As a professional dancer and a graduate of the prestigious Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Sierra High graduate Kelsey Nagie has always been plugged into the world of glamour.
And after stints on the dancing circuit with both the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors, Nagie – who currently resides in San Francisco and is pondering a move to Los Angeles – thought about coming up with something that she could do in her spare time that drew from her collective fashion knowledge.
So she chose jewelry.
With her own line, which she dubbed “Hale,” Nagie has since build a steady following that includes a number of high-profile celebrities that appreciate her hand-made pieces that are on the cutting edge of what’s popular today. She takes classic designs and putting a modern spin on them to make them as hip as they are flashy.
“I had been watching a late-night show where one of the Olsen twins was wearing what looked like a necklace as a headpiece, and I thought that was really cool – taking regularly jewelry and making it work for different parts of the body,” Nagie said. “I like functionality in fashion and making things that can be worn a bunch of different ways, and that kind of gave birth to Hale and helped me realize that it was something I could enjoy doing.”
After spending a full work day in the office of a plastic surgeon in San Francisco, Nagie regularly puts in six to eight hours after she gets home making everything from earrings and anklets to body harnesses and headpieces – working with pliers, wire cutters and even a soldering iron to make sure that she gets everything just right.
While she’s currently working on getting her designs into boutique stores in Northern and Southern California, the young entrepreneur harbors no ambition in eventually opening her own storefront – preferring instead to take her pieces with her around the world and get as much exposure as possible.
“I really don’t want to have to spend all of my time focusing on one particular store,” Nagie said. “I’d really like to see this go international one day, and that would mean jet-setting around to places that could carry my jewelry. There are a lot of fine jewelry stores but not very many that specialize in single brand costume jewelry, and I’m okay with that. That’s not the direction I want to go.”
Even though the support of friends and family has been great Nagie said, it’s the support from celebrities that has helped her get the brand off the ground and given her a surge of energy and determination as she tries to tackle the world of business the same way she did the world of dance.
The jewelry pieces have already been spotted on such high-profile people as Lauren Conrad and Lauren “Lo” Bosworth of The Hills, Victoria’s Secret supermodel Chanel Iman, recording artist Christina Perri and Bachelorette contestants Ali Fedotowsky and Jillian Harris.
It was at a book signing in San Francisco that Nagie approached Conrad and Bosworth – something that she wasn’t sure she was able to do – to tell them about her line. The exchange helped give her a spark in her quest that continues to burn until this day.
“I didn’t know that they were going to be there signing, and I’m really kind of a shy person when it comes to things like that,” Nagie said. “I threw my cares to the wind and went for it with the ‘What do I have to lose?’ attitude. It gave me so much motivation.
“That was back in October, and I’ve been pushing on hard ever since, and realizing this is something that I can do.”
To view Nagie’s jewelry, visit her website at www.shophale.com.
And after stints on the dancing circuit with both the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors, Nagie – who currently resides in San Francisco and is pondering a move to Los Angeles – thought about coming up with something that she could do in her spare time that drew from her collective fashion knowledge.
So she chose jewelry.
With her own line, which she dubbed “Hale,” Nagie has since build a steady following that includes a number of high-profile celebrities that appreciate her hand-made pieces that are on the cutting edge of what’s popular today. She takes classic designs and putting a modern spin on them to make them as hip as they are flashy.
“I had been watching a late-night show where one of the Olsen twins was wearing what looked like a necklace as a headpiece, and I thought that was really cool – taking regularly jewelry and making it work for different parts of the body,” Nagie said. “I like functionality in fashion and making things that can be worn a bunch of different ways, and that kind of gave birth to Hale and helped me realize that it was something I could enjoy doing.”
After spending a full work day in the office of a plastic surgeon in San Francisco, Nagie regularly puts in six to eight hours after she gets home making everything from earrings and anklets to body harnesses and headpieces – working with pliers, wire cutters and even a soldering iron to make sure that she gets everything just right.
While she’s currently working on getting her designs into boutique stores in Northern and Southern California, the young entrepreneur harbors no ambition in eventually opening her own storefront – preferring instead to take her pieces with her around the world and get as much exposure as possible.
“I really don’t want to have to spend all of my time focusing on one particular store,” Nagie said. “I’d really like to see this go international one day, and that would mean jet-setting around to places that could carry my jewelry. There are a lot of fine jewelry stores but not very many that specialize in single brand costume jewelry, and I’m okay with that. That’s not the direction I want to go.”
Even though the support of friends and family has been great Nagie said, it’s the support from celebrities that has helped her get the brand off the ground and given her a surge of energy and determination as she tries to tackle the world of business the same way she did the world of dance.
The jewelry pieces have already been spotted on such high-profile people as Lauren Conrad and Lauren “Lo” Bosworth of The Hills, Victoria’s Secret supermodel Chanel Iman, recording artist Christina Perri and Bachelorette contestants Ali Fedotowsky and Jillian Harris.
It was at a book signing in San Francisco that Nagie approached Conrad and Bosworth – something that she wasn’t sure she was able to do – to tell them about her line. The exchange helped give her a spark in her quest that continues to burn until this day.
“I didn’t know that they were going to be there signing, and I’m really kind of a shy person when it comes to things like that,” Nagie said. “I threw my cares to the wind and went for it with the ‘What do I have to lose?’ attitude. It gave me so much motivation.
“That was back in October, and I’ve been pushing on hard ever since, and realizing this is something that I can do.”
To view Nagie’s jewelry, visit her website at www.shophale.com.
