FASHION IS A FAMILY BUSINESS FOR KARAMBELAS
Montreal jewelry designer brings daughters into the fold
Looking effortlessly put together in a crisp white dress, jewelry designer Katherine Karambelas moves about KAST Boutique on Sherbrooke St. W., delivering rapid-fire instructions at the photo shoot for her current look-book catalogue.
Daughter Nektaria, 19, greets arriving photographers, while the eldest, Faith, 22, brings jewelry combinations to receive mom’s approving nod.
There’s something faintly Victorian England in the Swarovski crystal stud earrings surrounded by vintage-looking opal pavé; something exotic in delicate fullbody chains or the crystal and goldplated “twist cuffs” that clasp the upper arm.
And there are clues to the family’s Greek heritage in antique-silver bracelets accented with cotton tassels, and choker necklaces made of thick braided nylon.
When a model starts draping pieces one over another, the effect is stunning.
“It’s really a boho-chic style,” Karambelas says of the layered look, “similar to the big trend in clothing of simple, layered pieces.”
Karambelas grew up around Parc Extension and learned the fashion trade from her parents, makers of leather outerwear.
She knew how to cut a pattern long before graduating in fashion merchandising and design from LaSalle College (which included an internship with designer JeanClaude Poitras).
After marrying and while raising three daughters (the youngest, Maria-Anna, is 14), Karambelas rejoined the workforce in 2006 with a plan to create highquality, daytime-to-evening accessories.
She started selling jewelry at parties and even at her hairdresser’s salon.
“It was crazy — I’d design something and it would sell right off my neck,” she recalls. “My kids would say, ‘Mommy, but it was so pretty; you sold it?’ ”
Today, the collections are distributed mostly through U.S. showrooms.
They’re available to Montrealers in boutiques like KAST and online at Gilt.com and Ahalife. com.
On average, pieces sell for between $90 (for earrings) and $245 (for necklaces).
Karambelas uses hypoallergenic metals, free of lead, nickel and cadmium.
She offers a more upscale line of 18 to 22K “vermeil” gold-plated pieces, in addition to twice-yearly regular collections.
Her daughters’ decision to carry on the fashion tradition is a point of pride.
“Customers love my girls and we always travel as a pack,” the designer says.
“Family is the essence of our business — it’s really who we are.”