In 2007 Roxanne Goodfellow bought a bracelet in Buenos Aires, its design specifically modeled after the Recoleta neighborhood, the hub of the city’s aristocracy, french architecture and the famous Recoleta cemetery. Every time she received a compliment on the bracelet, she talked about the neighborhood.
Roxanne had been working in commercial theatre for over 20 years when she started thinking about making a career change. It was at that point that she first came to SFMade, more specifically to our How to Manufacture Locally Workshop where our instructor asked her: Are you making the product yourself or is someone making it for you? “I had in mind to start my own jewelry company, but that’s when I really realized, oh yeah, I’m not a jewelry designer!” She booked a class with jewelry designer, Patrik Kusek and halfway through the session, asked him to partner with her.
Since then the two have come together to create a company whose designs capture the connection of culture, geography and history: not by using landmarks or maps, but anything that they identify with that expands on a sense of place. For their Urban Organics line, that means they were inspired by midnight mushrooms and cloud forest pods in Golden Gate park.
“Supporting our community and creating jobs has always been part of the company mission as well, becoming part of SFMade was a benchmark for us,” said Roxanne. The two use a casting company in San Francisco for their casting, occasionally another contractor in San Francisco for additional lines, and a plating company in Oakland (there are no plating companies in San Francisco).
To view their jewelry, or if you’re a retailer interested in carrying MiraVos products, visit them here. Jewelry designers interested in finding local contractors can fill out a sourcing request form here.
