On a cold night in February of 2017, bored and feeling creatively empty, I decided to rummage through an old drawer that housed a collection of antique beads and stones I had been collecting since my teens. That night, raw chunks of lapis and antique trading beads would be threaded through some cheap, black-plated jewelry wire. Jokingly, I wired together a sort of hammock of stones with two, dangling little legs. I called it the “zim zim,” after the song “I Zimbra,” by the Talking Heads, a song I was listening to while I created, the notes inspiring the movement of this silly but pivotal design. I hung it on my bulletin board, feeling my need for creative yearnings briefly satiated, and moved on.
By June of that year, I knew I needed to do something that would sustain my newfound creative desire. I turned to natural and organic shibori dying on raw muslin which I’d later transform into pillows, baring the name of 7&Sun. 7&Sun would continue to grow - from pillows, to matching bags, and then veering back to the original creative spark: jewelry. I’d gift my friends with things I’d make; they’d join in in the fun too, helping with designs, content creation, and modeling. I had been working as a buyer in women’s advanced contemporary fashion for almost a decade. My job as a buyer brought me to some of the coolest, most unique showrooms who employed equally unique and cool women. I wanted to befriend these women.
They were effortless and effervescent — everything I wanted for 7&Sun.
I dreamt of having a store that would cater to this muse they had unknowingly created within. I dreamt of a place with cool things for cool people to come, shop and be happy. A seed had been planted. My job was far from a dead end, but aesthetically not where I saw myself. I knew I needed to slow the pace and focus on the environment and the maker just a little more than I already was with 7&Sun.
By spring of 2020 I knew it was time to forge my own way. With no extensive background in e-commerce past the basics, and the opposite of what the dream store my mind eye’s had drafted, I decided to take the plunge, my work evolving as the vision grew. Having grown up surrounded by my grandfather’s collections of precious gems and minerals he had as a geologist in Wyoming, I recalled him telling me about sunstone and hematite. Clear and rose quartz. All sorts of stones he carefully curated into old chocolate boxes labeled with “Gigi’s Rocks & Minerals” that he passed down to me. I quickly became obsessed with precious gemstones.
7&Sun continues to evolve in ways I never expected. What began as a creative identity for myself has blossomed into a thriving small business, and our product has only improved as the brand has grown. At the heart of it all, the core idea remains unchanged: we craft jewelry with the sole purpose of enhancing the wearer's internal sense of self. This philosophy is ingrained in the DNA of the brand. Our appreciation for the natural world is evident in every piece we create, as we draw inspiration from the rich diversity of nature's resources, from rocks and minerals to precious gemstones. Welcome to the world of 7&Sun, where each piece tells a unique story of connection and self-expression.
