Steff Eleoff is the Celeb-Approved Jewelry line taking off
Toronto-based Jewelry Designer Steff Eleoff gives us an exclusive look inside her process of creating some of your favorite celebrity’s hottest Jewels. I finally met up with Steff during NYFW; she flew in from Canada, dressed in all black (respectfully), and was iced out in her designs. Her trip to NYC was for work and pleasure, needing some inspiration as she prepared for another busy season at the SE HQ. Steff’s designs are simply unique, so special that they caught the eyes of Kylie Jenner’s team, which led Steff to see her designs on the beauty mogul herself. A stamp of approval by Kylie Jenner will push any product you’re trying to sell, a significant moment for a brand in its first year. I was so excited to meet up with my long-time friend and collaborator; we chatted about her growing business, what inspired her, and what’s next for the woman in charge. Read our exclusive interview below and check out her one-of-a-kind designs HERE.
Featured Interview:
Can you describe your brand a little for those who are unfamiliar?
We are a fun and unique jewelry brand based in Toronto. We aim to accessorize and make people feel confident! We offer a range of carefully curated pieces that act as wearable art for the customer. Everything is made with sustainably recycled materials, down to our silver, wax, packaging, and even the lab-grown diamonds or gems we use. I wanted to make a brand conscious of what we were putting back into the world since many of our shapes are inspired by the environment surrounding us.
Why Jewelry? as opposed to handbags or clothing.
Jewelry was just the thing that I learned how to do. I tried fashion design when I was younger, but I thought pattern-making was too mathematical, and I didn’t *love* it. I fell in love with the art of silversmithing. I was obsessed with learning how to use a torch and coming up with unique ways to bend and melt silver. I would wake up every day and go to the metals studio. The schedule was 11 am-9 pm. Every. Day.
I also have been in art my whole life, and I did my masters in fine art (I dropped out when covid hit), but I say I did half of it! Lol. I was working in sculpture and large-scale installations- set design but running around New York, bringing things into the studio I found on the street. When I moved home, I took that same love for repurposing lost items and worked with brooches from the thrift shops. I started making crazy statement necklaces out of old costume jewelry, which was my gateway, you could say!
Can you describe some of Stef Eleoff’s earlier days? How was producing your specialty pieces different than what opposed to now?
Well, the pieces themselves have evolved. The craftsmanship has just improved, from our signature mirror polish to the curves and shapes we produce. The only thing that’s changed is it went from me doing absolutely everything. Something I am not good at. Lol. Like accounting…. Everything about business. I was the artist. I never went to business school. I had to learn it all. It was just me and my mom (she did all my packaging and shipping for me in our basement). Now, our team has expanded to 7 of us! And the people in place are better suited and experts in their field. I learn a lot from my team every single day!
Your brand is very much known worldwide but is rooted in Canada. How has growing up in Canada been for you artistically? I feel like there’s so much talent that comes from Canada.
Canada, specifically Toronto ( because that’s where I grew up and started my business), has the most incredible artists here. The art scene is small, but there’s so much talent in all mediums. I think it was nice to be able to experiment here, in a bit of a more miniature “scene” – see if my work resonated with people or not. And then we kind of, for lack of a better word, rocket launched into world view by the press. So it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, to say the least…and never a dull moment. But what small business doesn’t feel that way!?
What was a major SE moment for you?
A significant moment for me would be when we expanded slowly. It’s one thing to run a business on your own and live and breathe the vision, but find people who want to do the work with you and trust in what you’re building is another incredible thing. It can be pretty isolating doing it alone, so having people experience it with you is a moment.
If you could partner with another brand, who would it be?
Definitely a brand so unique in its craft that it’s totally out of our scope regarding what we have access to. We have all the fun gadgets to work with jewelry on all scales, but someone who makes shoes for a living is a super cool process, or like a glassblower or something really unique and niche. Or something in a different field from fashion. I want our next collaboration to be outside of the box. Does anyone come to mind?
What advice would you give your 16-year-old self?
I read this stat the other day, that said how lucky we are to have been born. The numbers are crazy, all the people that could have been born that didn’t cross over. And the ones that did are such a fraction of that. There is and will never be another you. Everyone alive today is extraordinary, and we each have our own unique voice and gift to give to the world. So my advice for my 16 y o self would be – you are living a very unique experience, and to not be afraid to be yourself. Don’t fixate on people who have treated you poorly, or you’ve grown apart from. You are special. There’s no one else like you, and the journey you are on is yours and will be everything you make it. Be daring, do things that scare you. Spend time with your family. The people you choose to be around will greatly impact your direction. Be picky! But always be kind!
We love your new drop, “Love Letters.” What inspired this drop? and what are some of your favorite pieces from it?
That Y2K type of love inspires the actual campaign. If you remember the movie crazy stupid love, where the babysitter is obsessed with Steve Carrel and goes home after school one day to take sexy nudes on her Digi camera, and she prints them out and puts them in a cute envelope. But then her mom finds them, and it’s a whole fiasco. Yeah! Just making the cunty editorial version of that. Lool.
We always want to do fun shoots and challenge ourselves. We had a tiny budget for this, too, but it doesn’t look like that!
The letter necklaces with pink and red gems are to die for… the bow rings are the cutest accessory to stack… I love the intricacy of this collection. It reminds me of our drip-and-goop days. Small and light pieces for your everyday. That is still eye-catching. They complete every look, honestly.
Lastly, 2024 will be the year of…..
Authenticity in everything we absorb, everyone we look to, and everything we put out there. I want 2024 to be the year we level up.
CREDITS:
Photography: @alyssaalancaster
Interviewed and Edited by: Perry Johnson @editsbyperry
