Monday, November 28, 2011

Behind the Scenes with Ambitious Pixels

Josh Fry, the mastermind of Ambitious Pixels, has been filming Scarlett Garnet for a short documentary! He is showcasing small businesses, and has done extensive filming at SG's Kansas City studio, our St. Louis studio, with water-jet cutters and laser cutters in Kansas City, of Garnet's band in KC, and more places around town. We are so excited, and wanted to share a short teaser and some behind the scenes photos with you.


In the St. Louis studio. I'll be sitting at that bench to assemble jewelry.
This pic is taken from behind other side of the camera, looking in between the big lights.

From the other side of the camera! Lights and camera aimed and ready to get some video of me working.



Josh shooting Garnet's band, "The Delighted," playing at our KC Studio during our 5 year anniversary party.



Josh and his wife, Leena, silhouetted against the light shining through our cut metal negatives. Leena conducted the interviews, we even phoned her in to speak with Laura Kathleen, she is just that good at asking the probing questions.


The slate snaps so that one can always match up the timing of the audio and video in editing. An organized memory card of footage also has each section of filming labeled so you can find it again later.


Editing in Josh's home studio in KC. The amazing tools of technology.


Josh has won a regional Emmy for his work with the HALO Foundation, showing their work connecting orphans in Kenya, Africa, with students in the U.S. You can see more of the work of Ambitious Pixels at www.ambitiouspixels.com



Monday, October 24, 2011

Scarlett Garnet "makes it work" with Laura Kathleen on Project Runway

Scarlett Garnet had the honor of working with the talented and lovely Laura Kathleen for Project Runway Season 9. We have been so excited about our jewelry pairing with her garments, we just had to share our perspective online! While there is a distinct difference in our overall brands' aesthetic, Scarlett Garnet jewelry went perfectly with Laura Kathleen's looks, in what Tom and Lorenzo call, "earthy glam."
I met Laura in the fall of 2010 when a group of fashion designers in St. Louis were getting together to discuss ways to expand our businesses and fashion in the Midwest. Upon our first meeting, Laura said right away, "I'd love to use your jewelry for the upcoming runway show!" We met several times and she showed me swatches of fabric and sketches for the Crush Wine and Fashion Show, benefitting Sunnyhill, Inc. Below are some of the pics from that show, where she wowed the crowd with her beautiful flowing gowns, edited detailing, luminescent fabrics and asymmetrical cuts.



The Multi Metal Chevron Necklace stood out with her lightly boned top and loose jacket. We were able to pair several pieces from our newly released (at the time), Spaghetti Western Sunset Line, as well as our steady Nautical Nouveau Line. The Multi Metal Chevron Necklace and similar Multi Metal Chevron Earrings have turned out to be our most popular products to date.

Laura Kathleen's pagoda dress really showed off our Brothel Bling Necklace. I love how the sleeves extending past the hemline creates a bit of drama.


Rocking the Mercury's Wing Earrings with the one shoulder dress.



The Feather Duster Necklace is a huge piece to wear and not for the faint of heart, but Laura's asymmetrical look pulls it in.
You'll also notice the work of milliner Miriam Wiegand. Miriam does amazing hats, completely from scratch, and was recently an artist at the strictly juried St. Louis Art Fair.
We continued networking with Laura through the year as the fashion designers convened and reconvened about potential showrooms, reps and fashion incubator programs in downtown St. Louis. We were all exploring how we could help each other while trying to attain our vastly different goals. I ran in to Laura while I was dogsitting in her new apartment building. She was moving in furniture and I was corralling the most slobbery dog imaginable but she did not shy away from giving Winston a proper greeting!
She told me she was once again trying out for Project Runway, for the fourth time. After speaking with Michael Drummond, contestant on Season 8 and fellow downtown St. Louis resident, she decided to play the card of "privileged girl" for the producers, which ended up being her golden ticket. Before she left for filming, she borrowed and bought several pieces of jewelry to wear on the show. It was hard to grasp at that moment that she was about to be thrust on to the world stage as a contender for Top Designer! She also mentioned that if she should make it as far as New York Fashion Week, she'd love our help accessorizing her runway show.
Laura rocked out several of our designs during the first round of filming, below:
Her team captured the hectic NYC streets as Laura glammed it up, jumping in and out of cabs like a pro! Our Brothel Bling Necklace adds the perfect amount of gold to her black silhouette. Traced from one of the huge chandelier pieces that line the ceiling of our St. Louis studio, this large brass pendant is accented with an asymmetrically placed diamond shaped tiger eye. We also have Brothel Bling Earrings, slightly smaller and paired with a purple Iolite.


