Ippolita Rostagno, fine jeweler showcases some
of Italy’s newest trends

By Barbara Kingstone

Preconceived ideas often are on target. However, I really missed the bull’s eye with jewellery designer Ippolita Rostagno. The Italian born, Manhattan-based, 40 year old who looks about 25, is a youthful dynamo and successful entrepreneur. After looking at her collection before meeting Rostagno, I had assumed she would be much older since her jewellery is so well thought out, sophisticated, wise and tactile.

Ippolita is her own best advertisement. Sitting in one of the executive offices at one of the up-market fashion emporiums that has exclusivity with Ippolita, her ensemble shrieks New York. The nipped-in-at-the-waist khaki jacket embellished with a huge fabric flower, a white low cut T-shirt with gold embroidered detailing and perfectly cut blue denim jeans worn with heeled loafers.

Although her very full, curly head of dark hair covers some of her face, the long drop, intermingled, multi link earrings, peek through. Then there’s the wonderful and delicate chain with small gold droplets, a huge heart charm bracelet on one wrist and a stack of bangles on the other. Here, among the lode, she’s added a bangle with a very large white pearl which off-sets the diamond studded and the plain textured bracelets. These are her signature and best sellers. The hand made, slightly oval bangles, often sport sparkles of rose cut diamonds especially made for her in India. The small stones for the thin bracelet are perfectly proportioned.

“Diamonds are emotionally powerful materials,” she says adding that these thin bangles should be worn in multiples. A nice thought especially for the woman who has everything. Just add a few arm baubles a year and soon the single bangle becomes a most impressive and stackable armload. “It’s the sort of collection that can be added to gradually. Buy a few then add different styles and it all goes together.”

I found myself reaching out to the trays filled with her newest 18- karat jewellery collection just to feel the textures.

“I’ve always been interested in fine jewellery and precious materials,” says the tall, grey eyed Italian. Obviously, before she went into this competitive business, she had realized she wanted a very flexible demographic that goes from 30 up to any age.

“Mothers buy my designs for their daughters and vice versa. And it’s also the kind of jewellery that’s self-purchased,” she says. The fact that this stylized, uncluttered, almost architectural line doesn’t have the glitz and bling appeal of diamond encrusted baubles with large semi-precious stones that were once the ‘it’ item, is one of the characteristics that women these days, admire

“Wearable fine jewellery is a new category,” she emphasizes. And circle links are one of her favourite designs. “It’s such a feminine shape while I don’t think angles are. Links in general have movement,” she says picking out a link chain from the black velvet lined tray.

A graduate of the Art Institute of Florence where she studied sculpture, she says she has always been interested in “bringing art and esthetics to a larger audience”.

While trying to explore the challenge of the ‘what-next’ syndrome, she decided to explore a way of “reaching people”. Not realizing where this new concept of jewellery design would take her, Ippolita, whose company is only ten years old, opted for a small scale business that was immediate and accessible

The distinctive jewellery is pared down which she claims is one of the hardest tasks. “I wanted to arrive at what the essence is and what I was trying to express,” she says toying with her long neckpiece. “ I wanted something that was contemporary, sleek and wearable.”

Coming from Florence, she had a history of being close to antiquities and Etruscan objects. “I love the greenish colour of that period’s gold,” she says. “It really looks like treasure-chest gold, something I have finally recaptured.”

“Gold color was my first area of interest. Then came shape and a modern look. I’m very interested in the fact that my collection looks hand made, hand carved, hand sculpted. Over 30 staff members assist and work in her lower Manhattan atelier, many Italian crafts people.

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She credits some of her success by having the perfect work partner. “I’m not torn between having to create and run the business.” Lauren Sharfman handles that. “We have a very synergistic way of working together. We’ve been very lucky and the business is growing by leaps and bounds.”

Not only is this lithe former dancer selling at the high end Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus in the US and also in the elite Brown’s in London, the collection is now available throughout Canada at Holt Renfrew.

“ I want my clients to buy items that are versatile and feel as though you can wear the pieces everywhere including the shower,” she smiles.

There’s little doubt that Ippolita has hit the target. “I struck a chord at the right time,” she says modestly - so very Italian, so not New York.