EMERGING DESIGNER

Nicolle Michelle

IN THIS FEATURE: Meet Nicolle Fashion Focus

icolle Michelle is an emerging Central Florida handcrafted jewelry designer and owner of Nicolle Michelle Designs DBA NM Designs LLC,. This self-taught creative designer uses an array of Swarovski crystals, beads, and semi-precious stones and produces most of her own wirework. She designs quality hand-made jewelry with the average person in mind. She believes that women should be able to sparkle and shine like celebrities without the hefty price tag.

Talented designer, Nicolle Michelle was born and raised in Queens, New York. Although she did not have an artistic background, Nicolle always had an interest in jewelry. She remembers being young playing with her mother's jewlery and trying to wear it outside. “She had a lot of beautiful pieces – I was amazed by the colors and textures. I knew the difference between my fake Barbie jewelry and the real stuff!”, she recalls. As a teen, Nicolle had a major obsession with gold jewelry. The trend at the time was large, bulky gold rope chains, but Nicolle sported her own style by wearing an array of dainty gold chains with earrings and bracelets to match. "I also pierced my pinky nail to fit a nail ring that had a chain that was attached to a ring that I wore on my pinky."

Her first foray into the world of design consisted of making her own Christmas ornaments. She found that they were quite easy to make and found it very rewarding once she saw the finished product. She would play with the patterns and add her own “spice” to it. “It was very relaxing and just felt right, comfortable in my hands.”