Like I said, the paring of SG with LK is not an obvious match made in heaven, but Laura wears the Big Bull by the Horns Necklace well! She paired the longhorn skull with vintage prints in Episode 1, and with a ruffled basic top, above. The piece is water-jet cut from copper and hung on 16" of copper chain. Too big? No, girl. You got it. We do have a smaller, more corralled, version in laser cut stainless, the Steel Steer Necklace.




I think the Crystal Bullet Necklace personifies Laura Kathleen perfectly. She herself is girly and glamorous, shown in the vintage chandelier crystal, but has a little bit of an edge, seen in the bullet casing holding the crystal. "I may look like Barbie, but I bite" Laura said on her Twitter profile. We can't agree more, or make better jewelry to describe it.



Laura bought the Nautilus Skeleton Skeleton, from our Nautical Nouveau line, right after we first met. The Nautilus was an important symbol in her college sorority.

Laura called me in July of 2011 saying, "I need your help with a very special Spring/Summer 2012 collection!" She had just returned from lockdown during the first round of filming and was setting to work on 10 looks for the Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week! In the magic of TV, you only see the top 3 (or 4...) are shown during Fashion Week, but in reality, the top 10 (or 9...) get to create a line for that big night. Laura was on strict hush-hush about how far she made it in the show. I can't imagine how hard it was for her to smile and say, "I am not at liberty to talk about it" when questioned about the outcome or pressed for hints!

As we were preparing for our first big wholesale show, POOL Tradeshow (you can look here for our blog on POOL), Laura brainstormed in Florida and returned with a plan. We met at my studio where Laura explained how she had been inspired by our cut metal in developing her line! She describes her inspiration in this article in the Post-Dispatch, but in short, was going for a "glamorous armor" feeling representing the walls one puts up, or breaks down, during relationships.
She showed some amazing sketches of thee metal dress made from plates of brass and other garments with brass ribbing, and discussed the possibility for further detailing with metal on more of the looks. She knew we had relationships with companies to cut sheet metal and needed our assistance with sourcing the materials. Garnet and I set to work on drawings and the logistics of getting metal cut in the sizes and quantities that would build an entire wearable dress! She needed yards of metal, just as she would need yards of fabric, which was way more than we had ever had cut before, at one time. Luckily for us, our water-jet cutters in St. Louis had some open machine time, and were able to rush Laura's metal cutting through. They raised their eyebrows at the notion of a metal dress, but they were up for the challenge. Laura had a vision for the cuff bracelets which at first involved processes beyond our repertoire. Large scale casting or metal smelting was just a tad out of our range. We later decided to go with a water-jet cut brass, and Laura whipped up a drawing and hand delivered it to the cutters just in time.
To compliment the fabric and style of the garments, our "Glam and Neon" line, then in development, was the perfect pairing. We utilized yards and yards of a chain Garnet and I refer to as "disco chain." Our travel for shows all over the country has allowed us to source materials uncommon in the Midwest, and this chain was perfect. It is brass with black plating that allows the brass shine to come through. It is sparkly without being overwhelmingly bling, and looks great in motion, especially on the runway. Bullet casings were also prevalent as they have a beautiful vintage brass hue and glow, and lend that little bit of bad ass to an otherwise delicate look. We were also able to use some of the actual metal left over from making the armor dress. We rose to the challenge of creating beautiful jewelry that complimented, and not overshadowed, the luxurious fabrics overflowing from MOOD bags in Laura's apartment.
The night before I left to go to Kansas City for final preparations for POOL, I delivered our first round of jewelry to Laura's studio. At about 2 a.m. I got the sneak peak of her gowns and garments for New York Fashion Week and I was blown away. Laura has amazing skills and an attention to detail. She used reoccurring style lines at the hips, black lace overlay, ah-maz-ing fabrics with earthy jewel tones and sheen, and some woven pieces by Michael Drummond. The metal dress was being pieced together on the floor, and varying shoes, boots and belts laid in wait. She has the crucial skill to make a decision and stay on track. Of course she had made changes from the initial sketches I had seen a few weeks prior, but she remained steady on the course.
The deadline for Laura to ship her looks to Lifetime was while we were in Las Vegas at POOL, and we spent part of the second day of that show finishing up her jewelry behind our displays. We overnighted our next batch of jewelry to her from Vegas, after a cab ride and hunt for a late-day last pick-up at UPS! The work of our hands was about to flaunt it on the runway during New York Fashion Week!


