Off The Cuff – GoGo Jewelry Gets It Right

X

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

Powered by WP Greet Box WordPress Plugin

“Make me look sassy, girl,” jewelry designer Gogo Borgerding exhorted when she learned I was writing a profile on her and her line, GoGo Jewelry. But anyone who has ever seen Gogo’s pieces, ever observed the designer herself, with her cute hair and multihued outfits, knows that to portray her accurately means one can’t do anything but. For Sass zips through all things GoGo. To walk into Gogo Borgerding’s uptown New Orleans shop, GoGo Jewelry, is like walking into a candy store. The colorful graphic pieces – including her signature cuffs, practically beg to come out and play. And while the sweet palette and wearability make GoGo’s eponymous line fit for socialites and club kids alike, each of the earrings, rings, necklaces and bracelets is anchored by a clean design aesthetic and a linear sophistication. If Gogo’s jewelry were a musical genre, it might be pop, but less like Brittany or Blink and more like a really catchy group that was way smarter in the lyrics than you might think possible. Like Beck without all the angst.

“My work is playful, colorful, graphic, hip,” Borgerding says. “The jewelry starts out with the design.” In order to make each of her signature pieces, Borgerding first sifts through hundreds of graphic patterns to find the one that makes the piece pop. She then layers anodized aluminum sheets underneath a sterling silver top layer. The graphic design is then hand-cut out of the silver using a delicate jeweler’s saw and the individual layers are pieced together like a metal birthday cake, pierced through and tacked with silver rivets. Borgerding takes hours and hours to make each bracelet, which she constructs by hand. “The first bracelet I made, about ten years ago, took me about a day and half because I did all the anodizing of the aluminum myself, and cutting out the jewelry was in its infancy stage, and it took longer, and with all things that are new, it’s a longer process. But how do you get to Carnegie Hall, but practice, practice, practice?”

And practice makes a perfect balance of edgy, cool, and flirty. “I’d like to think that my jewelry is timeless,” she says. And while bold patterns and shapes recall a kind of deco sensibility, GoGo Jewelry is also au courant, but Borgerding explains she doesn’t look to the latest fad when designing a collection. “I don’t follow trends,” she says.

It’s all about unconventionality, fun and whimsy for Borgerding, who began making jewelry with Shrinky Dink materials while working in a jewelry shop. The craft project took hold and the designer decided to take her study to the next level by studying metal-smithing at the Savannah College of Art and Design. When she returned, she opened up her own shop and set about making a name for herself. And what a name it is.

Gogo was self-christened one night after a few cocktails with friends, both of whom had changed their own names in college. She says, “I wish I could say that my parents were hippies, or I was conceived by listening to Chuck Brown, ‘The Godfather of Gogo,’ but no. I was given an Irish name, Shannon Eileen, and I’m not a smiggin’ of Irish… Gogo is more about my state of mind and personality, and I think it fits pretty well.”

She’s fun as can be, whip smart, sassy (there’s that word again), cool. She’s a modern Rainbow Bright, a happy, funky and surprisingly sophisticated designer. That uniqueness, in a fashion culture always looking for the next new thing, serves her well. “My friends have always said, ‘I have emeralds, diamonds, and no one comments on them. I put on one of your cuffs, and it’s the talk of the night.”

GoGo at a glance:

If she had to pick one word to describe her line: “I would choose the word ‘conversational.’ I like to think that my jewelry is attractive and eye-catching enough to start conversations.”

What excites her in fashion: “For me, fashion designers with an artist’s sensibility. Someone who cannot only create fashion, but that is also conversational and whimsical, i.e. Andrea Loest. Her clothing deals with serious situations taken not-so-seriously, all done in a pop-art style. I also like vintage scooter dresses and cloche hats. Fleuvog shoes handmade in Germany, and my eyeglasses from Ooh-la-la de Paris.”

How she describes her personal style: Unpredictable, colorful, fun, false eyelashes, platform shoes, glitter. Never trendy or eclectic (I hate that word!). Who the hell wants to wear gladiator shoes anyway?”

Where she ultimately wants to take her company: “Baby steps. So far, it’s been word-of-mouth. I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of the Contemporary Crafts community at The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival since 2005, which was a great beginning for me. I opened up a storefront on Magazine Street three years ago, called GoGo Jewelry, which is a studio space and enough room for retail to showcase my work, as well as other young artists around the world. Now, I’m working on getting the production down before I attempt to expand to a broader market… Eventually, I’d like to have my work in high-end department stores and boutiques around the country. Any takers?”

Popularity: 77% [?]