Nathalie (Nat) is an Italian jewelry designer based in NYC.
She grew up in the Alps and moved to the city in 2014. Passionate skier, sailor and traveler she finds inspiration in the world of nature and geometry. Lover of jewelry as means of self expression, she started to design and handcraft her own collection, the little things NYC.
the little things NYC, for little moments and little actions.
Pieces of jewelry are little things to celebrate an event, a moment, ourselves. the little things are designed as a statement about you and your personality, your style and what you stand for and to remind you every day to appreciate the little things and little moments.
Inspired by nature, geometry and textures, they are mindfully designed and hand-crafted in NYC.
Made with recycled silver and conflict-free precious metals, the little things have the planet in their heart. 1% of proceeds is donated to support the planet and one tree is planted for each purchase to balance the emissions of shipments of our products. Our packaging is compostable or designed not to be single use.
INTERVIEW WITH NATHALIE ROLLANDIN, FOUNDER OF THE LITTLE THINGS NYC
Describe yourself as a creative and how your label was born?
I started jewelry making with a metalsmithing class in Williamsburg in 2017. Prior to that I was always attracted by local artisans and jewelry crafts when traveling. Jewelry pieces are little things but have a much deeper meaning connected to them, a memory, a person, a symbol of your inner self or personality. Making jewelry allowed me to give voice to my creativity. It slowly became more than a hobby and I decided to put the little things out there.
How do you manage the creativity process exactly as it’s really challenging nowadays in the fashion industry?
My creative process is often a little unstructured. A lot happens with my subconscious taking inspiration from my surroundings, from patterns, nature, themes. Then it materializes in shapes, sometimes built literally on my couch, while others it requires more exploration and iteration.
I build most of the original shapes in wax, I then have them casted in sterling silver and do all the finishing (filing, sanding, buffing etc). What is great about jewelry is that if a prototype is not good it can always be remelted and turned into a new product, making the creative process very “circular” and more experimental.
What is the most challenging issue for an independent label?
Balancing everything. You start as a one person team. You are the designer, but also the maker, the creative director, the social media manager, the lead of operations and customer service. Learning every day a new part of each role. It is hard to develop all the components in parallel but that is what makes you grow and it is exciting to see things come to life.
What’s the main impact of social media in both ways, buying and brand marketing?
As a user, social is a great way to discover new brands and connect with them and explore creative interests.As a brand it is a challenge and a great opportunity at the same time. It is fun to connect with your audience but also hard to create quality content, to keep the conversation going, to know where to focus your investments in terms of effort and money. On the other hand social media offer endless opportunities in terms of reach, of customers, other creatives and potential partners. Social platforms are truly the voice of your brand these days.
Let’s connect on Instagram: @thelittlethings_nyc
How do you manage to choose your models in order to spread better the diversity issue through your label?
On this we can certainly do better being that many of my shoots so far have been bootstrapped with friends and family.
Jewelry is something to celebrate each and everyone’s uniqueness, diversity is a part of it so we will certainly focus on this. What better place than New York.
What do you think is the biggest challenge regarding your work?
Finding the right path to scale. Balancing marketing and operations considerations, new product development and bringing existing products out there, experimenting and managing the day to day, prioritizing projects while keeping your voice consistent.
How do you think your label can play an important role in your daily client’s life?
A piece of jewelry is something to celebrate a moment, a memory or just yourself. I want our brand to represent this. Remind them of a special moment, or just remind them that they are a kickass person and unique in so many ways.
– NATHALIE ROLLANDIN
Also we want our products to represent a little action, each collection supports an organization fighting against climate change or plastic pollution.The shared interest in our products, shapes and mission is what brings together our little tribe.
What do you think about the opportunity of selling your pieces online nowadays?
Every brand needs to be online, especially independent designers looking to expand their reach and build their brand. In a world where the boundaries between online and offline are blurring, there is hardly any offline without online.
Discover the little things NYC online: www.thelittlethings-nyc.com
Imagine that you must write a letter to your FUTURE SELF. What would you write?
Hi there, thank you for creating the little things NYC before heading sailing around the world :)) .
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