Today we’d like to introduce you to Stefani Bay.
Stefani fell in love with gems when she was just a little girl, playing with her mother’s jewels. She put her love of all that glitters to work in 1992 when she introduced her jewelry line at Henri Bendel.
Her first collection featured a 12-foot long strand of baby pearls which can be worn in five wonderful ways, and today, it’s still a best seller. Her pieces have also been showcased at Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Marshall Field’s and other fine stores around the country.
She believes that one’s jewelry should be worn with casual attire as well as evening wear. There are no rules when it comes to sporting one’s favorite baubles; sparkle is to be enjoyed, not stashed in a drawer for special occasions. To that end, her creations are both dramatic and classic, intricate and understated, witty and extremely wearable… and every piece features only precious and semi-precious stones, only gold and silver findings. No faux stones or base metals are used.
In addition to designing her own jewelry line, she expresses her love of design in a variety of other ways. She has contributed to Chicago’s fashion industry for many years as an Associate Professor in the Fashion Marketing and Management Department at the Illinois Institute of Art. In addition, she is coauthor of an award winning book, In An Influential Fashion: An Encyclopedia of 20th Century Designers and Retailers Who Transformed Dress, and is currently coauthoring a second book, The Why of the Buy to be published next year. From 1983-1991, she owned and operated the One Plus One boutiques, known for the line of private label knitwear she created.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are always challenges. When I was having my clothing line manufactured in Chicago, I hired a sewing contractor one season, who appeared to be very competent and confident, and she had good references. But, on the scheduled delivery date, she said she needed another day, and the next day, she needed another day, and on the following day…you get the picture. So I drove to the facility to speak to her about delivering the part of the order that was complete, as 4 of my stores already had clients waiting for the new line. But when I got there, the place was unlocked and empty, and my huge rolls of fabric–1000s of yards–were lying on the floor…the place was deserted. Clearly, the order hadn’t even been started! So, what did I do? I sat down in the stairway and started crying, loudly!! Then, I got on my phone and began calling in favors.
Happily I hadn’t burned any bridges, so several manufacturers I’d used in the past came to my rescue! Of course, lowering those huge rolls out the 2nd floor windows wasn’t easy, but we did it, and I had all my clothing made and delivered by the following week. Whew!
Additionally, there are always issues of copying garments and “borrowing” other people’s ideas in the fashion industry. And, unfortunately, there’s not much you can do about that, so it’s an ongoing problem. U.S. laws governing the fashion business simply do not protect designers’ creative ideas, and there are unscrupulous people out there, but being successful means dealing with setbacks and coming back stronger than ever.
S T E F A N I B … Relics – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I’ve always loved jewelry, my favorite gems are white diamonds and white pearls — they’re so pure and organic. I have a very physical reaction to their depth and beauty. That’s part of the reason that my first creation was a 12-foot strand of small white pearls of good quality, which could be worn in many ways. When I first began designing pieces, I primarily concentrated on the gems themselves, always using real stones–never fake ones– and combining them in unusual and unlikely ways, which was what seemed to interest people in my work. Over the years, because costume jewelry has improved so much–it’s so well made and real looking now–I felt I needed to change direction.
Having traveled quite a bit, I became very interested in jewelry from other countries, especially India. I began to incorporate beautiful beads and clasps, made of 22k gold, blackened silver, diamonds, sapphires, etc., into my designs. Then I formed relationships with suppliers from Jaipur and Jaisalmer, cities known for their detailed workmanship, and I gradually started importing unique pieces.
Most recently, I’ve begun another design phase. I added the word RELICS to the name of my company to convey the essence of this new direction. While traveling, I’ve collected many one-of-a-kind precious antique pendants and vessels, some embellished with precious and semi-precious stones, each and every one a relic of the past. I’ve had many of them hand-strung on jeweled necklaces while simply refurbishing others. I love the idea of bringing together the past and present. Should a customer fall in love with one of these pieces, we can determine how to string it together, perhaps even incorporating the client’s own relic like beads that belonged to a grandmother or to a once-loved necklace that hasn’t been worn but still has a lot of meaning.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Luckily, I’ve had a few:
1. The day I opened my first store, One Plus One-Wearable Addition, on Armitage and Halsted in Chicago.
2. The day I went to an “open=see” at Henri Bendel (a day when the New York jewelry buyers came to Chicago and invited local designers to bring in their goods). My appointment was in the midst of a miserable snow storm, and very few people even showed up, but nothing was going to stop me. Happily, the buyers loved my pieces and put in a big order. It was great!
3. Receiving letters from former students, telling me of their success in the fashion industry and thanking me for the part I played in their ascent.
Pricing:
- Pricing options vary among all 3 of my lines (Relics, Gems from Jaipur and Signature Collection).
- Prices range from $250 to $3500,
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stefanib.com
- Phone: 773.848.0205
- Email: giltgal@aol.com
- Instagram: @ stefanib_relics
- Facebook: STEFANIB @StefaniBrelics
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
