Elaine Unzicker, an esteemed artist and designer of Unzicker Design, sat down to talk with me at the Standing In Boots art exhibition. This resident of Ojai, California, specializes in creating jewelry and clothing from chain mail materials, which serve as the foundation and distinctive aspect of her brand. Together with her husband, Keith, she travels internationally to market her collections. Elaine is acutely aware of the challenges that emerging designers face. As an awarded artist, she is actively exploring avenues to promote her work through both wholesale channels and custom direct-to-consumer sales. Her method of fostering personal, face-to-face connections has proven to yield the highest returns on her investment of time. She says online directory listings have not generated significant business for her. Unzicker Design has participated in fashion events, attended trade shows, and more recently, has begun placing products in museum retail shops.

Elaine sees value in the E D G E concept of a centralized designer open studio facility or showrooms that are specifically open to the fashion industry. Exhibiting her work in an art gallery and/or museum to industry professionals is a favored idea because of its uniqueness. We both believe that having a unique platform for exposure and representation could carve out a niche for this emerging designer market.

All photos courtesy of ©Desiree Hernandez, DeZire Photograph