The story behind Sandrine B. first show at New York Fashion Week - A Clothing Brand and a Jewelry Brand Collaboration
The story behind Sandrine B. first show at New York Fashion Week - A Clothing Brand and a Jewelry Brand Collaboration
February 10, 2023 marked my first participation in New York Fashion Week. And my first collaboration with Be’l Bla’k Couture. Dr. La’tifah Qawishabazz, the clothing designer and CEO of Be’l Bla’k Couture Ltd, and I are passionate about sustainability and giving back to the community.
We met through a common friend. We initially spoke of a collaboration for a magazine. And then the topic of New York Fashion Week came up. We were about two months away from New York Fashion Week In February and I was going to be away for part of January. We decided that we would work independently on our collections and check in a couple of weeks before the show. The only guidelines I received was that I should have half silver and half gold tone jewelry and that there would be 10-15 models with a third of more being male models.
Mid January I returned from my trip to France. La’tifah showed me photos of the fabrics she was working with. I looked at some of the things I had collected over time and never got a chance to work on.
I found a mold of a leaf from my stoop in Brooklyn. I designed three pieces of jewelry from it: the leaves necklace, the leaf ring and the leaf earrings. The necklace and earrings were showcased at the New York Fashion Week Show.
I also found was a mold from a dried yellow daylily flower from my deck. I had been looking at this flower for a while not knowing what to do with it. I designed a silver necklace for the show!
I designed earrings from roots found on Fort Lauderdale beach, complimenting the necklace from that collection.
And I expanded my collection of seed pods to include duster earrings.
photo courtesy of Fred De Vos
I also designed a new collection of pieces that I named “don’t play with your food, wear it”. It includes cherry pits inspired earrings, dates’ branch earrings with responsibly sourced coral beads, a necklace from a branch of a citrus fruit tree and a ring inspired from a persimmon fruit (pictured).
And then came the day of the show. The show was scheduled to start at 5 pm on February 10 at Gotham Hall in Manhattan. Latifah and I met at 8:30 am to get a pass. From the time we arrived at the venue it was non stop work. La’Tifah adjusted the clothes on each model and I added the jewelry. What struck us is how the jewelry and the clothes complimented each other. The models then had their hair and make up done. And La’Tifah and I had to dress them again.
After that the models lined up and it was show time!
La’Tifah asked me to walk on the runway with her. She said that she was the only brand at the show to include a jewelry designer.
La’Tifah, bears the title of Head Designer and, in this position, she performs every facet of the launch process from concept and construction involvement to merchandise control. It was amazing to see her at work the day of the show.
“It was an amazing experience to be able to showcase my jewelry at New York Fashion Week! I learn a lot too and will be better prepared for my next show!”
Stay tuned. I will share more photos of the jewelry pieces in the coming days.
#womeninbusiness #womensupportingoneanother #sustainablefashion #sustainablejewelry #responsiblesourcing #natureinspiredjewelry #artisanjewelry #nyfw2023