Her looks were chosen by Tim Gunn to open the Project Runway Show during Mercedez Benz New York Fashion Week, Spring/Summer 2012. You can see all of the looks on BloggingProjectRunway.blogspot.com, but we'll highlight the Scarlett Garnet below:



The show opener! Parallelograms of brass were water-jet cut in varying sizes to create glamorous armor. Garnet and I toyed around with the initial drawing of the metal so that it would not create a fish-scale look or be confused for actual medieval armor. Some shapes were solid, other were just an outline to reduce the weight and show the black underneath. I love the uneven "hemline" that creates an almost spiral effect. The plates of brass were held together with an insane number of jumprings. Laura added brass to the shoes as well, strips ordered from an industrial materials supplier!




These Draped Orb Earrings earrings were created using extra metal from the dress. A sliver of brass was bent and draped with black disco chain on the inside and outside. They have a great swing and shimmer of movement. Laura had the awesome idea of using some of the bent metal pieces to create almost Edward Scissorhand-esque rings. Subtle, yet vicious.





This Bullet Bling Cascade Necklace uses over 15 feet of chain draped together in a complex web of rings and 22 caliber bullet casings. Still pictures do it no justice, it is so beautiful as it sways from side to side. The cuff bracelet makes its first appearance in this look as well. We had originally attempted to create the cuff using thick brass wire hammered into overlapping spirals, but the cut brass was even stronger.




Laura wired together dozens of slivers of brass to create the shoulder strap of this look. The back is equally impressive. Scarlett Garnet did not create it, but we think it is so killer.





These Crystal Bullet Earrings are similar to the necklace in Laura's Lifetime profile picture. Vintage chandelier spikes are set in 9mm bullet casings. We love combining vintage glam with that element of danger.



The Shredded Disco necklace becomes one with the outfit. Varying lengths of brass and disco chain are draped, with loose pieces hanging to the side. Bullet casings bring all of the chain together in the back, with an adjustable clasp.





In Laura's final look, the metal dress pieces are sprinkled through the bottom of the dress as if the armor had been shredded.


Her show has won rave reviews from industry experts and bloggers alike. Many comment on the "bold yet delicate" jewelry including:
SmallScreenScoop.com found our Nautilus Skeleton Necklace online.
TomandLorenzo.com thought Laura had the winning collection, if she had the chance. They also loved her jewelry.
CurrentlyLovingIt.blogspot.com was obsessed with the collection and jewelry.



After returning from our very successful first go at a tradeshow, I was able to catch up with Laura whenever she was in town. A few lounges in St. Louis hosted "viewing parties" so we could watch Project Runway on a big screen on their outdoor patio! I equate it to local professional sports, but for art and design people.

