Jewelry artist goes hippie chic

In style and spirit, the 24-year-old jewelry designer has always yearned for the bygone era and its messages of love and peace. Now, with her new jewelry line, Solomon is using those ideals to make her mark in the competitive industry.

“I like the hippie ideals,” she says. “The music was very powerful and I like the psychedelic art. It was a very vibrant time and very inspiring in terms of jewelry.”

Solomon, who has a studio in Manhattan and at her parents’ home in Wayne, has already attracted a bit of attention with her retro-chic jewelry line. This month’s issue of Lucky Magazine features “Gossip Girl’s” Leighton Meester wearing Solomon’s turquoise thunderbird necklace on the cover; her jewelry has appeared in various other fashion features and jewelry blogs; and Ashley Olsen was also photographed traipsing through Manhattan wearing one of Solomon’s pieces.

“It’s nice when they actually choose your piece and they’re not being told by the stylist to wear it,” Solomon says. “I found it more exciting seeing Ashley Olsen in Us Weekly walking down the street or having lunch with friends wearing the piece rather than just posing in it.”

Growing up in Wayne and Ohio, Solomon was exposed to a lot of fine jewelry through her mother, who had friends in the business. Solomon always had a creative flair and knew she wanted to pursue art in college. She found her niche in jewelry design through a metalsmithing class at University of Michigan.

By her senior year, Solomon was already creating a line for Steven Alan, a celebrated New York designer and boutique owner. After graduating in 2005 with a major in metalsmithing, she worked at New York’s Ten Thousand Things jewelry boutique and as an assistant for designer Sharon Khazzam, whose jewelry is carried at Barney’s New York.

After three years of working, Solomon decided to go off on her own.

“I thought if I really want to do the most creative things that are in my mind and push my ideas forth, I have to focus full time on my own jewelry,” she says.

The ’60s theme is apparent in Solomon’s collection. Stud earrings are shaped into subtle peace signs; the flower theme is carried from rings to pendants to various styles of earrings. And then there is the Native American influence: ancient arrowhead pendants; bright turquoise carved into birds and hearts; small animal-shaped carvings, or “fetishes,” that are meant to empower the wearer with various forces.

“Native Americans really believed that [fetishes] could heal you if you’re ill and protect you if you’re going into a scary situation,” she says. “We all have these keepsakes that we kind of believe in whether it’s a locket or some sort of symbol that we’re superstitious about.”

In addition to various stones and ancient beads, Solomon’s jewelry uses diamonds, gold and silver. But with the rising cost of gold, it took some improvisation to keep her 18-karat gold pieces affordable: some now feature smaller gold charms; some pendants are made on suede straps rather than gold chains; and a few have been remade in sterling silver.

“The themes I put in my jewelry are supposed to remind you of happy things, and it’s supposed to be a whimsical fun thing, and I don’t want just people of a certain standing to be able to have that,” she says.

Solomon’s line is sold online at Elisasolomon.com and at boutiques in New York, California, Ohio, Oregon and Florida. She’s working on getting a few local retailers to carry her line, she adds. For the upcoming season, she plans to expand on the hippie theme by incorporating pieces inspired by rock-and-roll.

“Music was such a pivotal part of when hippies meditated, when they relaxed and hung out,” she says, adding that the new pieces will use colors and musical iconography representative of the era. “Ultimately, I really want people to have a sense of fun with the jewelry.”
Source: northjersey