JULIE ROFMAN JEWELRY DESIGNS
Julie Rofman's background is in art, painting and sculpture but occasionally she'd pick up a hobby that is somewhat of a break from this type of creating, and during one of these breaks she picked up a bead loom.
At the time she was drawn to the preciseness of it and the availability of a wide range of bead colors to choose from. She began to work on her own patterning, and has never pre-planned a pattern- she works intuitively with each section, having a rough idea of what will come next in a design. While in graduate school she started selling her jewelry at a few stores that friends owned, Firefly in Venice, CA and Fern's Garden in Long Beach, CA and the response was really positive. Her friend Rory Edelman, of Rory Beca, was a great mentor for her as well.Career highlights include traveling to meet the incredible artisans that help her with bead weaving, the first time her jewelry was in a fashion magazine, selling her jewelry at Barney's, Tomorrowland in Japan, Karen Walker in New Zealand and Fenwicks in the UK.
Check out her beautiful work where she combines the traditional art of bead looming with current color combinations and geometric patterns reminiscent of Bauhaus designs.
Greatest inspirations / influences?
I would have to say my grandmother was a huge influence on me, she created incredible tapestry and embroidery pieces and had a knack for color, she was also very fashionable.
Travel is hugely influential, the more you see the more you get!
I've always been a fan of Missoni.
Other influences would have to be mostly artists since that is what I am most familiar with; Utagawa Hiroshige, Katsushika Hokusai, Roberto Matta, Arshile Gorky, Richard Pousette-Dart, Yves Tanguy, Vassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee.
Who do you have in mind when designing your collections?
I believe my pieces are versatile and can be worn by pretty much anyone. I enjoy the possibility of a business man wearing one under his suit cuff or a fashionista wearing a variety of them poolside, they mingle well with other jewelry and the larger cuffs make a big impact.
Favorite boutiques:
Cameron Marks, Santa Cruz, CA
Firefly, Venice, CA
Twist, Portland, OR
Passport, Cambridge, MA
The Golden Bear, Vail, CO
Blue Tree, NYC
Obligato, NY
Favorite Sites/Blogs?
Daily Candy
Design Sponge
Artinfo
Fashion Icons?
The first person I go to for fashion advice would have to be my friend Kimball Hastings... the first time we met was in the elevator of our dorm our freshman year at college, he was wearing Gucci black and white leopard print pants and sunglasses at night, he happens to be the director of celebrity styling for Ralph Lauren now.
Anything else you'd like to share Julie?
One thing that is hard to tell in photographs is how sparkly my jewelry is in person, you'll just have to see for yourself!
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