{"id":1461,"date":"2013-06-05T20:39:36","date_gmt":"2013-06-06T02:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/?p=1461"},"modified":"2014-04-05T19:31:02","modified_gmt":"2014-04-06T01:31:02","slug":"jewelry-designer-sophia-forero-custom-bridal-jewelry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/jewelry-designer-sophia-forero-custom-bridal-jewelry\/","title":{"rendered":"Jewelry Designer Sophia Forero – Custom Bridal Jewelry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our conversation with Naperville, IL jewelry designer Sophia Forero<\/a><\/p>\n

Sarlas Music: Your pieces are so unique and beautiful. How do you stay on top of current trends in jewelry design?
\n\"7<\/a>
\nSophia Forero: I don\u2019t really follow trends because I\u2019m trying to create my own niche in jewelry. My mosaics are really different….Not that I\u2019m some kind of trailblazer. But I\u2019m trying to create something that anybody would want to wear and that it\u2019s my own, and it\u2019s beautiful, and that it might go along trends because they happen to be the trend of the season, but it\u2019s really not about that. My typical client is not so much about trends. She just likes the beauty of the pieces, and the idea, and the art.<\/p>\n

SM: You have almost a cult-like following of clients!<\/p>\n

SF: Well…I do! It\u2019s growing too!<\/p>\n

SM: Unlike someone who commissions a piece from you directly, you don\u2019t really get to meet the people who buy your pieces from stores like Bloomingdale\u2019s and Macy\u2019s<\/p>\n

SF: No, and honestly, sometimes that bothers me. I really love to witness how my pieces make a woman feel beautiful. It\u2019s so empowering to see a woman put on a piece and see her face light up!<\/p>\n

SM: Talk to me about bridal jewelry.<\/p>\n

SF: I see it as a total honor to be a part of that day, because I hold marriage in very high regard. I\u2019ve been married for 17 years to my best friend, and I know that it\u2019s a lot of work, and I know how important it is to start that adventure off with a solid celebration and gathering of like minded people who want to bless the people that are in front of them that decided to get married.<\/p>\n

I sit down and talk to my brides for a good long time, and listen to them about what their style is. Do they want simple or bling? Traditional or out of the box? It\u2019s important for me to listen to what their needs are, and for me to meet their budget. Weddings are expensive, and I know that I can meet any budget. For orthodox weddings, I\u2019m starting to make orthodox crowns out of hand hammered silver and different stones.<\/p>\n

SM: Fantastic!<\/p>\n

SF: I don\u2019t just design for orthodox weddings though. There are as many different kinds of weddings as there are personalities. So, it\u2019s super important that I listen to what the bride wants.<\/p>\n

SM: What are your favorite materials to work with when you make bridal jewelry?<\/p>\n

\"sophia<\/a><\/p>\n

SF: I use white pearls a lot, Swarovski crystal, and mosaic designs. I\u2019ve had brides that didn\u2019t want white at all. They will have their \u201csomething blue\u201d be in their jewelry. One of the things I see that brides really love is that I create for them. And I create with materials that they would like to see. I want them to feel taken care of by me, because they have so many other details to take care of.<\/p>\n

SM: I wish I had known you when I was getting married. I wanted a custom piece and didn\u2019t know where to turn. I knew in my mind what I wanted, but I couldn\u2019t find it anywhere!<\/p>\n

SF: That\u2019s the thing, it\u2019s really hard. You\u2019ll be restricted either by budget, or by design, and it\u2019s hard to find someone who can just sit and listen, and help you make what\u2019s in your head into a reality.<\/p>\n

SM: When did you start making jewelry?<\/p>\n

SF: This is the book that changed my life: Africa Adorned. I was at the University of Chicago, studying modernity in Africa. Specifically, South Africa under Apartheid. U of C didn\u2019t have the most sources, because there was no internet then…we had to use the card catalog. It was very painful.<\/p>\n

SM: And the microfiche!<\/p>\n

SF: And the microfiche! That stupid machine…you would always whizz by what you wanted to see….so I would look at pictures of people in their indigenous jewelry. I was supposed to be studying, and I would be looking at people wearing the jewelry of Africa. In many cultures, jewelry is a symbol of a family\u2019s wealth, or their status in society. So, I started studying jewelry from that perspective. And then I started going around to different bead stores, and I would buy elements from African jewelry. A friend showed me how to wire wrap one day. I just started collecting beads and making stuff.<\/p>\n

