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The Insider: Jen Rubio
Jen Rubio spends her days as Warby Parker’s social media guru, but when she’s out of the office, she’s probably out of town. The supremely stylish frequent flier globetrots so often that her Delta status is one we’ve never even heard of. Don’t worry, though: You can always find her @jennifer in the Twitterverse—yah, check-out that first-name-handle radness. —carlye wisel
Q: When you’re on a trip, do you always find yourself buying a certain thing as a souvenir?
A: I am actually old-school, and I write postcards every single place I go. One of my friends has postcards from, like, 30 different countries from me on her fridge. My thing: Whatever the picture is on the postcard, I write it there.
Q: What’s the most embarrassing thing on your bookshelf?
A: The most embarrassing is probably that I don’t even have a bookshelf right now because I move so much. The actual only bookshelf I have in my apartment is a print of “The Ideal Bookshelf” hanging up. It’s the fashion one. I do read! Books are hard to pack!
Q: If you could have access to anyone’s wardrobe, whose would you pillage?
A: Miroslava Duma. She’s amazing. We’re also both 5-feet-tall, so everything would already be hemmed! I mean, I could say Taylor Tomasi-Hill, but then I’d have to fuck around with a tailor. So, nope! I could just put on Miroslava’s pants and be fine. She’s one of those people who gets a bob, and then I’m like “OH, I’m gonna get a bob!”
Q: Does the bob work out?
A: No! Never! No one ever sees a bob on a celebrity and gets one and has it work out. It just doesn’t work. This is probably my most embarrassing beauty-related story: I have a very round face, and I saw some celebrity with a bob. I got it, and it looked so bad—so atrocious that the next day I sat in a chair for 11 hours and got a weave.
Q: What?!
A: My deepest, darkest secret is that I had a weave! It’s really expensive because it’s real hair. I know a lot about weaves. I literally walked into this place and was like, “I need long hair.” It takes a long time—they put hundreds of strands in your hair. I guess you could do those Jessica Simpson clip-ins, but…no. If I’m getting a weave, I’m going all-out!
Q: You own a slew of Of a Kind editions.
A: Yeah! In the beginning, I had maybe seven out of their first ten editions. I have all of the Claire Vivier ones, and I have all the Erica Weiner stuff—I’m very loyal to my Of a Kind designers. I actually have a crazy Of a Kind story. I bought the very first hat Annie Larson did, and I was so excited. I worked at this agency and told everyone, “Guys! Only 25 people have this hat, it’s amazing!” And a week later, my co-worker Kyle’s like, “Oh, I saw someone with your hat on the train.” And I was like, “No you didn’t! I’m telling you, only 25 people have it.” And he goes, “No, I swear! I took a picture for you, since I know you’re obsessed with that hat!” And he shows me this picture of this girl, and I lost it. I was like “Oh my god, you’re my hat twin!”—of course not even thinking that Of a Kind’s early customers all lived in New York. I had a blog at that point, and I posted this girl’s picture on my blog and blocked out her face. And a girl comments on my blog, “Oh my god, that’s my sister!” and e-mail introduces me to her sister. We never actually met up, but this girl lived in Brooklyn, she had the same hat, and we’re like, hat soulmates.
Get to know more peeps we think are thebomb.com right over here!
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Weather Vain: Bogotá, Colombia - 77 and Clear
People are making us all kinds of jealous with their warm-weather travels right now. And while we’re personally very upset with anyone lucky enough to head to the Colombian capital, we’re willing to offer you our professional support—and a packing list. —erica
Clockwise from top left:
+ A Lemlem dress that doubles as a cover-up when you head to the beaches at Tayrona National Park.
+ This bracelet by K/LLER: jazzy enough for dinner at Mi Viejo, overlooking La Candelaria’s so-stunning square.
+ To keep your CCs and pesos in order, a mini Clare Vivier wallet.
+ The sort of Erica Weiner necklace that could go with basically every outfit in your suitcase.
+ Loeffler Randall shoes that are most definitely made for walking (and exploring Macarena—the ‘hood, not the dance).
+ Super sunglasses to deal with such annoyingly bright and clear weather.
+ The perfect pared-down travel bag from Eayrslee. Bonus: It can be worn around your waist (as long as you don’t call it a fanny pack).
Head this way for more “Weather Vain!” Hot (and cold) stuff.
