Australian-born Scosha Woolridge started her brand, Scosha, out of Brooklyn in 2010, looking to translate elements of her varied world travels into the delicate language of jewelry. Having studied fine art, she incorporates materials from diverse backgrounds into her pieces, ranging from casual cotton textiles to more formal 18-karat gold. This week, Scosha took a moment to chat with us about her brand and what she’s working on next.
Scosha has an interesting back story, beginning with a trip on an illegal cargo boat down the Amazon. Can you tell us about this trip and what inspired you to bring your brand to Brooklyn?
I was in Brazil trying to get to Manaus from Belem – Manaus is the heart of the Amazon rainforest, and you can really only get there via boat or aircraft. Many of the boats are unregistered local fishing boats, and it’s illegal to carry passengers. Every so often over the course of four days, we would be hanging in our hammocks that we were traveling with and the fishing guys would come by and say (in Portugese), “Ok, take your hammocks and squat down, there’s police patrol ahead!” Luckily, the police never actually boarded the boat, or there probably would have been a lot of negotiating going on.
Honestly, I had never heard of Brooklyn until I came to New York, so it wasn’t a conscious thing to bring a brand here. It was more a thing of finding an affordable place to live and have a studio, and it just kind of evolved.
What is your background? Have you always been drawn to jewelry making?
I studied fine art in Australia and was a painter and sculptor. I leaned towards either making large scale work or series of tiny works – I’ve always found it hard to do anything in between. As I backpacked over four years, everything naturally became tiny so I could carry it more easily, and jewelry was a natural and logical progression. In many places, it’s also a great way to make money on the go.
Your business operates out of busy New York — a sharp contrast to the natural place of your brand’s origin. Do you find inspiration in this contradiction?
I think it’s the contradiction that pleases me most. I love the combination of mixing amazing neutral and tailored clothing with handcrafted detailed accessories that are comfortable and fun, it’s a great way to bring color into your everyday life without having to wear huge blocks of colorful clothing.
We’ve read that Scosha will be a part of the 2016 Rio Olympics! Can you tell us a bit about this exciting project?
Lips are sealed! But I’m super stoked to be a part of this. Sports have also been a huge part of my life and the fact that its in Brazil where I originally began making woven bracelets is so perfect.
Though you started with textile-focused pieces, fine jewelry has a significant presence in your line. How do you go about choosing different stones and metals for these?
Actually, when I got my first studio in NY I worked with 18kt gold and it was half the price it is now. I didn’t have a lot of money, but I somehow was able to buy a little gold, and then made a small women’s collection as well as a woven collection. Then the market crashed and I decided to look into other metals. It also made a little more sense to use a less expensive material for friendship bracelets at that time because I think it was hard for people to justify spending a lot of money for a diamond pendant that was attached to braided material. Some people also still didn’t really consider it jewelry. I love traditional stones that are slightly flawed. I don’t know if its my empathy towards things that are not considered perfect, but I just think these stones have more life in them and a story to tell.
You recently started Little Scosha, your jewelry line for children. What inspired you to begin this endeavor?
My kids are a constant source for inspiration for this. My older son always asked me for my bracelets, so I would take the braided signature bracelets off to tie on to him, then a few days later I would notice his bracelets were gone – he’d tell me he gave them to his friends at his day care. Though a little irritating, it was such a sweet sentiment, and exactly what the bracelets are for. Then my daughter came along, and by the time she was six months old we made her a birthstone cuff. I figured it would be great idea to make a line of birthstone cuffs and braided signature bracelets in kids sizes.
Where do you find most of your inspiration, and how do you document it?
I’m constantly inspired by my travels – I’ve learned from and have been inspired by so many countries and cultures. I have a collection of visual art diaries I used to draw and write in that I would ship home once they were full, so I often refer back to those. I still travel, but it’s a different type of inspiration. Now I can afford to stay in a hotel, whereas back then I had a tent or had to haggle for accommodation.
Aside from being apart of next year’s Olympics, do you have any interesting upcoming projects in the works?
This year we became a member of the CFDA, so we have a few projects in the works with them. We are also about to launch our new fine occasion line, which is a little different from our past fine collections. Other than that, we will be traveling to do our personalization and stamping pop up shops in a few locations before the year is out. I love interacting with our customers and helping them further personalize their jewelry, so I’m excited about that.
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Photos by: Scosha | Copy by: Abbey Abate