I oversee our website, do all our social media, troubleshoot computer issues, etc. On the other hand, my mom repels anything to do with technology, and that’s where I come in. She’ll hear out an idea of mine, then take it to a level that’s way beyond what I imagined in the first place. My mom is super creative, and such a cool designer to work with. Our skill-sets complement one another well, too. We also both have a “more is more” approach to designing-and wearing-jewelry.
We’ll have the same idea about how to make something feel truly finished, and what makes a piece of jewelry perfect. We’re also super aligned when it comes to the actual product. We understand one another, and are able to appreciate the other’s point of view/individual sense of style.
What is it like running a brand as a mother-daughter duo? Because they’re natural shells, drilling them takes care and skill. It’s like a meditation, finding colors and sizes that match. Matching up shells is one of our favorite parts of the process. We pack and ship the jewelry ourselves, too. We make each piece by hand in our studio in Connecticut. The second we saw the color of the stones against the shells, we just knew. Three ruby-colored stones set these earrings apart. What makes the exclusive ShopBAZAAR Hero earrings so special? We can’t sum it up into five words, but we think she’s someone who doesn’t take herself too seriously, who has fun with fashion, and who enjoys playing dress up for everyday life, not just for an occasion that requires it. We also like to incorporate vintage and “found” elements into our lines, like 1940s zodiac pendants and other various charms that my mom has collected over the years.ĥ words that describe the Brinker & Eliza customer?
It's always been our “thing.” For this collection, we played around with dyed shells and vintage shell florets. There’s still few things I’d rather do than walk along the beach with my mom and hunt for shells and sea glass. Our hope is that, when someone wears a Brinker & Eliza piece, it will always feel like it was made for them.īeing from a small beach town in Connecticut, going to the beach is a part of our day to day life, even in the winter. Now, as we grow, that model will have to change, which is both a relief (because it means we get to focus on other exciting areas of the brand), and a pretty scary concept! The most important thing to us as we continue to scale is that a personal element remains: that our customers know the people behind the brand, that they feel like they can DM us on Instagram to say hey, that every earring, necklace, bracelet continues to feel special. There isn’t a piece that gets shipped out that we don’t touch. We’re a mother/daughter-run company, and we currently make everything by hand. We have definitely made some styles that may not have “mainstream salability” potential, but for now, because we’re small, we get to take risks and make things that we love. That, and the fact that we can do whatever we want with the product, no matter how “out there” it is. The list goes on, but that’s part of what has made this experience so satisfying. That said, I feel like we are both learning something new every day: how to handle growth (we’re a team of two) inventory management the process of expanding wholesale. My background is in fashion merchandising, which helped prepare me for a lot of what I do now. That’s really when it felt “real,” when we realized, Wow. That’s when we set up the website, made a look book, decided on a name. We launched our joint line, Brinker & Eliza, in 2017. She used to have her own line of jewelry (walking into her studio was like walking into a candy store, only instead of candy, it was beads and charms and wire…) and we would always design pieces together on the side. My mom, Brinker, was trained in silversmithing and metalworking. My mom and I have been designing jewelry together for as long as I can remember. Describe the beginnings of Brinker & Eliza.