Business

Blackbird jewellery line’s an idea worth noting

Regan Hayes and Vanessa Marino were travelling through Europe when a heavy rainstorm in Florence left them stranded in their hostel for the night.

Instead of a trip to a local museum the “crazy storm” saw them scribbling notes about possible business ventures on the little notepads they were using to budget their day, Hayes recalls.

After returning to Toronto in 2010 the George Brown College design graduates launched Blackbird, a handcrafted jewellery line featuring necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings and headdresses, and began designing exclusive products for 889 Yoga and Wellness Spa in Rosedale.

One of the items, a yoga mat bag, was available in January at Holt Renfrew on Bloor Street West and in Yorkdale shopping centre for a special in-store pop up called HProject.

“Both of us sew, that’s our background, and now it’s turned into this great thing,” Hayes commented.

“We’ve collaborated with 889 for four years now and they were selling at Holts, which was great,” Marino added.

Their third jewellery collection, Occult, which was inspired by magic and mysterious powerful women, is sold online at www.iheartblackbird.com.

“Blackbird is very much about a juxtaposition of moods or ideas, so the actual word ‘blackbird’ seemed fitting,” Marino said. “It’s something that’s a dark and mysterious colour and then something a little bit airy and lighter — feminine, like a bird.”

To date their pieces have been worn by the likes of musicians Emily Haines and Chantal Kreviazuk.

Hayes and Marino first met in high school in Caledon, while admirng each other’s hair clips, and say they knew they’d eventually work together.

“It’s pretty exciting to go through this process together and see how much it grew from those little sketches on notepads,” Marino said. “It’s been a nice little journey.”