KALIPSO HANDMADE JEWELRY VIENNA
Handmade Jewelry
Kalipso is a handmade jewelry brand in Vienna. Kalipso offers high-quality jewelry pieces for any occasion, not to mention that have amazing prices. Each piece of kalipso is just beautiful, and it is hard not to fall in love with this brand.
The designer Daniela Soto is from Venezuela and started her line 8 years ago. Today Daniela continues creating this unique and very special from Vienna.
Kalipso has 3 lines, Tiny & casual for every day, Golden Girls for more spontaneous women, and Glam for special events.
I talked to Daniela about her handmade jewelry line, and what inspires her to create each piece.
How did you get to start your own line?
I started my accessory line 8 years ago in Venezuela. I was always interested in creating accessories for myself and the women of the family. When my mother’s friends arrived at home and saw the pieces I made with semi-precious stones and quartz, seeing that they were unique pieces and real stones, they asked if I could sell them to them. . And that gave me the idea to create a catalog with photos of all my pieces and that’s how kalipso started 8 years ago, then I showed the catalogs to my favorite clothing stores and that’s when it started to sell in large quantities.
How did you get into fashion?
I wanted to understand how this business runs and meet people in the area, so I began to sign up for model castings to start getting to know those who took the photos, those who designed, and the people who produced and organized the events. In the beginning, was a bit hard because I remember me being very shy, but I accomplished my goal. Hearing, seeing, and ending up helping as an assistant is something that allows you to learn from people who already have experience.
How would you describe the aesthetics of your design?
I can say that I love designing sober pieces, plain colors, resistant materials, natural stones, but in itself, it is difficult for me to classify my designs because I see jewelry design as art but also as a creative solution to the needs of the woman, and the needs vary according to the personality, rather my designs depend on the person in whom I am inspired in relation to the occasion to which they are going to attend.
How would you describe your technique?
Wiring: I use malleable metals, such as gold or steel wires, of different gauges that are still malleable, from there I can make my own chains and each link, which ends up being earrings, rings, necklaces.
Assemble: it’s when you bought the raw materials, like the chains, the charms, the hooks, and after creating the design, I just have to assemble the pieces.
But at kalipso I not only work with my pieces, but I also include the work of other artists whose designs are to my liking.
these artists and fabricators work on other techniques that require more specialized machines for the fire casting of precious metals.
How did your previous career influence you today as a jewelry designer?
I work as a Chef in an excellent restaurant in Austria and I also have a catering firm, I love the world of gastronomy and my career, however, it is hard work, quite rough, and stressful, which can absorb a lot of energy and personally, sometimes too. a bit of my femininity, and I think that at some point I needed to have a balance between two worlds and return to self-care, to design, it is also part of me and I missed this other part of me.
Then I discovered that there are a lot of fast fashion companies that offer you affordable prices, but they are pieces that hopefully have a useful life of two months, and renewing your jewelry every two months ends up being very expensive (a 10 € necklace every 2 months for a year is 60 euros, but 60 euros for each year, for just one garment, at the end of your life, it is a lot of money and waste of material).
On the other hand, you have big brands that charge you an exaggerated amount, and many times, not for the quality of the material, but for the name of the company.
At the end of the day, they do not give you a guarantee of anything either, we are talking about at least 300 euros in a piece without any guarantee, although yes, it may be a piece that lasts many years, the problem is that you really end up paying more for a name, Due to the objective quality of the piece, there are cases of big brands selling a trendy necklace of plastic nuggets for 3000 euros.
In Kalipso you can invest 30, 40, 50 Euros for a piece that lasts many many years, in addition, each garment comes with the specifications of the material and with a guarantee, in case of damage, you can make a return, the return of products is very common in clothes and shoes, but not in jewelry, that is a risk that not all brands want to take because they are not sure of the materials with which they work.
But I am building Kalipso on a foundation of trust, quality, and guarantee.
So it is enough to do some calculations to understand that more money is spent when buying in fast fashion, even if it does not seem like it and the big brands sell at a better quality, but usually, their prices are not rational.
Apart from art, I also like numbers and numbers tell me that more brands are needed, with an ethical mission and motivation, that allow consumers to buy good quality products at reasonable prices.
Understanding this need has also motivated me and defined my strategies as a Designer.
Where do you find inspiration for your creations?
The kalipso brand is inspired by women, I think that the duties of the day make us live in a hurry, running all day, without looking in the mirror, and so we can spend a lifetime, other times it happens that we do not pay attention to the Image so as not to attract attention, because as a woman we want to be taken into account for our intelligence and skills.
The truth is that skills will not disappear because you are also aware of your beauty, on the contrary, enjoying femininity is a source of energy and power, we already know that we are strong and intelligent. Now is the time to take care of ourselves and appreciate how incredibly beautiful we are.
It should not give us pains to affirm that we are beautiful, that we love each other, that we take care of ourselves, that we deserve beautiful and good things.
Kalipso is inspired by an empowered woman, who must work for her dreams, that is why she must be presentable and comfortable, for her we have the TINY & CASUAL Line, smaller things and possible to use daily, even every day.
This woman must also attend events, presentations, a dinner, a night out, she wants to stand out a little more, accessories that lift the outfit, for her, I have created “GOLDEN GIRLS ” line, for those who enjoy wearing medium-sized jewelry.
However, there are always these days in which the outfit and the attitude need more pieces that reflect her spontaneous and colorful personality.
Although this woman´s measure is 1.50, when she wears one of these pieces, her attitude is 1.80 haha oh yes!
What phase is the most delicate in creating a piece as a jewelry designer?
A functional piece must be designed in relation to the objective and the need, but must be comfortable swell, also necessary to think about the capacity and the technique used by the craftsman.
What is elegance to you?
Elegance is not necessarily to be minimalist, neither is it trying to attract attention, but maybe something just about being honest and recognizing what suits your body, personality, and obviously to the occasion. This applies to the look, but also to the behavior.
What’s next for you professionally?
The market not only needs quality accessories, but it also needs other products, so I plan to make Kalipso a community of small specialized producers, with products that share the same value and mission, I am sure that there are many entrepreneurs with incredible visions that deserve to be successful in the market. So stay tuned!
