Mignonne Gavigan rose to success when she was walking down the street with a piece of beaded cloth tied around her neck with a safety pin. After receiving several compliments from strangers about her ‘necklace,’ she decided to make and sell them, and her brand blew up from there.
Her Brand
Gavigan has been inspired by entire cities, with their culture and colors, and builds a story around each collection. She travels extensively and some of her favorite inspirational spots are Jaipur and Istanbul, which inspired her Fall 2019 collection. She frequents flea markets and finds rugs, pottery, and textiles to build off of. When designing the collection she thinks to herself, “what are people going to wear right now?”
Her scarf necklaces kicked off her brand, but she’s moved into earrings, bracelets, and soon handbags. Some of her favorite pieces are all of the bird earrings, the Azul Tequila earrings and the Lime Lux earrings. When she styles her pieces to an outfit, she sticks to a simple t-shirt and jeans, and throws on a scarf necklace for the daytime. Later at night she’ll trade the jeans out for a tea-length silk skirt and throw on some heels and be ready to go.
The Process
Gavigan designs all of the pieces in her studio in New York City, and have her design team help with the technical work. She then sends the designs to her experts in India who hand-bead each piece. For example, for a pair of Toucan earrings, one person will make the wings, one will do the beading, and one does the body. Each piece is beautifully and carefully crafted, making each one almost a piece of art. Shop and admire her work at mignonnegavigan.com.
Mini Lola Earrings
Dakota Scarf Necklace in Nude/Gunmetal
Finch Bird Earrings in Pink
Madeline Earrings in Gold/Black
Vanidy Fair 