“This is a huge milestone for the company,” Jennifer Fisher said of the 10th anniversary this year. “But in no way, shape or form are we finished.”
Such drive comes as no surprise to those who know Fisher. From her chic Fifth Avenue office amid her iconic jewelry designs and other accomplishments from the past decade, Fisher reflects on her beginnings, the rapid fire success of her jewelry, and the future that she is mapping out.
“I remember when I started out and I remember so many people told me ‘No, you are never going to make a career out of doing personalized, customized jewelry,’” the designer recalled. “I would always relay this to my father who would say to me, ‘You can’t take ‘no’ for an answer.’”
The lesson resonated powerfully with the CFDA Member who credits her father for her drive and the way she is constantly “re-motivating” herself since launching her business.
A wardrobe stylist for feature films, television shows and commercials, Fisher was diagnosed with a Desmoid tumor in her chest at age 30. While in chemotherapy, the Santa Barbara, Calif. native got engaged to Kevin Fisher, and the two married just days before Sept.11 in 2001. Doctors advised her against carrying a child, and after two attempts with a surrogate, and starting to explore adoption, Fisher found out that she was pregnant. “And that was Shane my son,” she said.
Fisher started to look for something that would represent and celebrate her son in her own way, which led her to design the dog tag necklace with Shane’s name stamped across the front.
“I wore it on set,” she recalled. “It was an instant conversation piece. People asked me if I could make this in a heart, and different shapes. I made one for Uma Thurman who wore it on the cover of Glamour.”
Charms, bracelets, cuffs, rings and earrings followed. “I started to be known as someone who does celebrity mom jewelry,” she recalled. “Naomi Watts got one. I did Nicole Kidman’s bridesmaids gifts. Things just started rolling.”
She launched her collection as a direct-to-consumer business online, and the rest is jewelry history. Fisher started wholesaling her collection in 2011 with Barneys New York. Today, Fisher is available in 60 retail locations worldwide, including all 16 Barneys doors, as well as Net-A-Porter, Fivestory, Liberty, and Holt Renfrew.
“Individual” and “strong” are words Fisher uses to describe her aesthetic.
The line, she said, “has been an evolution of my life in the last 10 years. I look at my application book for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund [Fisher was a 2012 finalist]. Those pieces are iconic of who I was then but they still makes sense. I was into chains and skulls and gothic. In the last three years, my style has evolved. Fall-winter is super clean.”
“I try to design the pieces in a way so that anybody can wear them, season to season, without them feeling dated,” she added. “My customer is me. I wouldn’t spend money on something that I am only going to wear once.”
Fisher has also decided to strategically refocus the scale of her product assortment, eliminating many skus to allow for a more concise message and a stronger impact.
For the 10th anniversary, she introduced a capsule enamel fine jewelry collection featuring a pendant and signet ring. It marks the first time the designer is introducing color — a strong addition to her brass and fine jewelry designs.
“For so many years, everybody asked me to do semi-precious stones but those have never really resonated with me,” she said. “I have always had a love for enamel. There is something so vintage about it, so if you can do it in a modern way, it’s very cool.”
As for the next 10 years, those who follow Fisher on social media or received her Universal Salt or tasty Granola Bites can probably guess how the designer hopes to steer her trajectory.
“To me, food and fashion are two things that I haven’t really seen anybody bring together successfully,” she said. “Being a mom, I have been waiting to get involved with the right charity or foundation. My goal is to start or find the right foundation to bring healthy breakfasts for children to their home.”
One idea: a food delivery service to make sure kids get the right foods and fruits. But that’s not all.
“I don’t see why food and fashion can’t be married- I would love to see my company marry those two together,” she said.
With a nod to the salts, oils and sweet bites, she added, “I would like to be the condiment queen. I am excited to see where we will go next.”
So are we!