IPPOLITA
Ippolita was born and raised in a 12th century farmhouse the hills above Florence, Italy. She is the daughter of an American artist mother and an Italian intellectual father and spent her childhood immersed in Renaissance art and architecture. “I went to elementary school in a one-room medieval schoolhouse, which now seems unreal to me,” she reminisces. She eventually earned her Baccalaureate in sculpture at the renowned Istituto D’Arte in Florence.
She immigrated to the United States at age 18 in 1982, eventually landing a full scholarship to Occidental College in California. The Italian native graduated with a degree in English and quickly headed to New York, with the original goal of becoming a professional modern dancer. “I desperately admired Pina Bausch’s work and dreamed of founding a successful dance company,” she says, “but fate had other plans.” Her personal life quickly took precedence, however, as she was soon married to a fashion photographer and mother to daughter Maya, who was born in 1988, when Ippolita was 24.
Finding herself home bound with a young child, Ippolita began looking for a career she could launch from her home. She began experimenting with her sewing machine. “I made everything, from felt hats to blouses sewn from cut-up Hermes scarves that I had accumulated from my husband’s photo shoots,” she recalls, “but ultimately I returned to my love of art and sculpture and started making jewelry.” After several years of working on her line, she created the building blocks of what would become her signature 18k gold jewelry line—the sculpted bangle, hoop, and ring.
Ippolita’s commitment to design integrity and craftsmanship is evident in everything she creates. "Jewelry is emotional. The very color of my gold jewelry attracts you to it.” she believes.
The unique sculptural quality of her jewelry comes from the fact that the designer insists that each and every piece be made by hand. Her signature bangles, for example, are hand cast from original wax sculptures, and the open-link chains she uses in her earrings and necklaces are formed and soldered by hand as well. Each an every gemstone is hand cut, a feat that astounds even the designer herself. “I am constantly amazed by the amount of time and effort that goes into the custom stone work in my jewelry,” she says.
In addition to her signature 18k gold collection, the designer now has two distinct celebrated collections in sterling silver--Ippolita 925 sterling silver and Ippolita Rosé, a “pink” silver which is made of sterling silver cast with 18k gold and then plated with 18k rose gold. As with her gold collection, Ippolita’s hand is unmistakable.
“My goal is to create handcrafted jewelry that you really want to wear all the time, that is easy and that makes you feel good – jewelry that is unintimidating yet cool,” says Ippolita. She is strongly influenced by fashion, yet manages to create pieces that stand the test of time.
