Jewelry Designer Freida Rothman’s Journey… A Successful Marriage of Family and Business
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y business is my fifth child,” says Freida Rothman. The jewelry designer and mother of four has spent the past four years of her life building her namesake business, which counts Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom, and scores of jewelry and fashion boutiques across America, as retail partners, but it is nothing new to her. Rothman is a Brooklyn girl, born and raised, where she grew up in the jewelry business. “Being born and raised in Brooklyn has inspired me to find beauty in so many people and places,” she says. Her father has been a leading jewelry manufacturer for over 35 years, and Freida’s journey began when she started her career working with him designing for private label jewelry brands. Her family has always been one of the biggest driving factors in her life, as it was her husband, Matt, who encouraged her to branch off and do her own jewelry line four years ago. A trained artist, Freida’s first collection was called the Love Knot Collection, and it was also the one that immediately caught the attention of retailers. They took one
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look at it and felt it was something no one else was doing, and it was all uphill from there. This year, she is focused on building her presence in New York City and evolving her Freida Rothman lifestyle brand. Sunglasses were her first brand extension and leather goods are on the drawing board for 2017. The Freida Rothman sunglass collection projects the designer’s sophisticated, contemporary look referencing black and gold and stunning color accents with tinted lenses. Right now, a focus of her business would be an actual “jewelry box in the wall” located at 248 Mott Street. Opened in 2014, Rothman’s intimate, sophisticated NoLiTa boutique services everyone from New York locals to tourists from around the world and carries her full line of jewelry, as well as some of her accessory offerings like sunglasses and leather goods. While she is working on developing other categories, her signature pieces currently focus on her stack bracelets and rings. “I encourage women to have fun stacking my jewelry—I love layering,” she says. “My signature Collection embodies the classic FR woman – timeless elegance with a metropolitan look.” The unique thing about her jewelry is the rigorous attention to detail and the fact there is so much work done by hand that no two pieces are the same. A hands-on designer, Freida works from her own draftsman sketches. She’s also renowned for her signature mixed gold on matte black finish. Each season brings a new gemstone color. This Spring its Amazonian Allure using an amazonite blue-hued stone. Coming up for the brand, they will be introducing a “stack” party this February, where bloggers, shoppers and potential new clients invited to her boutique can either begin or expand their collection of Freida Rothman jewelry. What a grand introduction it is sure to be. ✦