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| photo credit: zimbio.com |
Here's a lil' somethin' somethin' for all of my jewelry lovers. Black jewelry designer on the rise, Monique Pean, is the business. This Haitian-American, D.C. native jumped into jewelry design after a three-year career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. After taking fashion design courses while working on Wall Street, she launched her jewelry line, Monique Pean Fine Jewelry, in 2006 (check out her website: www.moniquepean.com). Her enticing designs are inspired from her travels to alluring countries such as Russia, Haiti, Bali, and Egypt among others. The diverse materials used in manufacturing her jewelry consist of recycled metals, mined gems, and other eco-friendly materials. It's likely that you've seen people like Michelle Obama, and actress Melissa George wearing her heart-stopping pieces. (Blashionista.com says that Monique Pean is one of Michelle Obama's favorite jewelry designers!) She's also been named one of Oprah's Top 10 Women on the Rise on oprah.com. According to essence.com, a percentage of her jewelry sales provide clean drinking water and sanitation to those in need which stems from her working with the non-profit organization, Charity: Water. Her designs led her to be chosen as one of the 2009 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund winners where she was not only awarded $50,000 towards her business, but received Michael Kowalski (CEO of Tiffany & Co) as a mentor as well. (I see you girl!) As if she wasn't already the bomb, she also founded The Vanessa Pean Foundation (dedicated to her 16 year old sister who died in a car accident, according to oprah.com) to provide scholarships for the underprivileged in Haiti and is collaborating with Management Leadership for Tomorrow and Yale School of Management to provide leadership opportunities in the corporate world for minorities according to www.moniquepean.com. I don't know about you, but I admire a person who can give back with style. Here's a sneak peak of her Spring/Summer 2011 Collection:
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| photo credit: ecouterre.com |
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| photo credit: zimbio.com |
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| photo credit: vogue.com |
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