Sandrine France is a jewelry designer based in New York since the 1980s. Between two fascinating anecdotes about the New York of yesteryear, she tells us about her journey, from her beginnings as a classical dancer to the creation of her studio during the COVID-19 pandemic. Covid… A journey like only New York knows how to produce!
“During the 1980s, in New York, anything was possible”
Sandrine France arrives in New York at just seventeen years old, for dance. “I arrived in the middle of winter 1982, there was three meters of snow. I didn’t speak English, I didn’t know anyone, she says. I arrived on another planet.” The dancer is staying at the Salvation Army, on 13th Street, in a residence for elderly people and young women. After being part of several companies, she decided to leave the dance world and took odd jobs in restaurants. : “I worked as a waitress for four years, she confides, then I worked in a coat check. I had to stay in the closet with the coats.”
One evening, a lady who came to collect her coat discovers her knitting and gives her her card. A few days later, Sandrine visits him in his Midtown workshop. “She asked me if I knew how to sew. My father always told me: “You say yes, and then you figure it out.”. The Frenchwoman therefore leaves with a roll of fabric on her shoulder, a pattern drawn on cardboard, and a mission: to make 300 hats in two weeks, paid one dollar per piece. “During the 1980s, in New York, anything was possible. It was incredible”she remembers.
Sandrine France and her 100% handmade jewelry
One thing led to another, the Frenchwoman moved up the ladder and began making jewelry. From sample maker, at the bottom of the ladder, she becomes assistant designer. For twenty-five years, she evolved in this way within several companies, until March 2020, when the Covid pandemic hit New York and the rest of the world head-on. The company she works for closes its doors. Determined to turn this blow into an opportunity, Sandrine launched her website and created a small collection of jewelry with the pearls she had collected over the years. “Covid was a disaster, but it completely changed my life. I knew I couldn’t go back to an office.”, she says. She transformed her living space – a two-bedroom apartment in the Chelsea district, which she shares with her daughter – into a workshop. As a true autodidact, Sandrine creates all her jewelry from A to Z : design, production, photography… Even welding, which she learned by watching tutorials on the Internet, is done on the living room table! Each of its pieces is unique, since it is made by hand. And when she returns to Paris, the designer brings back prints from the 1800s for her pendants.
A story of perseverance and discipline
“I always wanted to get started, but I never had enough time or opportunities. I am a single mother, specifies Sandrine. I raised my daughter alone.” Eventually, everything falls into place naturally. The Anthropologie chain of stores places an order on son site web, which allows it to access the Faire platform, for creators and artisans. But success is not immediate. “At the beginning, I had an order here, an order there,” she explains. To live comfortably in New York, this is far from enough. “I resumed the same life as when I arrived at 20, I did lots of odd jobs. This is what I had to do to survive. But perseverance works! “. Because in February 2023, through some mystery of the algorithm, orders on Faire explode. ” I am proud of myself. I didn’t give up, and today, I have 369 stores.”
Even if it works well, the designer still wants to make all her pieces herself, even if it means continuing to produce in limited quantities. “I don’t know if I want more orders, she explains calmly. I don’t want to lose the quality of my product, I’m super picky.” Faced with the success of her small business, this hard worker simply hopes for a better balance : “Last year, I worked 7 days a week. If I can keep what I have by having a day off, I would be super happy.”
2024-02-18 17:14:25
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