I was fortunate enough to be invited to this year’s Fashion Group International’s Rising Stars Award Ceremony by a dear friend and founder of Applied Brilliance, and a few  nominees were new additions to my radar. 

The first, Brooklyn-based DS & Durga,  were winners of the Beauty and Fragrance Entrepreneur Award. They base their products off of Native American ritual medicine, Americana culture, “outdated lore”, geography, history and gastronomy. We particularly like their use of nineteenth-century botanical prints throughout their branding.

The second was Torrubia & Torrubia, a pair of Spanish sisters and third generation goldsmiths who’ve taken their family’s workshop tradition into a very architectural, minimal modern era. Be forewarned, I sat across from these incredibly nice sisters, and began to compliment one of them on her gorgeous necklace only to find out that the black pearls were not dipped (Thank you Gigi) and the necklace I had begun to develop a soft spot for was $60,000. 

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