Zoë Chicco Looks Back On 20 Years Of Making Jewelry

Quite a lot has changed since 2000, and being in business for 20 years is quite a feat, especially for Zoë Chicco, the Los Angeles-based jewelry designer whose self-named label earned a name for its delicate, statement-making, and whimsical pieces. The consumer plays a prime role when purchasing Zoë Chicco, by creating a personalized piece through charms, engraving, and more, that can go from a meaningful gift to a cherished family heirloom. Zoë Chicco ranges from playful pearls to edgy ear cuffs, helping their wearers express themselves. To celebrate 20 years, Chicco is giving back. The designer tapped 20 strong and powerful women to collaborate on 20 pieces for her line, and 100 percent of the designs’ proceeds will go to a charity of the partner’s choice. Her first collaborator is designer, artist, and Jungalow founder Justina Blakeney and all proceeds being donated to the ACLU. Among others are Catt Sadler, Olive & June founder Sarah Gibson Tuttle and designer Rachel Pally. I asked Chicco about her experience helming her own jewelry brand for 20 years, the challenges she’s faced through COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter, how the industry has changed, and more.      

Describe the Zoë Chicco woman. 

I think the Zoë Chicco woman is someone looking for fine jewelry that is thoughtfully designed and consciously well-made; Jewelry that is timeless, that can be styled with any outfit, layered with other pieces, or worn alone. My pieces appeal to women in their twenties looking for their first piece of fine jewelry to women in their fifties, sixties, and beyond shopping for pieces to add to their collection. When designing I always think about what I’d like to wear and I consider even the smallest details to ensure that the woman who purchases it will feel like they’ve had it forever, like it’s an extension of their persona. As my style evolves, so does my collection, and I think that versatility is what keeps customers coming back to see what’s new each season.  

How has COVID-19 affected Zoë Chicco? 

COVID-19 has affected us in so many ways. With the mandatory closures in Los Angeles, we had to shut down our studio, and almost all of our production, for several months. Sadly, as a result we had to furlough many of our beloved employees since we make everything in house. Understandably due to their own closures, stores were cancelling and postponing orders, so we had to get creative to keep things moving forward. Luckily, we had an established web business already, so we put most of our focus towards the online business to try to drive sales for pieces that were in stock. Our loyal clients still wanted jewelry—for Mother’s Day, graduation, and even self-purchases for every day—they were searching for meaningful pieces they could enjoy while working from home. Jewelry pairs well with sweats!  We have actually seen an increase in our online sales, which is helping to carry us through as our retail store partners are starting to come back. It has been a big shift for sure, and we have only been able to bring 2/3 of our staff back so far. But we are still here, and while things do seem to be improving in the market as stores start to reopen, it doesn’t appear things will be back to our old normal for a long time. If ever?! This pandemic has shown us, and many of our retailers, the importance of having a strong online presence. We will continue to dedicate more energy and effort to fostering that avenue of the business.  

What did you realize when the BLM protests took place last month? 

Up until this movement, I didn’t feel it was my place to openly speak out about race or political issues through my brand. I didn’t want to mix my personal feelings and beliefs with my business. But the Black Lives Matter movement stopped me in my tracks and shook me to my core. I, like many, began a process of soul-searching. I began to re-educate myself about white privilege and truly opened my eyes and ears to the hearts and voices of our BIPOC community. I’ve learned it’s not enough to just ‘not be racist’—I have to use my personal and brand platforms to be vocally anti-racist in thought and action every day. We are making strides for sure, but it has become clear that we can always do more, and we plan to continue to do so. 

How has the industry changed over the 20 years you've been in business?

It has changed so much! When I started, people weren’t buying jewelry online. If you were shopping for jewelry, you were shopping in a store. So, selling to stores has always been a vital part of my business and our success. Wholesale is still the biggest part of our business, however as I mentioned earlier, the importance of online and social platforms is vital. Since I obviously can't be at every store or trunk show, this shift over the years has allowed me to connect with so many more of my customers in a meaningful way. With this transition to a virtual model came changes to the way we do business as well. For instance, if people aren’t seeing a piece in person and trying it on, they can’t tell the weight of the gold or the sparkle of the diamonds. Now shoppers are savvy and many just find a look they like but shop around for the best possible price. If you saw the pieces side by side, you could probably tell the reason for the price difference. So that changes the landscape a little bit, and in some cases, we create designs that are tailored towards this model knowing this is how people shop today. I often make more than one version of a piece, the one that will be the most price-friendly online, and the one that a store will want to buy because it has a bigger diamond and their in-person clients will see and understand the value.  

Another big change is just how many jewelry brands there are these days. When I started, jewelry brands were generally designers who designed, worked at the bench, and made their pieces themselves—like I did—or had a team of jewelers making their designs—like I have now.  You would take your pieces store to store or go to tradeshows hoping that a retailer would pick up your line. Now there are brands that are simply curators, who buy designs made overseas and call themselves jewelry designers. In my opinion, that takes the magic and personalized feel of the design away. 

