Over time the aesthetic or trends in fashion didn't really mean much to me. The importance is that it defines me and relates to me. That is when I discovered that I have dived deeper than the appeal of a piece of clothing or jewelry on me. It makes for great conversations starters and lasting impressions.
Trendy Stranger: I love your jersey and your rings are crazy
Me: Thank you, the jersey is from Ebbets Field. I use to intern there. This brand is from Seattle, Washington where I am from.
Trendy Stranger: Your rings though they're lit!
Me: Surprisingly I met the jewelry designer that made this gold lion ring I'm wearing! Her name is Jules Kim. She saved me from being lost in the subway station.
I end up meeting some of the most interesting people based off what I decide to wear each day, so I really do take it as a serious art to pick out articles of clothing that really define and represent me. This brief little commentary is really a seg-way to introduce a creative and one of my favorite people I have met on this planet that really takes takes story telling and product to a whole new level! JULES KIM!
I discovered Jules Kim in my young street wear shop days at Stussy. Stussy Women's was launching a collab: Jules Kim's Bijules x Stussy jewlery collaboration. Little did I know that one day I would be lost at a subway stop running into the designer herself in the middle of summer in New York.
I had the pleasure of stopping by her creative space and seeing her work first hand.
Colored photos by: Sam Fu
Black and White photos by: Maksim Axelrod
Jules Kim: "The space is underground because I keep it underground."
I appreciate Jules attention to detail from the space she keeps her work at to how she has a reoccurring theme of the ocean to describe her work ethic/work flow and the jewelry in her collection.
As she put these nail rings on me she says. "These are pieces that I designed for Beyonce." I just laughed out loud because WOW I'm wearing the Queen B's jewelry. (No big deal right?!)
It's amazing to meet an expert at her craft. Someone that has put a lot of thought into each unique piece. It really brings us back to the traditions and the roots of retail sales and the gift of giving something meaningful. It's about the stories. For each item you are selling, you are in some ways giving a piece of yourself and your story to the customer. You have then helped the customer add something unique into their life and it is their turn to take the piece and make it their own. Jules tells us a story of a bar ring her friend purchased from her. It started to bend and mend with her friends hand. The purchaser then becomes a collaborator with the artist.
Aside from being a expert at her craft she is a true philosopher. I didn't think I would meet someone that would speak in more analogies than I would. We were painting word pictures to each other. She makes a lot of references about the ocean.
One thing I learned from Jules is you don't want to ride the wave. You don't want to crash. There's a whole cycle with the ocean coming in and out that we should embrace. With that I sum it up with "Don't ride the wave, be the wave."
I'm thankful to run into a beautiful spirit like Jules. This is the first but not last time I'll visit her underground jewelry space as I hope to be a proud owner of a few her unique pieces....because the day I purchase one of her pieces will symbolize something important in my life and that would be another story to tell.
“For me success itself is defined not by it
its defined by its own pursuit ”
“I think the most important factor is failure
I would not be successful if i hadn’t fail several times in between
so once you understand and confront your own fears as an artist and a business person then your really sort of free to make the mistakes and create a new pathway to success ”
