Meet Reine Krief: Jewelry & Accessories Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Reine Krief and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Reine, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My thought process behind starting my own business was actually triggered by a life threatening incident that happened to my husband a few years ago. Thankfully he survived, but It was the one thing that made me realize I needed to be able to stand on my own two feet, to establish something I could depend on and had some control of. Until then, I was oblivious to the fact that I could or needed to be independent. For many years, in Montreal, Canada, I worked in both fashion and interior design gaining experience and building a foundation for myself and the future. After I was married, I helped the family retail business and eventually shifted to interior design & decor taking on select jobs that allowed me to prioritize my children and to help my husband who was a freelance footwear & accessories designer. His work, mostly with American companies, took him around the world every season leaving me to care for our four children and the day to day for weeks at a time. When the opportunity for him to take a senior position in California presented itself, we decided it was time to make the big move to be together, which meant, I would leave any support system I had behind and could therefore, not work. In any case, starting over in a new country away from everything and anyone we knew would be difficult with four children in tow. Although, technically, I was a stay-at-home-mom, I continued to help my husband with research and design of handbags, footwear and accessories in the background. I always welcomed the opportunity and enjoyed the creative process. As my children grew up and were headed off to college one after the other, I found more time to indulge my creative side and discovered a knack for the art of hand knotted jewelry. It all really began as a hobby and developed from my passion for collecting and recycling vintage and antique jewelry. I kept working on the technique, wearing some of my own jewelry creations and accumulating quite a few more pieces that I would often gift to my friends and teachers for the holidays and also donate to the annual schools’ fundraisers. I would get requests from parents to recycle some of their own pieces which certainly encouraged me to make more but it was not until after his ordeal shocked me into a new reality, that I was prompted to share my new found talent in a more professional way. I thought a lot about how to start my business at the time, but in truth, it was my husband who actually encouraged me to start with a website and put myself out there. When I finally did, I decided to go all in. I began to photograph and catalogue all my pieces, found a provider to build my own website, hired an assistant to help me and together we went out to trunk shows, events and pop-ups until one day, I was offered the opportunity to open my first little shop inside a day spa & salon allowing me to expand my categories and build a clientele. Two years and lots of changes later, I saw another opportunity to not only grow my brand but to combine forces with my husband who had gone back to freelance designing. Together we had all this accumulated knowledge and experience and wanted to start a new footwear & accessories collection. In February 2019, we opened our own beautiful shop and studio in Solana Beach, California to create and house our brands. It was our goal for Krief design studio and BijouRocks to offer brands with creativity, excellence, quality and value while adhering to a philosophy of becoming a socially conscious business with a mission to support & encourage other small businesses with like goals. Once again, we were taking a chance on another start up and we worked tirelessly to create the new footwear & accessories brand that would launch January 2020. Today, I can honestly say, even though we had a false start due to Covid-19 and as difficult a road as it has been, we are still passionate about the prospects for the future of our brands and with the support of our community, friends and customers, we can see the potential to continue to create, build and share them. Reine Krief, Founder/Designer Krief Design Studio for Reine Krief Handbags & Accessories, BijouRocks & Wrapton.

What should our readers know about your business?
Over the past few years, BijouRocks has worked to be established as a unique destination to find quality handbags, accessories and handcrafted jewelry that are completely original and exclusive. In addition, the custom shop set itself apart to offer a more personal one-on-one experience and forged lasting relationships with loyal customers. However, given the situation we are all faced with since March 2020 and the changes that have resulted, we have taken this time to rethink and restructure our strategy going forward. BijouRocks is in the middle of a change right now. One that will adapt to our changing times and address the new normal of lack of in person connections we were after for so long. We are now refocussing all of our efforts to improving the experience online with a whole new website and expanding our categories to offer curated limited collections. Professional photography will set the mood that will embrace a clean, unencumbered user friendly shopping experience. We will be showcasing all that we do on social media, connecting to our customers via email and direct messaging as well as in a safe environment, in our beautiful shop in Solana Beach and outdoors for special events where we are inviting local vendors to participate. In short, Bijourocks is investing in the future and believes in the power of creativity.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Although It seems like a long time ago, it was just over a year ago when our foreign guests were taken aback by the beauty of the San Diego coastline, diverse landscapes and communities that spread out across our county. We always chose to take the scenic route avoiding highways, whenever possible, from the inland areas to the coastline or from North County to Coronado. Along the way, there are a few favorite stops we love to make depending on the itinerary or time of day. For example, for our favorite and best sunset dinner experience after a walk on the beach or along the bluffs, we love going to the Poseidon Restaurant in Del Mar to dine al fresco on their patio right on the beach. Family friendly, Del Mar is our favorite beach town with shops and lots of restaurants. We often stop for breakfast or lunch at the Cafe Americana right on the corner of 15th street or if you crave pizza after day at the beach, our favorite spot is just down the street at the very popular Del Mar Pizza. Leaving Delmar, down the coast are some beautiful vista points and views of the ocean from up high but, nothing is quite as beautiful as hiking Torrey Pines trails overlooking the ocean or walking Torrey Pines beach along the cliffs to Black Beach where you will see lots of surfers and if you don’t mind, you never know if there will be a nudist walking around. It has happened! We always enjoy the ride down to La Jolla Cove along coast to see the seals sunning on the beach or rocks and swimming around amongst the Kayaks. For an evening stroll and gelato after dinner in another of our favorite restaurants, Little Italy’s Civico 1845, especially for their homemade bread with basil dip and Mushroom Risotto. We always enjoy a fun day at the beach, especially if it is at the Hotel Del in Coronado because besides renting bikes to sight see, walking the beach and exploring the historic hotel, we stop in at the bar facing the ocean for cooked goat cheese, olives and Martinis at sunset. There are too many great little spots to mention but taking a drive along the 101 going north from Solana Beach to Encinitas to Cardiff all the way up to Carlsbad by the Sea, they are all worth it to experience.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My Husband, Michael Krief

Website: www.bijourocks.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/bijourocks/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bijourocks
Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/bijourocks-by-reine-krief-solana-beach

Image Credits
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