KATHLEEN WHITAKER
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE EXTRAORDINARY L.A. BASED JEWELLERY DESIGNER
Over the years we have become huge fans of Kathleen Whitaker’s jewellery designs. Her jewellery has been worn by many celebrities such as the First Lady Michelle Obama, Tilda Swinton, Solange, and Anne Hathaway just to name a few. Her work has also appeared in W Magazine, Vanity Fair, Paris Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue Italia, Wallpaper, InStyle, Grazia,The New York Times and the Financial Times.
This week we have been honoured with the opportunity to interview her.
We hope that you enjoy this feature!
PHOTO | LOGAN WHITE
Prior to launching your eponymous label, you held a corporate career whilst living in New York. We all have great admiration for those, like yourself, who have taken the courage to make an audacious career change. Can you please tell us how you made that transition in your career to become a jewellery designer, and how it has evolved to where it is now as a business?
KW: I'd studied studio art in college but after graduating I ventured into the public relations side of art institutions, and thereafter financial services. At the time -- 2001 -- I was working in New York's financial district and September 11th changed everything. It became the catalyst for my transfer across the country to Los Angeles. I took a long, circuitous route back to fabrication which included jewellery classes at Otis College of Art and Design. Making jewellery kind of took off on its own from there.
Every Creative has their own design ethos or philosophy which informs their practice and their work. Can you tell us what yours is?
KW: I'm really intrigued by the qualities of good design: a great tension resides in the balance of form AND function. How do you make a beautiful thing function well? How do you make something useable and aesthetic? An artist needn't worry about usability. But that is wholly the world a designer occupies.
PHOTO | LOGAN WHITE
PHOTO | SERGIY
You work with semiprecious gems from around the world, from Sleeping Beauty Turquoise to Rhyolite to Chrysoprase to name just a few. It's like you have reinterpreted these gems to give them a new identity, and therefore brought a new language to jewellery design. What inspired you to work with these stones, and how did the initial concepts of your designs come about?
KW: Several years ago, I was given a box of vintage semi-precious stones from Victorian-era jewellery. I was inclined to set them as seamlessly as possible with the simple, geometric shapes of the legacy classic collection. What emerged was the creation of The Stone Collection, aptly named after the component that does all the work. The gemstone holds all the beauty and the sleek settings aim to keep the raw, organic quality of the stone intact.
PHOTO | LOGAN WHITE
PHOTO | LOGAN WHITE
How would you describe the muse or the woman who wears the Kathleen Whitaker brand?
KW: Understated, permissive, confident.
Who are some designers, artists, or individuals that you most admire, and who have had some form of influence on your work?
KW: Anyone whose work shows restraint and plays in the margins, summed up best perhaps in the phrase coined by Dieter Rams: "Good design is as little design as possible." It's a theme that has come up again in interviews I've listened to recently. An early LL Cool J album was credited as having been "Reduced By" Rick Rubin, notorious for his very hands-off approach to music production. Brian Eno talks about listening back to music he's just recorded and found it sounds so much better played back at half speed. "It has half the energy I put into it and it's so much better." I think inspiration for me consistently comes in seeing work that deals with omission, subtraction, erasures.
PHOTO | DIANA KOENIGSBERG
What are some important lessons that you have learnt along your creative journey, and how has this helped you either personally or professionally?
KW: What has been most meaningful along the way is not what I've made or designed, but who I've had the privilege to meet. This endeavor has been the catalyst for connecting with extraordinary people, exploring opportunities. To learn and to grow. And through those connections we've been able to partner with people, and support organizations and causes that are meaningful. To be changed and to support change in meaningful ways. What more could you ask for?
Last year, you took up a residency in Japan and also released an additional capsule range to the Classic Collection. Can you tell us how this opportunity came about, what it involved, and what you learnt from this experience?
KW: Yes, I spent a few months last year in Tokyo, exploring some traditional and contemporary Japanese crafts. I collaborated on the design and production of a capsule Made-in-Japan-collection, which has been a great success. The standards of quality and individuality and simplicity — in all things — were and continue to be a real inspiration.
What is something that you envisage for the brand in the future, and how would you like it to evolve?
KW: I have been prototyping some bags and have a collaboration belt design in the wings.
Who would you like to meet or collaborate with?
KW: I am hoping to collaborate with Crying Clover Candles in the next few months.
What are you reading at the moment?
KW: Meditations in an Emergency.
Which holiday destination are you dreaming of?
KW: Egypt.
Can you share with us your favourite places in L.A to:
Shop? Rubbish in Silverlake.
Explore/Visit? The campus of CalTech.
Eat? The tuna salad at Maury's Bagels.
Best kept secret? The vintage book selection at the Pasadena Antiques Mall.