About Elena Calabrese
designer/creator, elena calabrese jewelry designs


Using her well developed visual skills combined with a distinctly artistic flare, Elena Calabrese strives to leave her extraordinary handprint in the sand. She has done so by creating a fashionable line of jewelry that is as unique as her aesthetic.

The daughter of children’s dress designer, Joan Calabrese, Elena, along with her sister Marisa, grew up in a world of working women who successfully ran their own businesses and controlled their own destinies. They were always exposed to creativity and an appreciation of beauty. Their play room, where their “toys” were fabulous fabrics from across the globe, was the basement of their suburban Philadelphia home where their mother ran her business at the time. It was in this environment, saturated with art and style, where Elena’s early love of fashion began.

Initially a communications major at Temple University, Elena began making and selling her jewelry at rock concerts to fellow young fans. She found this hobby so enjoyable and successful that she decided to get serious about a life in fashion and the arts. She transferred to C.C.A. Art & Design school in San Francisco where she majored in metal arts/jewelry design and received her bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. She also fell in love with the city by the bay.

After graduating, a job opportunity as the assistant to the accessories design director at DKNY brought her to New York, where she experienced life in that city’s booming fashion industry. Despite this invaluable experience, Elena longed for life back in San Francisco. She therefore returned to work for a local jewelry designer, where she began to develop and refine production techniques and other skills which she would eventually draw upon in the development of her own business.

Elena got her true start in the fashion accessories world as the head accessories designer for Gymboree Corporation where she developed children’s and adult designs for six years. She started a jewelry business on the side to satisfy her need for hands-on creativity, and soon saw her creations in high demand among co-workers and friends.

Currently she designs and creates in her studio in Sausalito, CA, where she lives with her husband, Steven and her Maine Coon, Sahara.