COLLECTION 2 - AVANT-GARDE

360 KALTBLUT
KALTBLUT: Tell me a little bit about your
background and how you got to be the
“black diamond king.”? Family, residences,
schools – how they affected you or influenced
you?
AZATURE : I was born and raised in Los
Angeles, California, and studied business
economics at UCLA and turned to graduate
studies in fashion design at Parsons Design
School. During school I worked with
celebrity stylist Andrea Lieberman, styling
for Jennifer Lopez and Gwen Stefani. My
experience lead to a few smaller projects
with Christian Dior as well as Alexander
McQueen.
After moving back to Los Angeles and leaving
a creative director position I decided to
pursue other interests and celebrated my
new beginning by going to Vegas for New
Years Eve. Coincidentally I missed my flight
back to Los Angeles the next day. After a
few phone calls and realizing my uncle was
in Vegas, we head off to an impromptu road
trip, where he suggested I start my own
jewelry company.
AZATURE : After some research, and discovering
the black diamond, it was the perfect
match. Black, as in the color, or better
a shade has always been a part of my
life. I think my mother influenced me a lot
because she was always so elegant and a
lot of times in black. For the past 12 years
or more I have not gone a single day without
wear all black. And I mean completely
black.
While I attended Parsons Design School, I
would always experiment with fabrics because
we were always taught to be openminded.
The problem was that every piece
I made in a fabric other than black, I would
throw away and remake it in black.
These events were all a build up, to my
obsession with a diamond that was black.
As one of the first black diamond designers,
I began to gain popularity in Russia,
the Middle East, and Asia, hence the press/
clients started referring to be as the black
diamond king.
KALTBLUT: What inspires you and how
does this inspiration evolve into a piece of
jewelry?
AZATURE : AZATURE is not just about design.
It is about a sociological approach
and a look at our surroundings of what is
happening and an outlook on what is going
to happen. Majority of designers and
designers in training look at different time
periods in history as a source of inspiration.
My greatest inspiration is the future. In
a fast moving world, where marriage, war,
race, gender, are ever changing and evolving,
AZATURE designs change as emotion
and imagination get aligned from the daily
struggles of humanity.
KALTBLUT: Your line has recently expanded
into chocolate diamonds and it has been
getting a lot of wedding press. How do you
think Azature fits into the wedding genre?
What would be an ideal Avant-garde
wedding?
AZATURE : Jewelry, chocolates, and weddings
do have a lot in common. They all
kind of come together nicely. I have been
custom making wedding bangs and engagement
rings since I launched the
company through my AZATURE ATELIER
services, so had a taste of the wedding
world. Now with the chocolates I am more
embedded in weddings, but not strictly
weddings, also birthdays, baby showers,
graduations, anniversaries, mother’s day
etc.
My ideal Avant-garde wedding would be
an all black wedding. I won’t get into the
details as I get very passionate about this
subject and might go one for days. I’ve had
a special infactuation with weddings since
I was a child. To the point my final project
at Parsons Design School was a black wedding
dress.
KALTBLUT: How do you feel about
technology and your work? Does it play a
big role ininspiring you?
How important do you find technology &
social networking to convey your brand’s
message?