It all started two years ago with yet another visit to the West Palm Beach Antiques Festival. Boca resident Liz Snyder loved attending the monthly event, searching through trinkets for treasures to call her own.
It was there that she spotted bead vendors, purchased some beads and tried her hand at jewelry making. Her goal wasn’t to start a business, but when people started taking notice of her handmade accessories, Khari by Elizabeth44 was born.
Snyder made a business Facebook page, applied to be in a trade show and watched her jewelry line take off from there. In fact, her unintended venture was so successful, she was forced to look for a studio and hire an employee.
“Every surface [of my home] was covered in beads to the point where my son was tying them so he could sit down,” she says. “We had nowhere to put down a plate.”
The pieces are unique in more ways than one. Not only are they convertible (each can be worn as either a necklace or bracelet), they’re also never duplicated. Each collection follows a similar pattern and uses the same main beads, but no two pieces are alike. And because they’re created using three strands of beads, the way they’re layered can change the look entirely.
The concept behind Khari revolves around the change we experience from day to day.
“As women, we all know we feel different every day, and you can reflect that every day with our pieces,” Snyder says. “We give you the pieces, and you can do whatever you want with it. You can wear it however you want.”
Khari also gave her the opportunity to show her kids, who are now 20, 18 and 15, that you could wear what you want regardless of trends.
“Fashion, being in style, wearing the right thing and having the right thing – it’s stressful, but it doesn’t necessarily define who you are,” she says.
But her pieces were made to defy that concept entirely – to be timeless, instead of trendy.
“It’s a quiet way of empowering yourself to be a little bit different.”
To meet Snyder, attend one of her upcoming shows. She will be at SafeSun’s Martinis for Melanoma fundraiser on Nov. 19 and at B’nai Israel Chic Boutique on Dec. 3.
Khari by Elizabeth 44 is available locally at Trilogy Boutique, (16850 Jog Road, Boca Raton) as well as online at kharijewelry.com.
