There’s a moment when Kathy Ireland is talking about her new
jewelry line that she stops to reflect on a career that began with delivering
newspapers for Santa Barbara News-Press.
“Little girls weren’t supposed to be on the paper route, and
I couldn’t understand why,” she says. “Too often, women become invisible, especially
when they age. I’ve always rejected that.”
Being a role model is something people have come to expect
of Ireland, as countless interviewers — including this one — nudge her to
reveal the secret that took her from slinging papers to featuring on arguably
the most iconic cover of the Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition magazine, and
eventually ranking among Forbes’ 50 richest self-made women.
She embraces those expectations, asserting that supporting
women is part of her company’s DNA. During Rapaport Magazine’s nearly two-hour
discussion with her, the kathy ireland Worldwide (kiWW) founder points to her
jewelry collection as an expression of that goal. After all, she says
matter-of-factly, “every girl deserves a big diamond.”
Ireland has built a career on “finding solutions” for
families, particularly moms, and the aim of Diamonds by Kathy Ireland, it
seems, is to make expensive-looking diamonds more accessible to women. The idea
is to create the look of a larger solitaire by using a cluster of smaller
stones, enabling the consumer to buy at lower price points than a solitaire
that size would fetch.
“Our goal is to present beautiful jewelry with an elegant
look at affordable prices,” she explains.
Her foray into diamonds was a natural step, she suggests.
Jewelry was one of the first things she modeled during her fashion career, and
her love for jewelry further developed through her close friendship with
Elizabeth Taylor — whose personal jewelry collection sold for around $116
million at a 2011 Christie’s auction.
It was through Taylor that Ireland met veteran diamantaire
Paul Raps of Paul Raps New York, and the two started to float the idea of
developing a jewelry line together about six years ago.
They weren’t in a rush, but they were determined to get it
right, Ireland says.
She set out some stringent parameters for her brand by
identifying what the modern customer actually needed, Raps explains. Already
back then, the two recognized that consumer attitudes toward diamonds were
changing.
“Millennials are demanding much more than the 4Cs that
satisfied previous generations,” Ireland observes. “They have a sense of
entitlement, and they demand value from their purchases.”
Even before our interview begins, Ireland is keen to show
she can provide that authenticity and value. Walking around the branded purple
booth at the JCK Luxury show where the collection launched, she stresses that
first and foremost, her jewelry starts with a patented design and setting that
ensures the quality of the piece.
The design consists of a center stone surrounded by 12
smaller single diamonds — all G- to H-color, VS-clarity and better. This is not
a new concept in itself, but in Ireland’s line, the diamonds are enclosed in a
handmade platinum cone that creates the aesthetic of one larger diamond.
That look was the work of Roland Krainz, who collaborated
with Ireland, Raps and diamond supplier Taly Diamonds on the project. The
result is that the center stone looks like the table, and the surrounding
stones the setting, Raps explains, calling the design “innovative,
contemporary, elegant and brilliant.”
Ireland lets the diamonds speak for themselves while she
focuses on the philosophy behind the collection, which includes price points
ranging from $100 pieces to the higher-end Kathleen Marie by Paul Raps New York
couture collection.
“We’re catering to busy moms, not billionaires,” she says,
highlighting her 65-piece Our Love Collection as the main solution for both
jewelry retailers and consumers.
That line includes engagement rings, wedding bands,
earrings, bracelets and pendants that will sell at retail for $2,000 to
$10,000. The largest of the six size options bears the look of a 3-carat
solitaire — and costs less than half of what an actual round, 3-carat, G-color,
VS-clarity diamond solitaire would.
For Ireland, however, it’s not necessarily about the price.
It’s about adding value through an elegant-looking product. That’s why she
insisted on being involved in the packaging and branding of the collection: to
ensure it was brought to market with a “passion and attention to detail” she
learned from her mentor, Taylor.
“Elizabeth would look at the most minute detail, and we
tried to emulate that,” she says, noting that the innovation even extends to
the collection’s patented deep-purple display box. Its changeable insert
transforms into a jewelry box and encompasses a smaller, more practical “proposal box,” she
explains while Raps demonstrates the transformation.
With the design and look meticulously in place, Ireland
appears calmly ready for the jewelry industry. She’s done countless launches
before, as her licensing empire spans a range of products that include fashion,
beauty, home design, art décor, travel, pet supplies and wedding venues. And
her jewelry line has a key ingredient for ensuring success.
“Our collection is really all about relationships,” she
explains, emphasizing that they’re not targeting mass-market retailers, but
independent jewelers — one per city — who can offer customer service that the
big-box sellers cannot.
Her pledge is to stay directly involved with them, whether
by lending her name or presence to a store’s launch event, or simply by the
personal phone calls she makes to offer support and thanks. Her goal from the
outset has been to ensure that retailers profit from the venture.
And she’s confident they’ll have the tools to sell to
millennials, who increasingly want to know the back stories of their purchases
and that their diamond is making a difference.
Ireland “loves” that awareness in today’s consumers, as it
fits with her own philanthropic goals to “inspire, teach and make the world
better.”
It’s a message she believes will empower jewelers to defend
their products — as long as they’re open to innovation and “are as passionate
about the product as we are,” Raps stresses.
After all, Ireland relates, the force behind her transition
from delivery girl to supermodel to business mogul was an ability to keep going
despite adversity.
“We’re known for providing solutions for everyday
people,” she says. “But people also want beautiful things. That’s where we come
in. This is a work of art that’s affordable to everyone. We want it to be a democratization
of the diamond.”
Image: The Our Love Collection by Kathy IrelandArticle from the Rapaport Magazine - August 2017. To subscribe click here.