The joys of jewelry

Israeli jewelry designer Shlomit Ofir tells all about her work, her aesthetic and her journey to success.

By MIRANDA LEVINGSTON
‘I LOVE that it’s creative and what I do is about making people happy and about giving people something that they enjoy and have fun wearing and using. That’s the best for me,’ says local jewelry designer Shlomit Ofir. (photo credit: Courtesy)
‘I LOVE that it’s creative and what I do is about making people happy and about giving people something that they enjoy and have fun wearing and using. That’s the best for me,’ says local jewelry designer Shlomit Ofir.
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Walking into her sunny Neve Tzedek Shop, one thing is apparent: Shlomit Ofir’s simultaneously whimsical and elegant pieces pop against the airy, clean-cut room, truly representing her creative personality and signature Israeli style. Ofir is a jewelry design powerhouse – with four of her own brand stores, her work featured in nearly 100 stores abroad (70 in France alone), and over 15,000 sales on Etsy.com. She was also the second-place winner of the retail competition of the year, Kalkalist 2014. The Israeli designer has 40 employees, and has been featured in Elle magazine’s style section (French edition), and her work has graced the décolletage of celebrities worldwide. She is rapidly rising through the ranks of successful Israeli designers.
She creates accessory pieces for girls and women of all ages, her delicate “tiny collection” more suitable for younger girls while her colorful statement pieces are best for teens and 20-somethings; her more geometric and elegant styles for the bold adults of the professional sphere.
Starting in 2007, Ofir created jewelry as a hobby in her home in Tel Aviv. Her designs gained popularity when she started selling at craft fairs and boutiques. In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Ofir recalls, “I had so much work and demand for my items, I realized that maybe it could be my main career. At that point I decided that that was what I was going to do. And that was when social media came into our lives, so I opened a Facebook page and started connecting with my customers to see what they would want. I opened a shop on Etsy.com and I started selling. A huge fashion blog from the States featured one of my items and I received 200 orders in two days, which boosted my sales by a lot. Now my shop is a well selling, high-ranked seller on Etsy.”
Ofir gets her inspiration from two worlds: the fashion world and the natural world.
“I’m very influenced in general from the fashion world,” she expresses. “I pay attention to trends in fashion and jewelry, I keep my brand very distinguished and unique to what my style is. My recent collection was called Cosmic Wonders. It was dedicated to the world of astronomy, stars and outer space. I’m currently working on a collection that’s coming out in March, and the theme is Rainforest, so it’s very botanic. Nature and botanical shapes inspire me. I am also very inspired by urban scenery and geometric shapes and lines. I like straight lines and clean forms. What influences my style is Scandinavian design. It’s something that really inspires my aesthetic. I like clean lines, quiet, relaxed colors and the feeling of calmness.”
Ofir adds, “I try to think of every woman. Most of my main customers are between 25-40. Young but not too young. I don’t want to make anything too expensive. In my design process I think a lot about final price, and I try to get my pieces to be the most beautiful while also having an affordable price tag. I don’t want to be a brand that you can only come buy every two years. I want to be a brand where you can treat yourself, and if you want to get piece of jewelry to match your new outfit or get a friend a birthday gift, you can.”
When giving advice to budding designers, she says, “I have a lot of advice, but if there’s one thing, the fact that your just starting off doesn’t mean you can allow yourself to be an amateur. Take yourself seriously; take what you do seriously, even if your budget is limited. This is what your customers will see and know about your business.”
When asked what she loves most about her job, Ofir answered without the slightest hesitation.
“I love that it’s creative and that what I do is about making people happy and about giving people something that they enjoy and have fun wearing and using. That’s the best for me. Another thing I’m happy about is that I created a career for myself, and I’ve created a workplace and jobs for other people. It’s the work place that I’m happy about.”
For more info Shlomit Ofir and her stores visit www.shlomitofir.com