Chiyome
One of the most difficult kinds of chic to achieve is that Japanese-style minimalism that’s beautiful in its pure functionality. But Anna Lynett Moss has it in her blood. Her bag line, Chiyome, is named for her Japanese great-grandmother. “My mother tried to find an anglicized name that began with ‘Chi’ for me, to continue that heritage among women in my family, but couldn’t,” she explains. “I’m resurrecting that tradition through Chiyome for my generation.”
After enrolling at RISD at 18, Anna spent some time in Rome and Los Angeles before moving to NYC (an inevitability, in her mind). In L.A., she started experimenting making clothes and bags for pals and decided to audition for Project Runway on a whim. Her takeaway from participating in season 7? “Developing a whole apparel collection every season is madness.”
Bags, it turns out, are more her scene. “Bags are fascinating because they need to function so specifically in order to fit seamlessly into one’s life,” she explains of the appeal. “It’s an intriguing challenge to hone in on the particular set of elements that make a bag work really well.” Challenge, schmallenge: Anna’s insanely sleek, hard-working line totally nails it. She makes the anti-It bag—the everything, always bag. —carly pifer
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Meet Brvtvs
This self-taught jewelry designer has a way with a blowtorch.
You know how high-school girls are—they’re so into soldering. No? Well, California-born Manhattan-resident Caroline Ventura was. “My dad was in the movie business, so he would have to fix all of the circuitry on his video equipment when it broke,” she explains. “I would go play on his workbench when I was little and watch him solder. And then I taught myself how to use the iron and blowtorch.”
Caroline has now carved out a niche making the sort of classic, delicate jewelry designs you can wear (and get compliments on) every day, and it turns out her father’s movie making career encouraged her entree into the jewelry world in more ways than one. “I went to Rome with my dad the summer before I started sixth grade—he was filming a movie and lived in Italy for almost a year. I found it really cool that this modern city existed alongside all of these completely ancient things,” she says. “The craftsmanship and the amount of pride people took in their work back then—I think it’s really important. With my pieces, I want to get across that they’re made for someone, that they’re special.”
The name for her line comes from her affection for the capital of the Roman Empire and also the first styles she made: creative takes on friendship bracelets that incorporated weaving techniques used by samurais. “I was making friendship bracelets, so, as a joke, I named my company after someone who is one of the worst friends in history.”
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Brvtvs
You know how high-school girls are—they’re so into soldering. No? Well, California-born Manhattan-resident Caroline Ventura was. “My dad was in the movie business, so he would have to fix all of the circuitry on his video equipment when it broke,” she explains. “I would go play on his workbench when I was little and watch him solder. And then I taught myself how to use the iron and blowtorch.”
Caroline has now carved out a niche making the sort of classic, delicate jewelry designs you can wear (and get compliments on) every day, and it turns out her father’s movie making career encouraged her entree into the jewelry world in more ways than one. “I went to Rome with my dad the summer before I started sixth grade—he was filming a movie and lived in Italy for almost a year. I found it really cool that this modern city existed alongside all of these completely ancient things,” she says. “The craftsmanship and the amount of pride people took
