Another person carrying the torch for Rhode Island’s jewelry industry is Nicole Romano – in fact, she’s carried it straight through to New York City. A Rhode Island native and RISD grad (apparel design), she launched her own line with the encouragement of some very high-profile mentors, namely designer Nicole Miller and Sex and the City stylist Patricia Field. She wound up in the pages of Vogue, and her line now sells worldwide at luxury retailers like Bergdorf Goodman NYC, Harvey Nichols Hong Kong and Kibiri London. Her label began as apparel with a sideline in accessories and jewelry, but growth and success eventually positioned those elements as her primary business.
Now the public face of her brand is in New York and LA, where she has her showrooms and PR offices, but the heart of Nicole Romano (both the label and the woman) remains here in Rhode Island, where she manufactures. “The state is not only my birthplace but it is also my edge amongst the competition,” Romano offers. “My ancestors have been tied to the jewelry business since they arrived in this country from Italy. We know all the magic and resources that Rhode Island has to offer because we’ve grown up surrounded by them. We know where to go to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty in order to find the most exquisite treasures.”
She’s proud of her involvement with the USA Made campaign, an initiative to encourage domestic jewelry manufacturing launched by a nonprofit industry advocacy group, the Accessories Council. “In late 2010, we started to get calls from a number of our fashion jewelry companies, letting us know that their cost of production overseas was rising,” explains Council President Karen Giberson. “They were curious about the feasibility of production in the USA, so we began to explore the topic... Nicole is a wonderful example of a USA Made member – she is dedicated to making her products here and has an exceptional quality.”
Romano is an enthusiastic booster for Rhode Island’s jewelry industry, pointing to both historic expertise and current capabilities. “There is simply no other place that has the existing infrastructure to handle a country worth of manufacturing,” she says. “I see it everyday as I work with my team. What we have is a golden history and craftsmen working today with decades of tradition behind their skills, allowing endless possibilities for the future.”
Though success has taken her around the world, Romano remains determined to help foster creativity and industry back home. “I believe I can make a contribution to the growing recognition of our industry by utilizing the highly skilled and talented workers in my home state,” she boasts. “As a native Rhode Islander, I have chosen to continue the proud tradition of jewelry manufacturing here rather than in any other city.”
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here