The Namesake

As long time readers of this blog know, the store was named Zoe in honor of the daughter that I never had.  The Zoe Girl motif (designed to my specifications by the talented Lisa Henderling with the guidance of my wonderful friend and graphic designer Cori Canady) reflects my vision of what I believe my "grown-up" Zoe would look like.  I have been privileged to meet a number of Zoes in the time I have owned the store (even a dog named Zoe during the Doggie Trick or Treat in Old Town yesterday).  But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine she would inspire a piece of jewelry!

Enter talented NYC based jewelry designer Katie Bartels.  As we talked about various ways to work together over the summer, we arrived at the idea of Katie creating a signature piece that would be sold only at Zoe.  When I asked her to describe her design process and inspiration, she shared this with me:

"I was incredibly excited when Susan approached me to design and hand make a piece exclusively for Zoe Boutique! The Zoe woman is sophisticated, elegant, stylish, and classic so I knew freshwater pearls had to be a part of the piece I designed. I am a big fan of "Zoe pink" and thought it should be incorporated into the piece for a fun pop of color. I sketched a few different design ideas and was very drawn to the idea of mixing pearls and ribbon for a preppy look. I worked with Susan to get the color of the ribbon just right and we finalized the design when she visited my studio in New York City over the summer. It was important to both of us that the necklace complement the clothing Susan carefully selects for the boutique and I think we definitely achieved that goal. It was such an honor to create this design!"

So, I confess to being slightly biased....but I do think it is gorgeous!

Katie is coming to Zoe for an exclusive Washington DC area trunk show on November 16th.  Stop by to meet this talented artist (and just all around fantastic young lady!)