jewelry design – Downtown Magazine

Meet Your Neighborhood Jewelry Co. That’s Putting the Whimsy Back Into Accessorizing

Gen Z-ers and millennials know the grip that colorful beaded jewelry had on us in our adolescence. Our fashion identities were measured by how many charm bracelets, necklaces, and rings we could stack on.

Furthermore, the more varying colors you had on your plasticky-crystal adornments, the better. Think highlighter oranges, lime greens, bubblegum pinks, and so on. Meet Susan Alexandra: the jewelry and accessory company that is right under your feet here in NYC. It is time we bring this gem out from underground.

The Susan Alexandra success story had humble beginnings, starting out of Susan Korn’s Chinatown Apartment.

It all started with Susan Korn’s Merry bag, named after her mother. It is boxy, crystalline, and evokes a true sense of nostalgia. It was when Gigi Hadid posted a photo with the adorable accessory in the foreground to her X-follower Instagram page that the brand took off.

“I’ll be sitting on the subway and just look down at my purse and I just feel sort of a sense of delight and calm. It’s my personal antidote to such a strange time that we’re living in,” Korn told Glamour in an interview.

Susan Alexandra is bringing that childhood joy back – and taking over the jewelry industry one sparkly bead at a time. High fashion and nostalgia meet at a crossroads in the creator’s studio; a “warm, welcoming and inclusive home for creativity and design”.

Customizable Jewelry

Alexandra’s products range from jewelry to bags to accessories to home, and more. More, includes, of course, a Bead Box, which allows SA lovers to curate their own personalized pieces from the assortment of signature beads. The thing is on a page ripped out of the late nineties and early 2000s. Seriously.

You can get as playful as you want with Susan Alexandra’s pieces. Try a lovely beaded bag or a pair of statement earrings that resemble a shrimp cocktail. Customize your own piece on the more sophisticated side with the “*Make Your Own*” “Spells” pieces. Or try the “*Make Your Own*” “Tiny Joys” collection, where you can choose from charms that represent you, like shrimp, dollars, boobs, smileys, fries, rainbows, eyes, watermelons, moons, and more!

Ethical Accessorizing

The best part about SA is the message behind the company. Every piece is handmade right here in NYC, offering a plethora of job opportunities to the market. “We believe that pieces made with intention and heart feel better, look better and create a better world,” per their company’s website.

They also make a significant effort to give back. SA uses their platform to promote charities such as ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), G.L.I.T.S. (Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society), No Kid Hungry, and Black Girl Smile. “Our community has given us so much and in turn, we want to do the same by giving back to communities that inspire us.” Talk about ethical fashion.

Whimsy and Delicious Nostalgia

Take a gander at some of Susan Alexandra’s signature pieces and let them tickle your fancy!

The Divine Flower Anklet

The Bouquet Earring and Divine Flower Necklace

The Galaxy Earring and Galaxy Lariat

Meow Earrings

Head to susanalexandra.com to snag your very own piece of trendy nostalgia.

For more style from Downtown Magazine, click here.

When our CEO Grace A. Capobianco heard about the positive aid coming from the Senhoa Jewelry 2017 launch, designed by Cristen Barker and Kimmy Hise (ChinTwins) with one mission in mind, sharing a common goal from the Senhoa brand’s undertaking. This very important mission to help and protect women, and to combat human trafficking, a mission to stay-off the exploitation of women and children in Cambodia, we knew we had to bring this important message to our readers.

“Woman” – we are stronger together we can and will overcome anything put in our way” Grace A. Capobianco

Senhoa is thrilled to launch its latest women’s jewelry collection designed by yoga-influencers Cristen Barker and Kimmy Hise, ChinTwins. Sales from the 2017 Clarity Collection will help provide safe employment to survivors of human trafficking in Cambodia.Senhoa provides assistance, education, training and opportunities to women and girls who are at-risk or have survived human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Cambodia. Each artisan individually handcrafts every piece of jewelry and 100 percent of the sales goes towards funding Senhoa’s early intervention initiatives. The programs we execute give women and girls income opportunities, life skills, and support platforms that protect them from being vulnerable in the current climate of modern slavery – a hot button issue around the world.

The new Clarity Collection by the ChinTwins has a simple yet elegant aesthetic with delicate chains and hints of Swarovski crystals. The line features versatile body jewelry, unique earrings and a drop necklace, as well as two scented wood yoga-inspired pieces, a bracelet and Mala necklace.

The Collection speaks to the mind,body and spirit with an intention to empower the women of Cambodia who create each piece, to enrich their children with hope and emancipate them from the hardships they face. The campaign was curated and photographed by famed photographer and long time Senhoa champion Nigel Barker who shares his thoughts on the organization and new collection. “Ever since I first heard of Senhoa’s mission photographing supermodel Coco Rocha’s collection for the brand, I knew my wife and sister-in-law would be a perfect fit. I observed how hard they worked on the collection, pouring their heart and soul into every detail, and this inspired me personally to help bring it to life in a unique and powerful way. Love and humility is at the center of the ChinTwins mantra. And despite their modest demeanor, trust me when I say I have never met two more empowered women, which is perfectly in line with the Senhoa philosophy.”

“We have long admired the important work that Senhoa continues to do to combat human trafficking and the exploitation of women and children in Cambodia. While it’s always been a dream to create a jewelry collection inspired by the graceful lines found in Yoga, what could be better than to know we can give back at the same time? Our 8-piece collection launching this Fall is for all women who want to show the world that they proudly stand against the abuse of women in any situation. We want to create pieces that move and compliment the body highlighting its curves and edges. Each piece has a lightness and sparkle to it and meaning behind it to transform you.

The Clarity Collection speaks to the collaboration between the artisans and us; and we are excited to see how they will handcraft each piece to bring our designs to life. It is a union of women helping other women to find their voice, to discover their path and to ignite their inner light,” states designers Crissy and Kimmy. “Our passion is to create opportunities for survivor artisans to earn an income, share their stories and raise awareness against modern slavery. The unique jewelry is another form of advocacy for the issue,” adds Lisa T.D. Nguyen, Founder of Senhoa Foundation. Nguyen went on to say, “We loved working with Crissy and Kimmy. They are both incredible mothers and beautiful women, inside and out.”

ABOUT SENHOA- Senhoa (pronounced “suh-no-a”) is a combination of two Vietnamese words – “Sen” (lotus) and “Hoa”(flower). A lotus flower grows in muddy water and rises above the surface to bloom with breathtaking beauty, untouched by its impure surroundings. It is against this precise imagery that “Senhoa” was conceptualized to represent women and children, vulnerable to sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking.

Senhoa’s mission is to combat human trafficking and sexual exploitation through empowerment, advocacy and prevention programs. The Senhoa brand provides safe and dignified employment for at-risk women and survivor artisans. By purchasing and wearing the jewelry, consumers raise awareness against modern slavery. 100 percent of profits from the Senhoa social business supports education and early intervention initiatives to protect and strengthen underprivileged communities. For more information, please visit senhoa.org.