there to that place with these two lovely people,” Michelle says. The pair continue to share each other’s work on Facebook.
As for us? We may need a few more tissues to recover from this beautiful story. Don’t forget to check out Paige Lowe’s work here (and if you’re on the West Coast, bookmark her page – she’s an amazing photographer). See more of Michelle Oh’s beautiful jewelry right here on Boticca.
We’d hardly expect the senior vice president of web retail giants Market America and SHOP.com to have time to smile and chat with everyone she meets. Yet this energetic entrepreneur manages to stay sweet and grounded, even as she bounces from one business meeting to another (not to mention dinners with the likes of Eva Longoria and the Kardashian clan). When we heard Loren was a fan of Boticca, we just had to get the scoop on her favorite pieces. Find out which pieces Loren loves and learn more about this entrepreneurial powerhouse.
As you might imagine, the Boticca office is always buzzing, but never more so than when we get a fun new package. Today’s was no exception: we received an exciting delivery from Japan!
Our co-founder and CEO Kiyan received his Futabaya’s BokashiKiku scarf in record time. The scarf won’t be in the office very long as it is a gift for someone lucky, so we had to snap a few photos of this light linen-cotton scarf before it moved on.
As you can see, the scarf was beautifully packaged – so much so we were sad to open it! But when we did, we were delighted with the exquisite craftsmanship and the elegant beauty of the scarf’s delicate dyed patterns. Futabaya scarves are made in a fifth-generation kimono-dyeing workshop, so each scarf is made with extraordinary love and care. There is a bit of history involved, too: the dyeing technique employed in the creation of each Futabaya scarf can be traced back to Japan’s Edo era, when this technique was developed specifically for Samurai families. If it is good enough for Samurai, it’s good enough for us.
Click here to see more Futabaya scarves, and click here to see our full Summer Scarf Shop.
The Hand Red Bag by Árbol de Viento
Congratulations are in order: Boticca designers Árbol de Viento and Kempton & Co. both won their categories at the 2012 Independent Handbag Designer Awards!
Árbol de Viento took home the prize for Most Socially Responsible Handbag. The design team employs indigenous palm weavers to help produce the bags in their native Mexico.
“To win this award is a huge door for an emerging designer,” says designer Marisa Collado. She and her business partner Martha launched the brand in an effort to help these artisans sustain a livelihood while preserving their craft.
“It is also important because Martha and I and many other people who believe in us are materializing a dream: it is possible to succeed in a business while helping others to succeed too,” Marisa says. “Socially responsible fashion is possible.”
Marisa has high praise for Emily Blumenthal, the founder of Handbag 101 and the annual awards, who she calls “kind, warm and so professional.” The prize includes a marketing campaign with Patron Spirits and a place in InStyle’s September issue.
Kempton & Co. Bag
Kempton & Co. also won Best Green Handbag for the brand-new Wiltshire carryall, made with an old flour sack, leather scraps and reclaimed hardware from the Salvation Army. As the winner in this category Kempton & Co. will also appear in the September issue of InStyle, and designer Fiona Kempton will have the opportunity to create a collection for Timberland using cork.
“The chance to design a collaborative collection for Timberland is quite a match for me given my aesthetic of quite rugged hardwearing, country-inspired product with a feminine twist,” Fiona says. “It is just amazing to get acknowledgment from so many industry professionals for my work.”
We are so pleased to see our independent designers being recognized for their talent and creativity! See more from winners Árbol de Viento and Kempton & Co. and congratulate them yourself!
Great news – two Boticca designers are nominated for this year’s Independent Handbag Designer Awards! The awards are hosted by Handbag Designer 101, and you get to choose the Audience Fan Favorite!
The hand red by Árbol de Viento
Árbol de Viento’s “Hand” bag is nominated for the Most Socially Responsible Handbag award. Designers Martha Gómez and Marisa Collado employ a team of indigenous palm weavers in Oaxaca, Mexico, to weave the palm parts of their bags, giving the weavers the opportunity to work in their own communities, rather than abandoning their homeland. If Árbol de Viento wins, the company will receive a marketing feature with Patron Spirits Company and appear in InStyle magazine.
“I think this is a great opportunity to become visible in front of important people in the fashion world,” Marisa says. She and Martha are thrilled to go to New York for the event, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed for them!
Bag by Kempton & Co.
Boticca’s Kempton & Co. is nominated for Best Green Handbag, for designer Fiona’s brand-new creation, the Wiltshire bag. Her green bag was made using an old flour sack and bag hardware from the Salvation Army. If they win, Kempton & Co. will have the chance to collaborate with Timberland and appear in InStyle magazine. Kempton & Co. is also nominated for Best Kipling-Inspired Handbag for a proposed design, and the company wins, they will have the opportunity to design a limited-edition collection for the company.
Both designers are also in line for the Audience Fan Favorite award, and you can help choose the winner! Go to InStyle.com to vote for your favorite bag. The awards will be presented on June 13th.
Clockwise from top left: Nicola Crawford; De Anna Kiernan; Jessica de Lotz; Jessica's jewelry.
Boticca designers Nicola Crawford, De Anna Kiernan and Jessica de Lotz are all showing at London’s Craft Central this weekend, and we had a chance to stop in for a visit (and a glass of champagne)! Craft Central is a non-profit organization that houses studio space for artists and designers. This weekend’s open studio event allows members of the public to meet these designers and see their work in person – a true pleasure for design fanatics like us!
It was great to see Nicola Crawford’s romantic pieces in person: she is showing several pieces, including her Lost Words Pendant and Single Kisses earrings. We were also able to chat with De Anna Kiernan about her bold Gold Quill Curve earrings and her Geometric Cocktail ring. Of course, we had to pop in and see the lovely Jessica de Lotz show off her quintessentially British designs, including her Hand Stamped Wax Seal necklace and her Personalized Hand Stamped Wax Seal bangle.
Stop by Craft Central this weekend, and don’t forget to check out Nicola Crawford, De Anna Kiernan and Jessica de Lotz here on Boticca!
P.S. Add these designers to your favorites list to get V.I.P. treatment. Learn more right here!
Boticca designer Claire English has received a big honor – she won the top prize in the Treasure Jewellery Show London competition hosted by “Professional Jeweller” magazine! Claire will now have the opportunity to show her collection with a free stand at the Jewellery Show London in June. We spoke to Claire to find out more about the competition.
“I am delighted, as it is going to be a very exclusive and curated show with less than 100 exhibitors!”
As a finalist in the competition, Claire was invited to give an interview discussing her vision for her brand.
“When I consider the most important attributes I want to communicate about my philosophy, it boils down to my love of the magical transformative nature of jewelry, my love of our national identity and my love of sublime craftsmanship.”
The Mouse About Bracelet in Rose
Claire is really looking forward to the Jewellery Show, where she will have the opportunity to meet other top jewelers and, hopefully, gain new fans.
“Exhibiting alongside many of the best designer jewelers making popular and contemporary work will give me plenty to think about, and no doubt contribute to me refining my ideas about where I sit in the market and how to present myself.”
The Magpie Fledgling Swag Necklace
Click here to see Claire English’s collection.
Aesthetically pleasing ephemera from a lifetime of collecting - Rose Hawthorne
Apres Ski - Pastel moodboard
