EMERGING DESIGNER

Kelly Cimber

IN THIS FEATURE: Meet Kelly Fashion Focus

ith a backrgound in metalsmithing Kelly used her artistry and skill to win the Silver Key Award for her metal sculpture at the Connecticut State Art Fair. Now a Lieutenant in the Coast Guard, stationed in Miami Beach, she has found the time to recapture her love of designing jewelry and her dream of pursuing a lifelong career in art.

Kelly Cimber was born in Charleston, South Carolina, grew up in Norwich, Connecticut and currently resides in Miami Beach, Florida. She first became interested in the arts in High School, where she took classes in metal and jewelry, pottery, and sculpture. Kelly took a special liking to the metal and jewelry classes where she learned how to solder, cast, and wire wrap.

Even though Kelly eventually went off to attend the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and obtain a Bachelors Degree in Management, she also had an interest in design and received a degree in Interior Designs from the Art Institute. Kelly reflects, "I am most inspired in my designs by the vivid colors, fashion, and the contemporary interior designs of Miami."

She realized she wanted to be a jewelry designer when she went through her closet and found that she had a lot of fashionable clothes but nothing to go with them. So she decided to create a line that was of nice quality, but still trendy and chic. She feels that costume jewelry just doesn't last long enough, and can often look cheap. She prefers to use precious metals like 14kt gold fill and sterling silver, along with semi -precious stones that she hand selects. Kelly prefers the appearance of stones in their natural form and raw forms; "I think this comes from the rock collection I use to have growing up as a child." All of her jewelry is handcrafted and most are one-of-a-kind pieces. She encourages custom requests.

Although a new designer, she has become involved with tradeshows like Threadshow and GenArt where her jewelry is showcased throughout the year. Cimber's future plans are to eventually veer away from handcrafted and have her designs mass produced and available in large stores like Nieman Marcus and Nordstrom's so that everyone can enjoy them!