Vita Fede: California Design With Italian Roots
Vita Fede recently got the spotlight treatment at Henri Bendel. The upscale retailer dedicated one of the windows of its New York store to the Los Angeles jewelry collection, which combines modern styling, high-end materials and Italian craftsmanship.
Designer Cynthia Sakai named the line for the Italian words for “life” (vita) and “faith” (fede). The Pasadena, Calif., native draws inspiration from her Japanese heritage and her parents’ design experience. (Her mother is a fashion executive who worked with Italian luxury brand Fendi, and her father is an architect.)
Handmade in Italy, the collection includes bracelets, rings, necklaces and belts in 24-karat gold and sterling silver, Swarovski crystals, lambskin, snakeskin, and exotic materials such as oxhorn and bone. Styles feature both architectural and organic design elements from the collection’s signature leather and metal wrap bracelets to the “Belena” bracelet in gold and silver, which features a generous cube of clear plexi, to the “Vulcan Pietro” rings, which feature Italian marble stone in a chunky setting. The “Lupo Buffalo” pendant is a large, stark square of horn, while the “Catena Pietra” pendant features a rough-hewn agate stone wrapped in a fine chain.
Sakai infuses the line with several thoughtful details, as well. For example, the “Canna” link bracelet has a heavy, three-dimensional appearance, but Sakai designed it to lay flat against the wrist.
Since launching in 2007, the collection is now carried by retailers on the East Coast, in Europe and in the Middle East, as well as in British retailer Harvey Nichols and Saks Fifth Avenue in Mexico. In California, the line is available at Ron Herman stores, Kitson and Bettina Duncan at Fred Segal Santa Monica.
Wholesale prices range from $90 to $300. For more information, visit www.vitafede.com.—Alison A. Nieder
