How did you become interested in jewelry design?
Design, in general, became an interest of mine at a fairly young age. As a child, I was introduced to fashion and jewelry by my mother, grandmother, and great aunt. In addition to the beautiful and stylish pieces I would see them wear, I was most interested in their jewelry, especially how central earrings, jewelry, and nails were to their everyday looks. I remember, although I cannot remember the exact age, being told by my mom and aunt to always keep a pair of earrings in my ear. No matter what you’d have on, a set of earrings would keep you looking as near to complete as possible. Furthermore, my mom never skipped a nail appointment in the 80s/90s. I remember tagging along to the nail shop, sitting in the window sill, while ‘Linda’ daintily polished each one of my mom’s in ‘Corvette Red.’ The final look was a fly nail presentation with a gold ring on nearly every finger.
My grandmother and great aunt had large jewelry collections, especially my aunt who had about five waist high jewelry boxes in her San Francisco Sunset home. At an early age, I became knowledgeable about stone settings and how to differentiate bezel versus prong settings. I could identify the difference between Tanzanites, Alexandrites, and the array of Topaz variations. I knew the value between gold karats among many other things. I remember looking at an embellished sterling silver cross bezel set with a variety of stones and thinking, “How did they do this? How is this possible?” While I didn’t immediately dive into jewelry design, this sentiment followed me into adulthood, particularly when I graduated from undergraduate school and launched the first iteration of Sucré Couture.
What's your process for designing a new collection?
The process is intuitive and can sometimes be disjointed. Not surprising for a creative person, I would think. Oftentimes, I will sit down and get a design down on paper in a rough sketch and then perfect it over time. A design might sit for a couple of years, until I feel moved enough to do something with it. The stories often accompany the backstory of a design. My designs and product collections are almost always inspired by real stories or time periods, which inherently become visual campaigns, and how the two might overlap. The product collection is just tangible tokens or memorabilia of that visual experience.
How do you stay inspired?
The inspiration comes from so many sources. Jewelry design inspiration comes from my own knowledge bank of 80s/90s Black culture, as well as my personal jewelry archives, specifically those previously owned by the matriarchs in my family. However, I am also inspired by cool jewelry-related coffee table books like Taschen’s Ice Col. I also frequent museums—locally and wherever I happen to be traveling. Visual storytelling inspiration comes from literary works, magazine publications, heritage archival photographs, time period stories, and as well as stories personal to me and my family.
How do you handle creative block?
I strongly believe in going with the flow. I don’t try to force the creative process, if I can help it. So I tend to stop trying during ‘creative blocks’ and pick up the design work when it flows more easily or when I have more mental ease. I also conceptualize things randomly during the day and sometimes in my dreams. At that point, I’ll put it down on paper.
What's your favorite fashion book?
MAs previously mentioned, and although it’s not really a fashion book, I really love Taschen’s Ice Cold. It’s a highly visual comprehensive overview of jewelry in Hip Hop since as early as the 70s, if I’m not mistaken.
