Dorian Webb's Laurels for Leaders
F ounder and CEO of her eponymous jewelry brand, Dorian Webb, considers jewelry a form of biography, telling the story of the chapters of our lives. PATHWAY TO DISTINCTION Creative since childhood, Webb began her career as an architect. She discovered that she enjoyed the experience of jewelry making even more than architecture because it allowed her to be hands-on throughout the entire process. During her junior year at Yale, she visited Italy and bought glass beads inspired by Italy's long tradition of glassblowing. She formed them into jewelry to give to friends, and a photographer she'd hired brought her pieces to galleries, where they sold. Webb explains how one form of art feeds into the other: “Studying architecture at Yale really made me start to think in terms of composition and spatial relationships. There, the focus on creating spaces emphasized the experiential and the structure's connection to its community. How did the building make you feel? How does it relate to its environment? [Those were the types of questions we were asked to consider.] I think that carries over to my jewelry design. When I design, I take into consideration how the design—its composition, materials, and colors—will interact with the person wearing it. The process of each design is an exploratory one to highlight distinct qualities of the women I come in contact with. I gravitate towards unusual color combinations that draw the eye and bring light to the face. They also work with the wearer's skin tones. Although these color combinations seem very specific, they are often quite versatile.” She considers her architectural background an asset despite having gone in a different direction. Her studies at Yale focused on the experience of walking through a space as well as the technical aspects of building stability. Now, she brings that focus on creating 3D art to jewelry, as well as chandeliers and other home decor. She quotes Coco Chanel: “Fashion is architecture; it's a question of proportions.” “My work also serves as a means of marking and preserving the current moment as well as memorializing our collective and individual presence…As an African American woman, I understand the difficulty in feeling seen and heard and the necessity of both.”
Dorian Webb
Trystanne Cunningham, editor and founder of TrooRa Magazine, shares that sentiment. Trystanne & Dorian met when Webb spoke on a panel at Conn3cted by TrooRa’s networking holiday issue launch event in San Francisco. They recognized they shared common values and decided to work together to celebrate women's accomplishments.
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