Watching the first episode of Season 9 at Over/Under in Downtown St. Louis. They projected it onto the wall outside!
In all honesty, watching with Laura, her friends and family, when she won the Episode 3 Challenge was infinitely more fun than watching the St. Louis Cardinals. Sorry, sports folk. The cheer that went up gave me more goose bumps than when Pujols hits a homerun. Or even like 3 in one game during the World Series. Yeah, I said it.
Every week, Garnet and I would tune in from our respective cities, eagerly anticipating Laura's new creations and to see which Scarlett Garnet necklace she would wear next! Although we are not usually big tweeters, we tried to chime in on the hash tag commentary during the show. Because I knew Laura's talent and drive, and I saw how well she was doing on the show, I thought she might win. However, she was eliminated on the 12th episode. I admit, I teared up (watching it the next day on myLifetime.com in the privacy of my own studio. The night before I had begged a bar owner to turn just one of his dozen televisions to Lifetime during the last game of the Cardinals winning the National League playoffs). But I knew that Laura was making the most of the huge opportunity -from hosting the opening night of St. Louis Fashion Week's Project Design, sitting front row for every runway show, to living up to her local celebrity status by posing for pictures with fans. Most importantly, with an eye on her goals, she is already working on her next collection for 2012 to be manufactured locally, even while teaching fashion design at Life for Life Academy High School.
Laura and I at Project Design on October 11, the only night of St. Louis Fashion Week that showcases local designers! She hosted the event, wearing her own super hot creation and our jewelry.
Working with Laura has been a pleasure and an inspiration. She knows her market, and where she wants to be in it. She aims high, but will put in all the hard work to make it to her goals. She knew from the start that reality TV may not paint an accurate or complimentary picture of her, but was excited for the challenges and name recognition it would bring to her line. In person, Laura is always professional, polite, and if she was feeling stressed while producing her fashion week line, she never let it change the way she dealt with Scarlett Garnet. When things did not go right in ordering sheet metal or getting it cut, she never dwelled on the negatives but thought quickly of the next step. I had the pleasure of meeting her parents, brother and close friends in the process, and was warmed by seeing their love and support for her, but also her concern for them as well. She never seemed to balk at my availability for jewelry drop off being between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m., because she was up that late, working her fingers off too.
And yes, she is that super cute and sassy in person. :)
I have included a few more pictures of Laura wearing Scarlett Garnet at events and on Lifetime.



The night of Project Runway's New York Fashion Week Show. Laura is going big with the Hinged Chest Plate Necklace



On "After the Runway" show, added on by Lifetime to let designers clear the air. Laura looks so great in the Draped Cairo Necklace.


Right now, Scarlett Garnet is continuously filling wholesale orders for boutiques around the country and Canada. We design 2-3 lines a year, each inspired by a loose theme. Our hand-drawings are translated into digital files, which are then laser cut and water-jet cut, in Missouri, from copper, brass, stainless steel, wood and acrylic. Garnet, myself, and our small production team assemble each piece. We released the "Egypt Noir" line in August at POOL, which has been hugely popular. Close behind has been the "Glam and Neon" line, which includes all of the looks found on the Project Runway and NYC fashion week, as well as our signature shapes cut into neon acrylic. We also have a Men's Line in the works, "Gunslinger," to compliment the "Spaghetti Western Sunset" line we released last year. We are gearing up for the holiday season, booking art shows, trunk shows and home parties, and looking forward to POOL again in February of 2012.

You can purchase Scarlett Garnet at:
One of our many awesome retailers (list here)
Etsy page: ScarlettGarnet

You can follow us at:
Email list: click here
Twitter: @ScarlettGarnet.
We travel all over the country and will be visiting Chicago, Cincinnati, Austin, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in November and December alone, so be sure to follow us as we come to a city near you!

We'd like to thank Laura Kathleen for this wonderful opportunity! It has been magical to see our work on Project Runway, and paired with such talent.
Thank for reading!
-Katie

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Egypt Noir - Behind The Scenes of Making a Line


People often ask us about our creative process, how do two women living in different cities create such cohesive and unique lines of jewelry? We're usually so on the go from one project to the next that we barely take time to acknowledge that we've even launched a new line! So, we've decided to smell some roses and explain what goes in to making our lines of jewelry.

