A Finger in Every Pie

I joke with Jules Kim that her real destiny in life was to be a doctor like every Asian child. But fortunately for her, her half Korean/half Irish lineage gives her exemption from such a fate, and the world is better for it. Her true talent lies in the depths of her imagination, and her ability to forge her dreams to life through the hammering and welding of silver and gold.

Kim, also known by the moniker BiJules, is a NYC based jewellery designer, widely respected for her unique handmade pieces. For six years she’s given breath to her creations. Some pieces border on feminist empowerment, childhood innocence, and the macabre humor of adulthood, but all represent tools of expression. Fans such as Beyonce, Rihanna, Santo Gold, Karen O, Eve, Lindsay Lohan, Fergie and more, are constantly photographed with her signature bar ring or sinfully coiled snake nail rings from her Serpensive collection. (If you’ve seen Beyonce’s ‘Sweet Dreams’ music video,you may have caught a glimpse of her $36,000 custom-made diamond encrusted snake nail rings.)

But being a tastemaker has its price. Jules has suffered creatively and financially due to knock-offs of her products by companies such as Obey, Forever 21, and H&M. Unable to compete with them on “their level,” she was approached by her sales rep to try something new. In order to beat them at their own game, she’s decided to diffuse her line. “I’m going to compete with cheap fashion by doing it before they can. Fuck them.” LeBij, is a line of costume and recycled plastic jewellery currently in development in Pakistan. “The prices are cheaper, but the ideas are still as thought out as my other collections. Nothing is lost.”

Though she’s made a name for herself within her field, don’t label Kim as just a jewellery designer. She partnered up with Lorenzo Martone (Marc Jacobs’ beau) to creatively develop a new line of swimwear that’s expected to hit during next swimsuit season, and started a consulting firm with jewellery designer Bliss Lau, called “One Full.” “If you take the two of us together since we’re both half Asian, you get a whole.” The consulting firm introduces six dimensions of fashion accessory expertise to help nourish concepts from seed to fruit, and they’re already in talks with several major companies.  Kim might be pleased, but it’s what’s next on her agenda that keeps her moving at her whirlwind pace.

Fashion Week FW 2010 presenting “BiJules vs. Ruvan” Feb. 11th from 7:30-11pm at Eva NY at 355a Bowery.

“Gift of Mischief” benefits yele.org for Haiti relief in Las Vegas, Feb. 17th at the Venetian, featuring BiJules, Bliss Lau, Han Cholo, Boos and Besitos and Barracuda Hair Team.