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Recommended Reading: Erica Weiner Shares Her Faves on Design*Sponge
You know who has ka-razy good taste? Erica Weiner. And if you (DARE) don’t believe us, well, get your rear over to Design*Sponge and read about allll the things she’s feeling right now. Let’s face it: You’re kinda dying to know about the best stapler around. —erica
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Of a Kind
Erica Weiner’s lariat necklaces would be a signature track on the Of a Kind greatest hits album. What makes this one so special? Oh, those speckled stones are leopardskin jasper. We know: We had you at leopard. Gift it up, guys. —erica
Read more about the designer behind the line:
+ On getting her start at craft fairs.
+ On her pre-jewelry-design gigs…like doing costumes for Fosse.
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Alumni Sunday: Confetti Squares Bracelet by Erica Weiner
Are you already dreading Monday? We feel you. But how much better would the week’s worst day be if you had this burst of excitement on your wrist? We venture to say that, with its mess of gold-plated squares, Erica Weiner’s latest creation could make it FUN, even. Yah, big expectations for this one. —erica
Read more about the designer:
+ On starting off at the craft fairs.
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The Insider: Lindsey Green
LG at her favorite NYC sports bar, Flight 151.
Lindsey Green, Of a Kind’s director of communications, has been with us since before we even launched. Yah, that’s some serious commitment. She’s just as hardcore about her other T.I. 14th clients—20x200, Nestio, SRSLY, and Little Borrowed Dress—as she is about her extra-curricular interests: the Detroit Pistons, gymnastics, and the Olympics. When it comes to Team USA fandom, she is the 1%. —jiayi
Q: How did you get into the startup world?
A: I came from the fashion space. I worked at Jill Stuart for three years as her director of communications, and before that, I worked at a startup. I was also blogging way back in the day, so I had this built-in connection with people in the startup community. A lot of my friends had started companies then, and it was really fun and exciting to watch their companies grow. I ended up leaving the fashion world and went back to working with startups because I missed it.
Q: What made you go into PR?
A: It was the only job at the time, and so I thought, “I’ll do that! That sounds fun!” I just sort of fell into it. I did a lot of things before that. I worked in film briefly, and I was a concierge at a hotel—I was all over the place. PR is my first career. I like it.
Q: You started working with Of a Kind four months before launch. Do you think PR is key at that point?
A: It really depends on the company. I think in the fashion space, yes. With Of a Kind, we needed to have a really strong entrance. No one was doing what we were doing at that time, so that story needed to be told well. With other startups, I don’t recommend it at the beginning—you need to be able to see where your audience is coming from. You have to be able to tweak things and change things. Launch means a lot of different things for different people.
Q: What are some of the up-and-coming companies you’re watching now?
A: I’m very intrigued by this startup called Brewster—it launched just this month and was started by Steve Greenwood, who’s a friend and just a startup genius. Basically, the app takes all of the people from your social-media networks and makes a virtual address book. It tells you who you’re losing touch with, who you haven’t talked to in a while, and who you’re really connected to right now. Instead of having different contact lists, this keeps you on top of everybody in one place. I love finding apps that really solve a problem and that I’ll use all the time.
Q: What else are you hot on?
A: I’m really excited about the Olympics. I moonlight as a sports writer and have a little sports blog called The Rings. I’m also doing a little gymnastics coverage for New York Magazine and will be writing about weird Olympic sports for Deadspin this summer. I used to be a gymnast, so I’m crazy, crazy, crazy for the Olympics. I’ve had a countdown on my Twitter for about a year.
Q: So tomorrow night, where are you gonna be?
A: At home, watching the opening ceremony. I’ve had to email clients saying, “Hey guys, I love you all, hugs, hugs, hugs, but I’m just not going to be around for about two weeks. I will respond to you, but it’ll be slower than usual. I’ll be in front of the TV.”
Q: When did you do gymnastics?
A: I did it from when I was seven until fifteen. I did it because my sister was doing it. She went on to karate a couple of months later, but I stayed in gymnastics. I was really serious about it. I won an AAU National Championship in my age group division and two state championships—I did some winning in my day. I still do it once a week now. Just for fun. I could never figure out how the normal gym worked, so I was just like, “Screw it. I’m gonna do gymnastics.”
Wait! There are more awesome people that you should meet! Right this way.
