Meet Gilded Lace Collection!

Gotta love industry events for giving us the opportunity to meet so many talented individuals – it’s always so great meeting these people because their stories are unbelievably inspiring and empowering! Last week, we had the honor of connecting with Gilded Lace Collection – Monika, the designer and owner, works with her team to design and make jewelry… from traditional lace. You read that right! The lace is dipped in 24k gold, rose gold, white gold, sterling silver or platinum and custom-made just for the client! They even make custom jewelry from the clients’ own lace (think: wedding lace or family heirloom lace). Bottom line: super chic and cool.

“We have clients world wide. I recently made cufflinks for a client in mainland China. She found us on Instagram and sent us a piece of her wedding dress lace left from the last fitting,” Monika shares. “She will give her husband the cufflinks on their wedding day.”

By making the lace into jewelry, the lace is preserved and turned into an heirloom piece that can be passed down generations after generations (just like a wedding film!). “To me it has always been important to honor the women who originally made or wore the lace,” Monika adds.

We wanted to know if Monika had any exciting plans coming up for Gilded Lace and got a teaser on a new collection coming up in a few weeks that will be a permanent collection on the website. “I am using very traditional feminine lace from Europe cut out in masculine, geometric symbols. Several symbols are honoring the LGBTQ community. The collection is almost done, I am still working on a name.”

When was the first moment you knew you wanted to do this for your career? 

The first time I came across the process of making fabric into gold jewelry was in Paris. I was working as an assistant to Isabel Marant and I met this amazing artisan who made jewelry for me from lace. That night, I could not sleep. I was up all night making plans for how to sell and market the jewelry. Later, I implemented many ideas from that first night!

Favorite wedding film?

Crazy Rich Asians

Who or what is your spirit animal?

Kangaraff (cross between kangaroo and giraffe)

Why do you love what you do?

I love making clients happy! When I hear that my clients receive lots of compliments when they wear Gilded Lace jewelry, I am thrilled. I really enjoy designing and working with clients to find the right design for them. I love hearing the stories that my bridal clients bring me and seeing old photos connected to the lace, for example, of the grandmother wearing the original wedding dress. It is so important to me to honor the women that wore or made the lace. Both my grandmother’s made beautiful lace!

What is your favorite candy?

Salty licorice. You can get it at Sockerbit in New York or in Los Angeles.

Favorite song lyric?

“Here comes the sun little darling” – The Beatles.

It is not the most interesting lyric, but I love the song. My husband and I had a long distance relationship for five years and I used the listen to this song in Sweden in the winter. There is not much sun there in the winter. My husband is from California and I imagined that he was singing it to me.

What was the last vacation you went on?

This past weekend, we went to Martha’s Vineyard. It was a perfect late summer weekend with warm ocean water empty beaches.

Tell us about a turning point for your business.

I had two turning points. The first was when Beyoncé bought Gilded Lace jewelry at Henry Bendel on 5th Avenue and wore the earrings on stage during a concert tour. The second one was when New York Times published a 1/2 page article about my work in their Style section. Both events really changed my business.

How do you decompress after a hard day?

Play with my dog Kajsa. She is a super active dog that can take your mind off any work. If I put my mind to it, I could probably train her to be a circus dog, she has a great ball sense.

What do you do to understand a couple’s vision and bring it to life? 

Favorite color?

Yellow

I will ask the bride (I usually talk to the bride or mother-of-the-bride) for the background of the lace. Where did it come from? Who wore it? If it is lace from the grandmother or great-grandmother, the bride will often tell what it means to her to wear their lace. I will also ask for a photo of the brides wedding dress. It is important to see the design of the dress so that I can suggest what type of jewelry would go well. We pieces we design most often for brides are bracelets, earrings, hair accessories and necklaces. For grooms we mainly design cuff links and tie clips.

And now lastly… What advice do you have for couples about hiring a vendor in your category?

You would want to read the reviews, make sure to get price quotes with a time line. You would want to see the drawings/designs in the actual scale so that you can print and cut out the jewelry. Hold it up against your ear or wrist to see the actual size. For a custom bracelet, you would want the jeweler to ask you for the wrist size/circumference so know that you will receive a bracelet that fits your wrist perfectly.

Follow Monika on Instagram to keep up with Gilded Lace Collection!