Kerry Washington reminds me of her character Olivia Pope in that she is focused, determined and stays booked and busy. Besides advocating for natural hair, skin care as selfcare, and yoga, Kerry also loves jewelry. Kerry has a new profile on People promoting a jewelry brand she has invested in called Aurate. Kerry told People that she keeps a piece of jewelry from every role for memory’s sake, although she’ll occasionally wear a piece. Below are few more highlights:
“I really use jewelry when I’m thinking about what’s most important to a character. So for one character, I might wear a necklace with a cross on it. When I was doing American Son for Netflix, I was playing a mom and we custom-made a necklace with a ‘J’ for my son’s name. For Olivia [Pope] from Scandal, I saved some of her earrings. I think about it a lot when I’m preparing a character,” Washington, 44, tells PEOPLE.
While she typically saves the jewelry for the “memory,” Washington says “every once in a while” she will put on an old piece from one of her characters.
The star’s long love of jewelry carries over into her business life too. Washington became an investor in the female-founded jewelry label Aurate last year and created her third capsule collection with the brand for the 2021 holiday season.
The AURATE x KERRY Be the Lead Collection (available now!) features rings, earrings and necklaces with Art Deco and Old Hollywood inspiration made from sustainably sourced gold finishes with touches of topaz. Washington’s idea was to design pieces that brought some sparkle back into women’s lives after a challenging year and a half amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It really was, how do we create a collection that encourages people coming out of these really challenging months to feel like they can step into being the lead of their own lives and claim some glamour and celebration,” Washington says.
One star from the era she channeled in particular was Josephine Baker. “She was the original hyphenate. At a time when it was not common for a Black woman to do this, she really was able to step into being the lead in her professional life as a performer, but also in her personal life. She was incredible,” Washington says.
Ooh I am very interested in this jewelry line. I love art deco jewelry and the fact that they were inspired by Josephine Baker has me intrigued. I truly believe I lived a past life during the roaring twenties and I tend to love jewelry from that period. I also like that the line is women-owned and that the collection was created to bring people out of a dark time. I checked the website and a lot of the pieces are delicate, timeless and just what I needed.
I like the fact that Kerry keeps a piece of each character with their jewelry. Most of Kerry’s characters wear very simple, delicate pieces and I like that. Kerry definitely isn’t the only actor who keeps props from set but hers seem to be more thoughtful and intentional. I am going to my bank account to see what I can afford from the Aurate site because mama needs a brand new piece of jewelry.
Note by Celebitchy: This is not a sponsored post but if Aurate wants to send us some jewelry we’ll write another post about it.
Love Kerry and look forward to perusing her jewelry line. Also a Josephine Baker can – Sherry Jones wrote a wonderful novel about her.
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Josephine-Bakers-Last-Dance/Sherry-Jones/9781501102448
There’s also a graphic novel about her life that I will find and post a link.
I love Art Deco stuff too, I will have to check this out.
I like her style, retro influence but remains modern, polished without appearing hard.
I’ve been eyeing off a signet ring from her banana and a bracelet from Zahara but now I’ll have to add this brand to my list. Their prices are super reasonable and comparable to big brands like Tiffany & Co. I’d argue you get more bang for your buck because Aurate uses ethically sourced gold and vermeil is more sturdy than gold plating in my experience. I’d love to see their pieces in person!
Keeping jewellery sounds like a beautiful memento for an actress- it’s usually a small & durable object that’s easy to store and take care of.
Anyhow I LOVE Josephine Baker, Kerry Washington and jewellery so this was some beautiful eye candy! And yes to Art Deco jewellery, absolutely love the aesthetic of the 1920s and the jewellery from that era, especially the brooches, jewelled hair pins & ornate headpieces. That said I’m a jewellery fiend and I’m yet to see an era that didn’t feature jewellery I like. But the jewellery in 1920s was heavily influenced by ancient Egypt and it’s just so exquisite!
I too am a jewelry fiend and love to purchase vintage jewelry as it’s not causing the necessity of mining for the precious metals or gemstones. I also like to wonder who wore it and how the piece was treasured by the original owner and how the jewelry came to be into the hands of the owner. I imagine an anniversary gift, an engagement to marriage or just a lovely gift to express someone’s love! I had developed this love for vintage when I would go through my parents safe at home. My mother would tell me how when my parents were in South America and my father had come across some magnificent aquamarines. There are 4 emerald cut stones, ranging in 4ct to 22ct sizes! My father had a broche, earrings and ring. The broche features the 22ct aquamarine which is mounted as the base of a fan with each tip accentuated with pearls!! The earrings have the same premise at the post position, but the aquamarines are hanging at the bottom in a cradle. I also have the pearls that were given to my great grandmother in Spain that have been passed down to all of the generations of women. I cherish the pearls and love to find any excuse to wear them!!
Oh my, the last thing I need is to see more available ethically sourced jewelry as it’s such a wonderful way to support jewelers to steer their production in taking a stand for saving the planet!! It’s critical for all companies to change their source of production to that we ALL win in the end!!
She’s so gorgeous and those are some pretty pieces of jewelry!