Vicki Beamon
March 26, 2010
Erickson Beamon is a jewellery design brand that cannot but ring a bell for every person who knows at least a little about fashion. Renowned for over 20 years now, it is the brainchild of designers Vicki Beamon and Karen Erickson. Detroit natives, in the beginning of the eighties they opened a boutique in New York. Thanks to their taste in styling and in spotting the latest trends, they were soon dressing the style icons of the day.
At the time they still were not doing jewellery. This was an unexpected twist while styling a runway show. They weren't able to find the right jewellery to match the outfits, so they simply decided to produce it themselves, right there, on the spot. Erickson Beamon was born. Their jewellery designs were an instant success and retailers and press went crazy.
In just a couple of years the brand literally exploded, and today it has stockists all over the world. Vicki Beamon moved to London to spearhead the European market. The brand also means amazing custom pieces for the runway shows of brands like Dior, Chanel, Givenchy and all the most important names you can think of.
We first met with Vicki Beamon in Barcelona a couple years ago and felt immediately at ease with her. Her positive attitude, her politeness and friendliness are among her best qualities. She is a wonderful person to work with in a team and especially in a jury, since she is open to discussion, confrontation and shows interest in anything people around her have to say, even those who apparently have a lot less experience than her. A true professional who invests all her energies in what she does, she is never superficial and always smiling.
We love having her around. We might have already said this about other jurors in other interviews, and maybe it's because of one simple reason: we are attracted to this kind of people and probably they are attracted to us, and it's wonderful to know that we share this kind of attitude and can meet and work together and spend some precious time together. Vicki is definitely among our "precious time" friends.
So this interview goes out to all of the young jewellery designers out there who definitely know about Erickson Beamon (shame on you if you don't!!!), and will definitely be interested in what such an incredible professional and successful jewellery designer like Vicki Beamon has to say about creativity at large and jewellery design.
- EVE: What is in your opinion creativity and what does it mean in your life?
- VICKI: I believe creativity is a spiritual release from one’s soul which manifests itself into something to share with others. I realize that it is truly a gift to be able to come into work each day and be creative and I am forever grateful as I realize that this gift is not granted to everyone. I also feel that once you start using your creativity that it is like opening a tap and the more that you use it – the more it will flow. I also feel very lucky that I, more often than not, have to rein in and control the ideas rather than feel stuck. Let’s hope the flow goes on for a long time!
- EVE: Can you tell us about your experience at ITS?
- VICKI: The first thing that has impressed me with ITS is the integrity and professional manner in which the whole team works. The second is the talent which was involved in both fashion and photography. The standard was at a very high level in terms of creativity and workmanship. There is camaraderie between everyone involved in the production of the program and within the talent itself that is rare indeed. It was an extremely pleasant experience!
- EVE: Do you like what you see in young jewellery designers? Is there something more you would expect from them?
- VICKI: I believe that the strongest change in the jewellery world since my partner Karen and I started Erickson Beamon in 1983 is the merging of Fine and Designer Jewellery. In 1983 these were 2 very different categories and it is now really great to see that Fashion has moved into the Fine Jewellery world and that more sophistication has moved into Designer (we hate the word Costume) Jewellery. There are also many more designers in the jewellery world and this is constantly challenging the standards with more and more demands. It is now really exciting to see designers here in London like Holly Fulton and Maria Francesca Pepe proving that these ideas can also be transferred into Fashion itself.
- EVE: Looking back at your career and seeing the young talents of today, what is the best advice you feel you can give them apart from believing in what they do?
- VICKI: I think it is very important to set a high standard for quality and design and to continually drive yourself to improve on this each season and accept change. Keep your taps open and let the ideas flow!
- EVE: Thanks so much Vicki for sharing your ideas with us
- VICKI: My pleasure!