We start by choosing a theme, one that truly inspires us, one that keeps us up at night as the wheels turn in our brains and we're haunted by jewelry designs so much we can't sleep. Without a good theme we can really get behind, the creative juices are, well, nonexistent. The themes seem to just come to us, as if they suddenly perch themselves on the branches of our sub conscience and sing their creative songs. For our Spaghetti Western Sunset line, I was inspired by the colors of the sunset, the silly old Italian western movies themselves (don't even think we didn't watch a few for research) and all things Cowboy and Indian. From there, the line just seemed to flow out of both of us. For Egypt Noir, Katie was inspired by a piece of family furniture, a vintage mirrored shelf that features intricate Egyptian inspired details, namely the image of Horus, the Falcon God, with his wings spread wide across the top of the shelf, as if protecting all the intricate pretty things someone would place inside of it. When Katie asked me what I thought of using Egypt as our next theme, the ideas started to flow and we knew we were on to something great.

Given the fact that Egypt is one of the oldest and most well known civilizations of all time, we knew we had our work cut our for us. We wanted to capture the essence of Egypt without being too literal and knew we needed to give it our own perspective. We wanted our line to stand out and to say something. As our brains mulled over this concept, we knew we had given ourselves our best challenge yet. We needed research! We spent hours online skimming through images of ancient Egyptian art and architecture and reading about the culture. We even visited the Egyptian exhibits at the art museums in our respective cities to see some ancient artifacts in person. Katie spent a morning at the St. Louis Art Museum and I spent an afternoon at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. After extensive research, we found our muse, Cleopatra. We wanted to capture the essence of a modern day Cleopatra, in all her glory, and imagine what type of jewelry would be fit for such a queen.

She is sexy, brilliantly intelligent, untouchable. She is sultry and soft but powerful and commanding. She is independent, strong and different.

Meet our model, Joi, she is Cleopatra incarnate.

When we were designing this line, we watched "
Cleopatra" together. We knew that Elizabeth Taylor would help inspire us.
This is an image of Cleopatra that inspired our necklace, Cleo Cameo. We liked the side view and the feather headdress.
We used to hand saw all the metal for our jewelry but in order to grow, we began outsourcing to local laser and waterjet cutting companies. We hand draw all our designs and have them turned into digital files. The machine then cuts our metal by reading the digital files. We wanted to create a modern day Cleopatra cameo and wanted something different. The frame is designed to have an art nouveau aesthetic and the stainless steel Cleopatra is pinned to the frame.
The finished product is really unique. Cleopatra is very detailed and intricate and the frame adds further to the elegance of this piece. We chose a green amethyst briolette to finish the look.
The image of King Tut's sarcophagus is one of the most famous images of all time. We wanted to create a necklace using its essence but didn't want it to be too literal. It was a challenge but the Tut's Treasure necklace turned out better than we could have hoped for.
Tut's Treasure is made from brass to mimic the gold of the sarcophagus. The use of green onyx, lapis lazuli, angelite and coral mimic the colors of the stones on the sarcophagus as well.
It is impossible to think about Egypt and not think about the Great Pyramids of Giza. I wanted to create a fun necklace utilizing their image, something big and bold and almost silly.
I drew the pyramids inside a circle, with everything connecting to create the top piece.
The bottom piece is made from brass to look reminiscent of the desert sand.
The necklace is 27 inches long and doesn't require a clasp.
Pyramid Scape is fit for a queen!
The lotus flower was a huge inspiration to the ancient Egyptians and it is depicted often in their art. The Egyptians saw the lotus flower as a symbol of rebirth. It closes at night and sinks underwater, then re-emerges and blooms again in the morning . Thus the flower became a natural symbol of creation and the sun. We were inspired by the lotus flower as well and used its image in many of our pieces

The lotus comes in blue, white and pink. This Layered Lotus Necklace reflects those colors with hand dyed wood and stainless steel.
The lotus flowers depicted in Ancient Egyptian art were the inspiration for many of our pieces. These appear to have an art nouveau aesthetic, which, of course, spoke to us.
You can see the correlation between our drawings and the Egyptian painting.

We were inspired by the Egyptian falcon god Horus, who was known as God of the Sky, War and Protection. Horus was the sky, and the Egyptians believed that the sun was his right eye and the moon his left, and that they crossed the sky when he flew. The speckled feathers of his breast were the stars and his wings created the wind.

