Hi there! I’m Emily Hansel. My favorite day of the month is when the new Vogue arrives. I love dramatic, sculptural dresses, and intricate details. I love the same in buildings, especially the intricate details of the structures of the Mughal Empire, Renaissance churches in Europe, the Art Nouveau period in Paris, and the dramatic lines of Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry.

I grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Birmingham, Alabama, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and History from the University of North Carolina. In 2010 I married my best friend, Drew, and we bought our first home in Chapel Hill.

In 2007, I started a jewelry business with a friend, geared toward brides and wedding parties.  Her life soon moved in another direction, but I ventured on, motivated to fill a niche- high quality pieces available to match wedding colors. I enjoyed it, received a lot of positive feedback, but I wouldn’t say I was really fired up about it.

Along the way, I picked up a few pieces at a bead show – strands of  intricately cut faceted quartz drops, with so many cuts you could hang them in your windows and have sparkles all over the wall. I didn’t have a specific design for them yet, but I knew they were meant for me, for my wedding one day.

Then it was 2009 and I was shopping for my wedding dress. I fell in love with the first one I tried on (though it did go back into the rotation and I was convinced after trying a few more), the Marissa 815 : an A line gown of white organza strips, sewn so that the bottom edge of each strip was free and slightly frayed. It fluttered in the wind when I walked. It was a little edgy, just like me, but sweet and romantic at the same time. It was not the lace gown I’d previously imagined, but I really felt like myself in it, and I was obsessed (maybe I still am a little).

At my first fitting, I held the sparkling drops up to my neck, then to my ears. But they didn’t look right, they were too delicate for the feeling I had in the dress. On me, it wasn’t a delicate dress, not with my personality. On a whim I had also packed a strand of chunky rough cut quartz. I held it up, and my mom immediately said “that’s too casual,” but I had a feeling. In the end, I used the chunky quartz alternated with pearls to dress it up a bit. It was perfect.

Designing my bridesmaids pieces was a blast as well. They each had a different dress in the same fabric, and I took the design of each dress into account with each of their personal styles as I created different pieces in the same color, ones I thought they’d each be most likely to wear again. This was the most fun I’d had designing and I knew it was more than just because it was my own wedding and my own friends, but I couldn’t yet see why.

And then in January 2011, I had the amazing opportunity to attend Making Things Happen. We went around the room introducing ourselves, and out popped ” I’m Emily Hansel, and my favorite day each month is when the new Vogue arrives.” I still remember the smile on Lara’s face when I said that. And I realized that’s what it’s all about for me. I love clothes. I’m not interested in making them (I’ve never been good with scissors, ask my mom), but I enjoy looking at them. I spent years analyzing art and explaining why it was visually interested and pleasing to the eye, and with dresses I can do the same – and my analyses lead to great accessory designs that complement the dresses and the personality of the people within. Thus, Emily Hansel Designs found it’s mission. It was no longer just me renaming my company, it was a rebirth.