And Now, Ficalora for Men
Helen Ficalora, of the eponymous jewelry line that adorns the slim limbs of models and actresses and is often featured in layouts in major fashion magazines, has created a men’s line of jewelry that will be available by Father’s Day.
Ms. Ficalora had a “soft” opening of her new men’s flagship store in early December. The store is in Manhattan, at 21 Cleveland Place in SoHo, right next door to her women’s boutique.
The overall reception to the line was good, said her son and spokesman, Marley Ficalora, who with his brother, Lennon, owns Wampum, a skateboarding shop directly behind the vivid pink Helen Ficalora store on Bridgehampton’s Main Street.
The jeweler takes great care in her packaging, with pink her signature color. And as with the Tiffany blue, all the jewelry purchased from Ms. Ficalora comes in a pink pouch, in a pink gift box that is placed in a tiny pink shopping bag. For the men’s line, the packaging will be a deep masculine purple, with “Helen Ficalora” embossed on the box.
When Ms. Ficalora began designing jewelry about 15 years ago, she started out with initialized gold disks on a gold chain, an idea that has been copied by many jewelers since. At first she sold her pieces by appointment only at the family-owned Breakers Motel on Old Montauk Highway in Montauk, where she spends most of her summers. She also has homes in Washington State and Palm Beach, Fla., and finds inspiration wherever she lives, she said.
Once the initialed necklaces became well known, Ms. Ficalora helped out a friend, a Montauk real estate broker, by holding a trunk show to get people inside a house that was for sale. As word spread that the jeweler was there, the house was swarmed with women, none of them house hunting but most leaving with their little pink boxes.
Since then, she has enlarged her inventory to include heart charms, necklaces with gold keys, diamond-studded pieces, rings, earrings, and little women depicted in yoga poses dangling from chains.
The men’s line features large rings, skulls on chains, and initialed pendants. But there is more to come, according to Marley, who said his mom is spending the winter in her “lab” coming up with more men’s designs.
Ms. Ficalora now owns six women’s boutiques and the men’s store. She said she is hoping to establish a comfortable setting for men to discover what might be suitable to their individual tastes. The men’s line will be available in selected Helen Ficalora boutiques, including the store in Bridgehampton. Samples of her work can be seen and orders placed at helenficalora.com.