Former InStyle Magazine Editor Launches Heirloom Jewelry Brand
If there is jewelry to be found, Elana Zajdman has seen it — from brands small and large, and provenance both very old and strikingly new. The veteran fashion editor — most recently of InStyle, where she worked as senior accessories and jewelry editor — has now taken her knowledge and design acumen closer to home.
Zajdman has launched her own jewelry brand, Estelle Galerie, to address what she felt was a void in the market. The brand, rooted in heirloom styling, is handmade in New York City and largely priced under $500.
More from WWD
Zajdman wants her line to feel like the most convenient of antique stores — providing a window into discovery and enabling shoppers to treat themselves at an accessible price. The collection is equal parts Zajdman’s designs and select vintage pieces that have been strung on unique chains for a contemporary spin.
“I realized the crazy price discrepancy between the cost of making jewelry and what people were selling it for. I wanted to do this at a price point I would want myself, and what the product feels like it is worth to me. It’s too lacking in the market now, for pieces that are well-made and desirable,” Zajdman said.
While Zajdman oversaw the wider accessories market at InStyle, as well as other fashion titles like Vogue.com and Marie Claire, she always held a particular fondness for jewelry. Estelle Galerie is named for Zajdman’s grandmother, whose drawers overflowed with jewelry trinkets that she’d gift her granddaughter as a kind of aesthetic education.
“I started getting into her jewelry boudoir at a young age — she had a whole closet full of jewelry, costume pieces from the ’70s, so crazy stuff. I became very interested in it and learned a lot from her,” Zajdman said.
The designer, now based between Paris and New York, started laying the groundwork for her label in the months before COVID-19 and decided to double down on the project immediately following InStyle’s closure in February.
Many of the gems in the collection — like hand-carved lapis baubles — had already been sourced on Zajdman’s first brand business trip to India in 2019. All that was missing was her website.
Earlier this month the site went live — offering what Zajdman describes as a “curation,” of jewelry and vintage objects, selected for those with a collector’s mentality.
The tight assortment of gold-plated sculptural cocktail rings, fine pendants strung on 18-karat gold chains or silk cords and refined drop earrings sit beside found objects like an antique sterling silver perfume bottle or Cartier lighter from the ’70s.
The designer has also sourced strands of vintage natural stones for necklaces that exude a kind of upscale bohemia — the kind she herself dabbles in while flying between Paris and her family’s home in northern Vermont.
Zajdman will release new designs every few months in drop formats, and will increase their frequency as Estelle Galerie grows. She is also in conversation with retailers to put together small, exclusive wholesale drops.
For Zajdman, the goal is to offer exclusive marketplaces for a host of clients — making her a kind of roving antique dealer. “I’d like to have curated drops and do different trunk shows or seasonal collections for different places. I don’t want to follow a fashion calendar, I want to get inspired and have special and unique pieces that have purpose and feel intentional,” she said.