This brass image of horus became the Desert Falcon necklace and earrings which are quickly becoming two of the most popular items from this line.
The use of aluminum chain makes these earrings very light weight. They are so much fun to wear and definitely make a statement.
The Desert Falcon Necklace is stunning! It's made with layers of brass and aluminum chain that are etched to reveal their bright and shiny insides.

We focus on creating at least one new line a year but usually put out two. We really thrive off this creative process and it's so much fun to see our hand drawings come to life. We have a few ideas on the back burner but our themes are top secret until the line is ready to launch. You'll have to stay tuned in to see what Scarlett Garnet creates next!

I've enjoyed taking time to explain how Katie and I create our jewelry. We hope you enjoy reading about our creative process.

-Garnet

Friday, August 26, 2011

POOL Trade Show, Las Vegas, August 2011

Scarlett Garnet Jewelry busted into the wholesale rhealm with our first ever showing at POOL Trade Show in Las Vegas, NV this August 22 -24. We did our best to have enough in stock for the Cash and Carry booth and also took wholesale orders. Katie came in from St. Louis to Kansas City several days before the show to help with production. In a matter of days, we turned our KC studio upside down getting ready for the show. We have to say thank you to Maria, Esther, Megan, Gabrielle, and Lorena for helping us get our stuff did. Thank you ladies!


Agh!!!! Such an organized mess...


Finished products were hung on our display fixtures lining the wall of the studio to help stay organized.


All our efforts were immediately rewarded the moment we stepped foot inside the convention center at Mandalay Bay. This show is HUGE! And awesome, and a perfect fit for our blossoming company. We didn't know what to expect but we were sure it would be something good at the very least. It was actually something very awesome, indeed. We kinda totally heart POOL. A lot.



We launched our never before seen "Egypt Noir" line while in Vegas. Why not? It's pretty perfect for this city and show. It was well recieved to say the least.


We introduced a neon line of Jewelry for August's First Friday in the KC Crossroads Art District, where our Kansas City studio is located. We brought a few samples with us and also wore neon jewelry during the show. Needless to say, it was a hit! After selling pieces off our neck and ears 3 times in a row on our second day of the show, we decided that we should include it as a product to be ordered. Thus, the neon line has been officially born. Shapes from our past 3 lines, "Nautical Nouceau", "Spaghetti Western Sunset" and "Egypt Noir" are cast in neon acrylic priced way inside your budget. People asked if the jewelry glowed in the dark to which we replied, "it glows in the light."


As first time exhibitors, we were treated very well. We felt right at home, starting from the email correspondence months out to secure our booth up to the closing day of the show, we felt that we were under POOL's gracious wing. We picked up a copy of the POOL Trade Show directory which was distributed to all vendors and buyers throughout the 3 day show.



To our most pleasant and humble surprise, POOL featured us twice in this directory. We sold out of the Multi Metal Chevron Earrings :)


Day 1 & 2 of POOL, the vendors were treated to free happy hour. Thank you!
The real party, however, took place after the first night of the show, Monday evening on the rooftop of Mandalay Bay, Foundation, nose bleed floor. Vendors, show organizers, buyers, photographers all united and had a fantastic time. Open bar for 4 hours = very hung over vendors for day 2, but we'll all sleep when we're dead, right?



Yup, this is the view from Foundation Club atop Mandalay Bay.
We made new friends and fans during the show, including vendors and show organizers. Kristen, the head honcho organizer extraordinaire of Project POOL's immediate neighbor, loved our "Steel Steer Necklace" so much that her team of assistants bought it for her as a gift. She wore it around proudly and we were ever so happy to see her wandering around the show wearing our necklace.




Check out our new friend from "Costella" Bags sportin some chevron action!


And, finally, the Las Vegas sights...And, some well earned chilaxing time at the pool....




Scarlett Garnet Jewelry is so proud to have been a part of this August 2011 POOL Trade Show. We had such a successful trip and cannot wait to come back. Thank you to POOL Trade Show and to all our fans and friends who are there for us. We appreciate your support!



Scarlett Garnet hearts you all!

XOXO,


Garnet and Katie