Speaker: Kristin Hansen, Kristen Hansen Fine Jewelry

Session Description: Recapturing the Essence of Couture Jewelry Making: Providing an education for aspiring fine jewelry designers and entrepreneurs
 
1. The importance of education and developing the skills to master the art of design and fabrication.
 - Lessons from the creation and rapid growth of the Kristin Hanson Fine Jewelry School.
 - Building a progressive curriculum for aspiring designers to build their own jewelry line and understand the fundamentals of running a jewelry business.
 - The importance of finding inspiration from everyday life and not trends.
 - Nurturing young artists to become entrepreneurs by focusing on personal goals, listening to your inner style and mastering the craft.
 - Inspiring students to follow their dreams through creation and visualization.
 
2. Helping the entrepreneur bloom in the highly competitive jewelry landscape
 - Redeveloping European apprenticeship training in a contemporary NYC jewelry school.
 - Developing a strong style and cohesive collection with value and consistency.
 - The importance of developing a business plan and setting goals.
 - Management of quality control and use of materials.
 
3. How to stay competitive in a price-focused industry when your art is your value maker
 - Development of relationships with private clients
 - Brand establishment and building a foundation for the artist to bloom.
 - Ability to market to a consumer who understands the timeless value of hand-made jewelry.
 - Creating a story, visual presentation, and a strong resume for PR and marketing

Speaker Bio: Kristin Hanson has known she wanted to make the world more beautiful with her jewelry artistry since she was eight years old, and began creating jewelry from seashells and plastic beads. She's come a long way since then, with her transformative, luxuriant, elegant and witty designs winning her the coveted 2007 Couture Awards as one of America’s top 40 couture designers. Most recently Kristin has been asked to participate in the International Design Showcase in Paris this October by the National Jewelry Institute.  In addition, countless publications have used her art to enhance the beauty of luminaries such as Heidi Klum, Rosario Dawson, J-Lo, Beyoncé, and Nelly Furtado.  Her latest work can be found in the fall 2009 issues of WWD Ultimate Accessories Guide and Inside Wedding.

Born in Montclair, N.J., Kristin Hanson was raised in a home in which design and artistic expression were encouraged and supported. Kristin studied at The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for a year, and then took a bold step towards her vocation, journeying to the wilds of Colorado to study with legendary master goldsmith Harold O’Connor, absorbing every nuance of painstaking, perfect technique.

Kristin further pursued master training at the Alchimia School of Contemporary Jewelry in historic Florence, Italy under the tutelage of Giampaulo Babetto. In Tuscany, inspired by the alchemical beauty of timeless Italian tradition, Kristin discovered a love of design and a passion for luxury. With a strong foundation in design and technique to support her concepts, Kristin was ready to make her debut.

After Italy, she returned to her New York origins and launched her first public collection at Bergdorf Goodman. Her potential to make a unique contribution to contemporary luxury was confirmed. Kristin’s passionate pursuit of innovative, elegant, edgy art had reached a point of fruition. Galleries, stores and collectors of fine jewelry recognized and supported her vision.

In 2006, starting out with one bench in her Brooklyn apartment, Kristin Hanson founded the Kristin Hanson Fine Jewelry School, which is now the fastest growing school of its kind in the States. Students travel from all over the world to the school which is located in a sunny, Zen-flavored loft on a tree-lined Brooklyn street. The school is unique for its non-pressure environment. Instead, students are given intensive, one-on-one instruction, in an atmosphere of community and camaraderie. Hanson loves witnessing the transformation in her students, and nurtures both their design and entrepreneurial ambitions. "Ultimately, I want everyone who comes here to have their own line of jewelry," she says.  Fine art jewelry insiders see the beginning of a new generation of jewelry design: accomplished, passionate, holistic. Students at the Kristin Hanson School of Fine Jewelry are not encouraged simply to engage in an activity, but rather participate in a holistic lifestyle in which the process of creation and the art object are a platform for wellness, success, and self expression. 

Kristin continues to build a timeless brand of luxury jewelry. As she continues to invent and create, her pieces carry into the world the organic beauty of her vision for art and life. Kristin’s work can be found at fine retailers, galleries, private collections and her own studio showroom in New York.

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