Featured Vendor: Mia Lara Jewelry

The contemporary artisan jewelry in the Mia Lara Jewelry collection is designed by Mia Lara Nathanson, a young designer who views personal adornment as a quintessential form of expression.  "I find great pleasure in watching a woman fall in love with a piece that speaks to her.  It's as if she's suddenly found a part of herself reflected back to her in my art."

 

The Mia Lara Jewelry collection is a balance between a bold aesthetic and elegant simplicity.  It's contemporary, yet timeless.  The pieces are fresh, versatile and playful.   The collection is characterized by the juxtaposition of the organic with the refined.  Intrigued by this interplay, Mia is drawn to rich, vibrant color combinations of precious and semi-precious stones accented by elements of both textured and polished metals.  Mia celebrates the beauty expressed in the asymmetry of the natural world and designs with this creative vision in mind.

 

Mia has always sought to express herself through creativity.  Designing since she was a young girl, Mia began her fledging jewelry business by setting up roadside stands in her hometown of Woodstock, NY with her beaded jewelry and homemade cookies!  After attending Columbia University and receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Anthropology, Mia went on to work in the Fashion and Finance Industries. During her five years in the corporate world, Mia worked arduously to realize her dream of founding a company by devoting all her spare time to her creative vision and selling her jewelry at local New York Markets on weekends.

 

In February 2010, Mia dove wholeheartedly into her business to make it a full-time endeavor.  She traveled to India where she spent a few months cultivating design concepts and sourcing stones.  The rich cultural fabric woven into the landscape of India has become a deep inspiration for Mia.  The vibrant energy found in the contradictory elements so palpable to India is embodied in the Mia Lara Jewelry collection.  Each piece captures the natural beauty of imperfection and embraces organic form.

 

In the Indian cities of Pune and Jaipur, Mia has spent many happy days sifting through cases of precious and semi-precious stones, reveling in their resplendent natural beauty.  A deep inspiration is drawn from the stones; their magnificent spectrum of hue and texture speak volumes to Mia, guiding her in the process of creation.  The inception of each design springs from a spontaneous gravitation toward a stone, allowing the process to organically evolve from a visual feast on natural splendor.

 

Mia considers her collection to be personal ornaments of expression.  "I'm enchanted by the idea that my designs can be treasured by its wearer as an extension of their being.   It's a joy and a privilege to illuminate women's inner and outer beauty through my art".