Worthy-Opponent

SO SO RIPE
I remember the evening I met Mizz Folsade Ologundudu--that's "Sade" for us non-Yoruba speakers. I was walking down Chrystie street, in the Lower East Side, and heading to a cooler-than-thou party of some sort, when one of my girls stopped to chat. I was introduced to Sade and was instantly captivated by what seemed to be two female figures dangling seductively from her ears! "ARE THOSE EARRINGS!?" I shrieked. "Yeah. I'm a jewelry designer. These are part of my collection." From that point on, we were destined to connect.

After lunching with Sade, I realized that she is like the little sister I'd love to have. Although only 21 years young, Sade is one of those people who knows she has lots to learn but can still teach an old dog a thing or two. This Brooklyn native of Nigerian/Portuguese/Black American descent has carved out a space for her art and has begun to explore her limitless options.

Sade's love for jewelery design began only a few short years back when her mother was teaching her how to work with beads. She liked the art of jewelry making so much that she began to explore the world of metals. This seemed to be a good fit for her, and no sooner than you could google Ripe Jewelry, her first collection- "Le Femme Fatale"-- was born!

Sade produced her first piece entitled, Alexandra, and admits that "it was all about interpretation. I wasn't looking to strike gold! I was looking to do something well, to create something strong."

"Le Femme" collection is a blatant play on female power, sexuality, body image, and womanhood. The silhouettes are strong, voluptuous, erotic, and what intrigued me most about this collection was the depiction of women with afro hairstyles and kinky buns. "It's okay to wear a figure of a woman and be a woman. It became an empowerment thing. 'Viva,'"(the necklace depicting an exotic dancer) "is clearly a stripper. She's on a pole and naked. But she is also a sign of power and femininity."

Her latest collection, "An Ode to the Game," is a play on children's games and toys we all remember. This idea, being totally distinct from her first, shows off Sade's incredible versatility and un-attachment to any one particular theme. Her material preferences are also evolving. Sade hopes to work with more organic materials such as steel, leather, plastic, and wood, and plans to tap into the world of men's jewelry as well.

"No women are really doing men's jewelry. I have a lot of male friends that are straight, and many that are metro, in their early/mid twenties, and they're style is changing. These guys no longer want to look like high school kids. They're maturing, so I am looking to provide a product they can wear and enjoy."

Unlike many young designers who jump on the first opportunity to work with more known artists--for obvious reasons, Sade seems quite content to be the sole ruler of her own universe. "I've had a few offers where people wanted to work on projects together. I have to be careful with the steps I take. I don't want to be labeled so quickly and I know that if I jump on some of these projects, I'll be boxed in. I'm already a Black Female designer. That boxes me in as is." After a brief pause that seemed to me as if she was looking for the right words to express herself, she rips back: "This is like my fucking garden! I'm planting the seeds and watering the buds. I just don't want any weeds! You know?"

Sade's trendy/in-crowd status came by happenstance after having worked with heavy-hitter and kool-kid jewelry designer, Jules Kim of Bijules NYC. She admits to learning a lot about the business aspect of jewelry design from Mizz Jules, and has been able to draw both inspiration and guidance from her. "Working with people like Jules is not only an inspiration but its a serious motivator. She's a beast!"

As she takes a moment to light her ciggy, I realize that nearly two hours had gone flying by and all I wanted to do was to talk more about the royal estate and crown jewels--a small obsession of hers-- and why cocktail rings are first on the 'Sade Must Haves' List.

All these little tid-bits of her personality are clearly represented in her jewelry design. "My style is unusual and bold. It has swagger and funk. It gives you soul. I gear more toward a really good use of material, than something that is timely and doesn't last."

When asked where she sees her jewelry evolving to, she admits that she's not looking to be the next BVLGARI. "I love the major houses like H. Stern and David Yurman, but I also love Giles & Bro., Ten Thousand Things, and Surface to Air. I see my jewelry definitely being on the higher spectrum of jewelry design but it's more about uniqueness than price point. My consumer wants something special."

The early evening began to set in and I wanted my newly-acquired-little-sister-in-my-head to go home and rest; she looked a bit tired and admitted to having been hitting the night scene the whole week! It is summer in NYC after all! So I decided to wrap up our lovely meeting with the last necessary question: What does being a Worthy-Opponent mean to you?

Taking the last few puffs of her cigarette and with both feet firmly on the ground she replied: "It's like someone that you can't mess with! Someone who challenges and motivates you. It's the friction that makes things happen. If you're gonna do something, you better know you're the best and NO ONE can mess with you."

We hear ya sis!

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