Smashing Darling Blog

I don’t know why this introduction is so hard for me to write. It shouldn’t be, I know Dina. Our shops are in the same town, we did a fashion show together 2 years ago [which was very crazy and fun], a very good friend of hers works for me. I love her! It is probably because she inspires me. I am in awe of her talent and dedication to her art, her family and life. There is so much perfection in every piece of jewelry she designs. Her store on Smashing Darling is beautiful and always changing with every new creation. Read on so you can get to know her and remember that the holidays are coming. Everyone loves to receive the signature little brown box from Dina’s store for the holidays. It always has a beautiful treasure inside.

Dina Varano photo by Whosiepie/ Laura Williams

SD: When did you realize you wanted to be a jewelry designer?
DV: I knew I wanted to be an artist. I was intrigued by the process of giving birth to an idea. I felt jewelry was a personal form of art one could wear and play with. It was my form of expression that I created, passing it on to someone else for them to add their expression and style to it. This started when I was in my late teens.

SD: Where did you study?
DV: I have a BFA in Jewelry and Light Metals from Rhode Island School of Design. I did my junior year in Rome, returning to Italy for graduate study and frequently in the years since. I spent several summers at Penland in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and Haystack on the coast of Maine. An essential part of creativity is return and retreat. This winter I am hoping to take a sculpture class. My current vision is enriched through the eyes of my two girls; seeing and experiencing things with such abandonment and curiosity.

SD: Where do you turn for inspiration for your designs?
DV: I live in a beautiful area, surrounded by woods and close to the water. I love the asymmetry in nature, the ordered chaos. The movement of marsh grasses in the wind, the sound of the water washing over the rocks returning to the sea, the brilliant colors in nature that seem so unreal, the sea and how delicate the creatures are and their motion through the water. Dance, architecture, painting, poetry, traveling, being on the swings with my daughters, so many surprising things inspire me.

Inspirational drawings by Dina

SD: What does your average day entail?
DV: I usually start my day reading a story to my two girls, all of us tucked in bed. I have a store in the village I live in, so I am in touch either by phone or person. My husband built me a studio in our house, so I spend every available minute completing orders, working out new designs and experimenting. Then, as everyone knows, there is all that paperwork and daily grind to do in running one’s own business. (As we all know inside every small business there is someone slowly going insane.) Then I try to have some play dates in there for the kids and Mom and end it with my husband and a big glass of wine.

SD: Describe your personal style.
DV: Difficult question. I’d like to think timeless and expressive. Eclectic. I like to mix and match crossing boundaries. It depends on how I feel and the occasion.

SD: Who are your fashion icons (past or present)? Do you think they influenced your personal style?
DV: I am inspired by all kinds of people in different fields, whether it is fashion, art or music. Anyone who pushes their own idea and follows through with passion. Someone who is truly exploring their own self expression.

For fashion one of my favorites is Issey Miyake for his innovation with fabrics and how it drapes so beautifully on and off it is so sculptural. That inspires me, I’ve always wanted to build something that works on and with the body, and off it can stand alone.

SD: Do you have any current fashion obsessions?
DV: I love the short dresses these days, and ’tis the season for boots, I have been into cowboy boots lately. And I always have a thing for hair accessories and shawls.

The inside of Dina Varano’s store in Chester CT. Photo by Jody Dole.

SD: What advice would you give someone just starting in your field?
DV: Dedication, discipline, do it from the heart, be true to yourself, be honest, work and play hard, enjoy the process, don’t do it simply for the end result, live it, find something that you HAVE to do, it should feel like breathing. Ask for help, learn from others, ask questions, learn everyday.

SD: Do you have any events you are getting ready for in the near future?
DV: I am doing a beautiful show in Boston on Nov 29- Dec 2, check it out at www.craftscastle.org and in Chester at my store, we have a town wide evening stroll on December 7th, and a variety of holiday shows.

SD: Where else do you sell your jewelry besides Smashing Darling?
DV: My website, www.dinavarano.com, my store in Chester, CT; Society of Arts and Crafts on Newbury Street, Boston and Motto in Cambridge, and a handful of other boutiques. I often participate in group or solo shows at galleries and I travel doing retail shows.

SD: Is there anyone in the Smashing Darling community you have a question or comment for?
DV: Yes, let’s do a fashion show!!