 What would you say are the brand's biggest milestones?

Landing accounts with the major department stores was a huge turning point for us, as it gave us a lot more brand recognition. Another milestone was when I started showing my collection at the Couture show. We started at Couture nine years ago and we were one of the first delicate modern fine jewelry brands to show there. Most of the brands at the time were in a much higher price point and offering more substantial pieces than what we were making, which was everyday, easy, layerable jewelry. I remember having to explain to the fine jewelry stores why what we made deserved space in their stores and would sell. They just didn’t get it…then. Now they come to us for everyday entry level pieces as well as the aspirational pieces we offer for their clients that have become ZC collectors. Lastly, I would say when we started to show in Paris in 2014. We decided we wanted to try to enter the international space in a more substantial way.  At first, we were met with a bit of an obstacle as many European stores do not carry or understand 14k gold. They preferred 9k or 18k. But we hung in there long enough and kept showing them the collection and in the past few years have gotten into some of the best international stores that were at the top of our wish list—that feels like a big cherry on top of what we have been working so hard to accomplish.

Why did you decide to celebrate 20 years with a collaboration with 20 other female founders who will contribute to 20 organizations? 

The number 20 began to hold great importance once I realized that my 20th anniversary would fall in the year 2020! I really wanted to celebrate in a big way and while brainstorming with my team, the number 20 kept coming up. Finally, we decided on an ambitious plan of inviting not 1 or 2 but 20 of the most bold, successful women from all walks of life to work with me on a collaborative piece each. I felt strongly that I wanted this to be an opportunity to give back as a thank you for all the support that our brand has received over the years. That meant neither we nor our collaborators would be making a profit on the piece, the proceeds would be donated to charity. Luckily the response has been overwhelmingly positive! Most women we reached out to were happy to be involved. As for the charitable piece of the puzzle, initially we had three LA-based organizations in mind because I wanted to give back to the community I live and work in, but with the events happening in the world, we decided to change course. As recent events and reflection have taught me, it is so important to stand up for and speak out about the causes you are passionate about. I wanted to create a platform and give that opportunity to the women I am collaborating with, so I opened it up to any organization that they care strongly about. I’m so glad we made that decision before we launched as it really feels like the right way to give back in the current day.

 How did you select the collaborators?

I made a long list of women that I admire and just generally think are stellar with something important to say. Some I’ve known for years, some I had met through my Findings feature, and some were pretty much the ultimate dream-team list to be honest. We narrowed it down a bit, and I mainly reached out to women who I thought would be excited at the opportunity to create a piece of jewelry together and the response has been truly amazing. I can’t wait to launch each and every one of these partnerships as each is unique and special in its own way, just like the women who helped me create them.

What are the most important business lessons you've learned over the last 20 years?

The first lesson I learned from my husband, who was my boyfriend at the time, when I had just started my brand 20 years ago. He told me, ‘‘the business’ money is not your money. It belongs to the business.’ This might seem very simple, but it’s something that designers starting out often struggle with. Always following that rule and putting what we made back into the business to help us grow has definitely been one of the secrets of our success. Another piece of advice I got early on was to ‘hire the best possible people that you can afford, and whose strengths are your weaknesses.’ We have found that to be very true. You will find that they will often do the things that are being neglected and will usually grow your business so much that it will more than cover their higher salary in no time. Lastly, one of the most important things you can do as a business owner is to treat your employees with the decency and respect that they deserve. Again, this seems so simple, but I can’t tell you how many employees we have hired who came from companies where they were mistreated.  In business, my own personal mantra has always been ‘work hard, stay humble, be kind’ and it’s those three directives that helped me get to where I am today. (Fun fact: that was the first mantra I used for our Mantra Collection and it has proven to be one of our best-sellers).

 What are your best-selling pieces?

We have always been known for our personalized collection. People love to wear pieces that celebrate milestones in their lives. They become the heirloom pieces that they wear every day and hand down.  Lately however, we have been seeing a lot of clients gravitating towards our heavy metal collection which we launched two years ago and is still going strong. The trend towards heavier gold chain pieces has been growing and we love the look layered in with our everyday staples, so we keep adding to that collection to give our audience new pieces to add to their story.

What's next for you and the future of your label?

While the future is truly uncertain these days, I do know that we will be pouring a lot of energy into our website and continuing to build our online community. Even though we aren’t leaving our houses and in-person contact is very limited, people are still looking for ways to make meaningful connections via online platforms. We are doing that not only with our direct customers, but with our stores as well; setting up zooms to discuss the collection and show them new pieces. Creating more Instagram content that shows how to wear and style the pieces. This truly is a new era that we have all been dropped into, but as I said, we always do our best to be prepared to pivot, and we are excited about this next new ‘virtual’ chapter.