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Kate Albrecht (aka Mr. Kate) is the quintessential multi-hyphenate. One one side, she's a serious stylesetter that shares her sartorial wisdom on both her own blog and popular social style platform, Pose. On the other, she's a DIY home, beauty and fashion guru that has been featured on HelloGiggles and The Nate Berkus Show. Then there are her impeccable cooking skills that can persuade any carnivore to go meat-free with hearty recipes like vegan beer brats and BLTofurky sandwiches. Oh, and she's a YouTube phenomenon that just celebrated her 100th video.
If that's not enough, she's also a wildly talented jewelry designer that has won over tons of celebrities, including Jaime King. To celebrate the launch of Mr. Kate's new "Days of Ore" collection (which you can shop now here!), Albrecht sat down with us to talk skills, style and shopping.
Your metalwork is amazing. How did you form your unique aesthetic?
Thank you! I went to a really artsy, fanciful school for K through 12 where we made felt gnomes and danced around May poles and such, so I've always loved a more organic look to jewelry. I really pride myself on making every piece by hand by either carving or molding the shapes out of wax. It makes it feel much more like my art and I usually leave imperfections on the designs on purpose. Imperfections highlight an object's beauty—just like a beauty mark!
Where was this enchanting lookbook shot?
It was shot at this amazing hiking location in Monrovia called Canyon Park. It doesn't feel like the normal California landscape—there are huge trees and a stream with giant rocks. It's gorgeous!
What inspired this particular collection?
This collection was inspired by metal (ore) being a part of nature. Humans have mined metal for years to ornament their bodies so I infused an ancient tone to this collection as well as a connection to nature. One of the predominant textures in this collection is one I made to look like layered dew drops. I achieved this with hundreds of droplets of melted wax when I was making the original models for the pieces.
Name your three favorite pieces:
Oh gosh, that's so hard! If I had to choose, I'd pick the Sphinx Claw Ring (it's so fun to wear), the Mahjong Necklace (it's my favorite unisex piece; it looks great layered with other necklaces and my boyfriend has been wearing his every day with jeans and a tee), and the Gimli Cuff (it's delicate and great for layering in all four metal colors). But my favorites will change tomorrow because they're all my babies!
You have killer personal style. Where do you shop locally?
Thanks! I shop all over. I love thrift stores like the Goodwill but lately I've been hitting up Melrose Avenue. I've been shopping there since junior high school and I love the eclectic mix of vintage, cheap and punky stores. You can get an American Apparel knock-off for $19 at one store and then a top hat from a gothic store, like Shrine at 7305 Melrose Ave. That's actually where I got the top hat that I used in the lookbook shoot!
Where can people buy Mr. Kate in LA?
Mr. Kate jewelry is currently in 12 different retail locations in Los Angeles and it's growing every day! You can shop it live at A.SweeT in Beverly Hills (253 S Beverly Dr), Brigade in DTLA (510 W 7th St), Principessa in Venice (1405 Abbot Kinney Blvd), and loads of other cute places. Check out our full stockist here. And of course, you can shop us online 24/7 here!
· Mr. Kate [Official Site]
· Jaime King is Officially Our New LA Shopping Buddy [Racked]