While I was in the Peace Corps, I would travel around and buy beads. I would make stuff for my Peace Corps buddies, and I would give it to them. It really just went on from there.<\/p>\n

When I came back to the states, I decided I wanted to teach, and I ended up being a classroom teacher for 12 years. Then one day, the school librarian told me to enter the Marshall Field\u2019s design contest. I took a day off of school, 5 mos pregnant with my second child. I stood in line for 4 hours. I took two rolls of jewelry with me, showed it to them, and then I left. There were 400 people there. And then I won.<\/p>\n

That was my sign. I had to do it! I used to do art shows on the weekends. I quit teaching, had my second child, and started my business in the same month.<\/p>\n

SM: That\u2019s not stressful.<\/p>\n

SF: You know, I didn\u2019t even think about the stress. I was like, I\u2019m meant to do this. It\u2019s gonna work out.<\/p>\n

SM: Because it\u2019s what you love. It\u2019s your obsession.<\/p>\n

SF: It\u2019s what I loved. And you know what\u2019s so strange? I never took any art classes in high school or college. I didn\u2019t think it was practical. I\u2019m Greek.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t say that I had had this real drive or interest in taking art classes. I never really got into the notion of making stuff for a living. I didn\u2019t know I had it in me. I can\u2019t believe how much I love sitting down and making stuff. The business side is really the challenge. People ask me \u201cwhat are you going to do when you run out of ideas?\u201d Ideas are infinite. The ideas just keep coming when I least expect them.<\/p>\n

SM: So, the mosaics….how did you get the idea?<\/p>\n

SF: The idea came to me as I was standing next to a Byzantine icon. It\u2019s like pointillism. Wouldn\u2019t it be beautiful to make a pendant that would be bits that make a whole? You can see their robes in the icons; they look like they have folds in them. You appreciate how hard it was to put together. At first I thought of taking tiny little stones and literally putting them in like tiles. But it\u2019s a very tedious process and almost impossible to do. So then I thought, what if we took beads and sewed them onto fabric? When I first started making these, I had them made in India. I would sit with the artisans and we finally figured it out. I think about that moment when the first one was completed. It just clicked. I had the idea, I made the drawing, and I made the design. Now, we\u2019ve been doing the sewing here in my studio for about three years. I want to create a business that grows here. Most jewelry is made in China, India, Bali, Indonesia, Philippines….I can\u2019t even name a line that\u2019s made in the United States. Patricia Locke. That\u2019s it.<\/p>\n

SM: So, you\u2019ve got a lot quicker turn around time, now that you\u2019re based here.<\/p>\n

SF: I do, I have a quicker turnaround time, but the most important thing is that I want to grow my business and grow jobs here.<\/p>\n

SM: So, if a bride were to approach you about making jewelry for her wedding, ideally how much time would you want?<\/p>\n

SF: I can do stuff within two weeks. Ideally, 5-6 is great, but I\u2019ve done very quick turnarounds. Especially if I have the materials on hand, I can move quickly. I always make sure to send plenty of pictures as we progress, so a bride can change anything. It has to be perfect for her. I want it to be exactly what she wants. Your wedding day is so important.<\/p>\n

SM: And stressful!<\/p>\n

SF: It is, it\u2019s very stressful. You know, the more a bride can delegate, the better. It\u2019s a good feeling to know you\u2019re in good hands.<\/p>\n

SM: I think most brides don\u2019t know that something like this is an option. Thank you Sophia!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our conversation with Naperville, IL jewelry designer Sophia Forero Sarlas Music: Your pieces are so unique and beautiful. How do you stay on top of current trends in jewelry design? Sophia Forero: I don\u2019t really follow trends because I\u2019m trying to create my own niche in jewelry. My mosaics are really different….Not that I\u2019m some … Continue reading Jewelry Designer Sophia Forero – Custom Bridal Jewelry<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dialogue-vendor-rap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1461"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1767,"href":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1461\/revisions\/1767"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sarlasmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}