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117 Designers You Need to Follow on Pinterest
These days, talk to anyone about social media, and Pinterest is guaranteed to pop up. (We don’t blame them, having logged some serious hours on the platform ourselves—come say hi!) So we went ahead and scoured the platform for some pin-savvy designers—emerging and established alike—that you should be following to make that dashboard extra inspo-worthy. Behold, the (alphabetized!) list, with our two cents thrown in. Bonus: We’re also replicating this list as a pinboard that we’ll keep updating when new peeps join, so follow away. —jiayi
- 3.1 Phillip Lim
- A Peace Treaty
- Academy Jewelry
- Alexis Bittar
- alice + olivia
- Alice Ritter
- Andy Lifschutz
- Anna Sui
- Apolis
- Badgley Mischka
- Baggu’s creative director Ellen Van Der Laan
- ban.do
- Bande des Quatres
- BCBG Max Azria
- Behnaz Sarafpour
- Belle by Sigerson Morrison
- Betsey Johnson
- Billy Reid
- Bing Bang and the line’s amazing designer Anna Sheffield
- Brian Atwood
- Brook&Lyn
Best Storytelling: If you’ve ever wondered why the hell someone pinned that, you probably weren’t looking at Anna Sui’s boards—which come with detailed descriptions of the roots of the fun-loving designer’s fascinations. A collection of pictures of the Ormsby-Gore siblings? Oh, they’re a group of trendsetters from sixties London—a time and place that, we discovered, the designer is especially drawn to.
- Burberry
- Cardigan NY
- Christian Louboutin
- Clare Vivier
- Coach
- Creatures of Comfort’s rad founder Jade Lai
- Current/Elliott
- Cursive Design
- Cynthia Rowley
- Daniel Vosovic
- Dannijo
- Derek Lam
- Dior
- Dirty Librarian Chains
- DKNY
- Doo.Ri
- Dream Collective
- Dusen Dusen
- DVF
- Eayrslee
- Eighty Twenty
Best Personal Touch: Something about a handwritten note still speaks to us, and DVF covers each of the pretty-to-the-extreme boards with a little scrawled-out missive from the designer (and CFDA prez) herself. Talk about classy.
- Elie Tahari
- Elizabeth Knight
- Erica Weiner
- Erin Considine
- Erin Fetherston
- Ernest Alexander
- Eugenia Kim
- Feliks + Adrik
- Fleabags
- Foley + Corinna
- Forage
- Gemma Redux
- Giuseppe Zanotti
- Goodnight, Day
- Gretchen Jones
- Helmut Lang
- Isaac Mizrahi
- isaora
- Jenni Kayne
Best Teamwork: Erica Weiner’s account boasts boards from every single lovely member of her team—showing off stellar finds both vintage and modern that give you a taste of the varying aesthetics that shape the jewelry.
- John Varvatos
- Juicy Couture
- Kaelen
- Kara Ross
- kate spade
- Kelly Wearstler
- Kimberly Ovitz
- Landmarks + Lions
- Laugh Cry Repeat
- Laura Lombardi
- Lauren Moffatt
- lemlem
- Lindsey Thornburg
- Loeffler Randall
- Marc Jacobs
- Melissa
- Michael Kors
- Morgan Parish
Best Trip Down Memory Lane: Not gonna lie: We love, love, love us some childhood pictures. And, looking at Nanette Lepore’s board “Growing up Lepore”—which shows the designer as a young’un finding her way in Youngstown, Ohio—it looks like she does, too.
- Nanette Lepore
- Nettie Kent
- Nicole Miller
- Norma Kamali
- Oscar de la Renta
- Palomarie
- Pamela Love
- Peter Som
- popomomo
- Proenza Schouler
- Rachel Comey
- Rachel Roy
- Rachel Zoe
- rag & bone
- Rebecca Minkoff
- Reece Hudson
- Reed Krakoff
- Sam Edelman
- Sang A
- Sigerson Morrison
- Sophie Monet
Best Where’d-They-Find-That? Eye Candy: We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: The Thomas Sires girls always know just what we want. They’ve nailed it with a clothing line, a Nolita store, and now a Pinterest account.
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Of a Kind
Some people think that wearing turquoise makes you brave and gives direction to your ambition—yah, we’ll take some of that, please. Even if you’re skeptical of all that mystical business, we’re convinced that the latest Of a Kind edition from Erica Weiner—she’s becoming quite the regular around these parts—will embolden you. The sharp geometric design incorporates triangles, circles, and squares and really pops against any backdrop. —erica
Read more about Erica:
+ On her first design (that she now can’t stand).
+ On her very on-brand wedding.
+ On her fave Maine spots to dig up jewelry-making trinkets.
