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Zoë Chicco first fell in love with the art of making jewelry by way of soldering when she was a high school student growing up just outside of Philadelphia. She took that obsession with her to Skidmore College, where she majored in art with a concentration on metalsmithing. After a brief stint in Maine where she worked under a jeweler and seven years in San Francisco, she finally moved to her dream location in Los Angeles. In fact, Chicco and her husband are about to celebrate their ten-year SoCal anniversary. "We absolutely love LA," she said of the decision to bring her business to the best coast.
The designer begins her design process with sketches that only she can decipher, piles of scrap paper full of ideas. The next step is making the actual pieces to see if they work then documenting the process for her two full-time jewelers. " I can't imagine being a jewelry designer and not actually making it," she explains. "That's a big part of deciding if it will make it into the line."
Chicco designs for three seasons in her DTLA office space that she shares with her husband and usually has up to 100 pieces a season. Unlike a lot of jewelry designers, Chicco designs for the season's fashion trends, "I'm almost accessorizing what I want to be wearing that season," she explains. Her line ranges anywhere from $60 to $4000 and features carry-overs from previous seasons, ensuring that it will only continue to grow.
We met Chicco for juice where we talked about her personal accessory style (she's an arm party kind of gal), how she relaxes during the madness and what's on her bucket list. Spoiler Alert: There's a baby in there somewhere.
What are you drinking today?
"The Green Detox #1. I don't know what's in it, but it's delicious."
Tell us something you do that is predictable.
"I am seriously the most predictable person on the planet. I am such a creature of habit that it's nuts. The second I walk in the house when I get home, I make myself a spritzer. The second I wake up in the morning my husband brings me a latte in bed. So, the two things everyday are both beverages, super weird. I would say that I'm always ten minutes late but I was on time today. "
Email or Phone Call?
"That's the easiest thing on the planet, Email."
What is your favorite high school memory?
"Going down to the shore with my friends in the summer. Maybe I shouldn't say that because then everyone will think I used to be Snooki in my childhood days."
What's the last lesson you learned the hard way?
"Check references and get the credit card up front."
Up Early or Snuggle in Bed?
"Snuggle in Bed."
What do you do to relax?
"Go to Palm Springs. Seriously, that is my happy place. My birthday is in September and I was like, 'I want to rent a house in Palm Springs for the month of September and I want to go there for long weekends every weekend.' It's going to be a month of relaxation. I just booked it and I could not be more excited."
Where is your favorite place to shop a sale?
"I love a sale! I would say Barneys although I shop online sales like it's my job. I love Gilt, I love ShopBop, I love Forward by Elyse Walker, very dangerous."
Palm Trees or Evergreens?
"Palm Trees."
What are three things on your bucket list?
"Have a baby. Baby's on the bucket list. We also want to go to Japan. There's this crazy sushi restaurant, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, it's this Japanese guy who has the most amazing restaurant in a subway station in Tokyo and there are like ten seats in the whole place. People visit from all over the world to go to this restaurant. So that's on the bucket list. And I would love to own a vacation home somewhere, like Palm Springs or Malibu, so that I can relax because I need to do more of that."
What is your song of the summer?
"Blurred Lines."
What was your best Christmas present ever?
"This is what pop into my head, the year I got a giant rocking horse that was on springs. It was my favorite thing I'd ever gotten in my entire life. And then I also got a stuffed life-size Benji dog. I remember thinking, 'I got Benji and a pony!' That was a good Christmas."
Splurge or Save?
"Save."
What is one of your bad habits?
"Oh I have so many bad habits, I bite my nails."
What is something in your closet you couldn't live without?
"My Rag & Bone booties, I am obsessed with them, I have two pairs. They're my absolute favorite, I try to wear other shoes."
Masculine or Feminine?
"Masculine."
Where would you go to buy a last minute gift?
"There is a store, what I would buy there depends on who it was for, but the store New Stone Age is amazing. It is awesome. You go in there and you want every single thing. Everything you could possibly think of, they have. They'll have cute little dishes, those garden gnome bottle openers and cute pens and paper. everything in there is cute! They have awesome gifts and cards, it's like every cute item you've ever seen under one roof."
Who is your style crush?
"It's probably Taylor Tomasi Hill, I'm obsessed with her. I'm pretty eclectic and all over the place, I like that about her style too. Sometimes she is in a prim and proper look and sometimes it's masculine in leather. Whatever it is, it looks amazing. She's probably the most pinned person on my Pinterest. She's like a chameleon, no matter what look she is in she owns it and looks amazing."
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