Introduction
Mónica Sordo Jewelry was born of a return journey, a homeward-bound voyage that transformed into a life project. Born in Caracas, designer Mónica Sordo left Venezuela at an early age to study abroad. After years of working in fashion editorials and in Christian Louboutin’s PR department, she began to suspect that her calling lay elsewhere —so s he returned home. There, in her father’s industrial design workshop and surrounded by her mother’s creative drive, Monica embarked on the quest of forging timeless jewelry pieces that redefine the boundaries of design.
Conceived in New York and crafted in Lima, Peru, Mónica’s pieces combine multiple influences: from Manhattan’s art déco architecture and eclecticism to the landscapes of her youth in Venezuela’s Caribbean coast; at the core of it all stands Peru’s rich pre-Columbian iconography. As a designer, she translates all these experiences into sophisticated, innovative and uniquely functional pieces. Constantly in motion, Mónica’s journey home almost a decade ago brought her back to herself. Her namesake label is the tangible and ever-changing result of that vital adventure.
Peruvian master jewelers
Mónica collaborates closely with a team of artisans from San Juan de Lurigancho, one of Lima’s most underprivileged districts. A firm believer in building a more equitable society, she works with a Fairtrade International-certified atelier that not only creates employment opportunities for the community, but also offers a safe work environment where younger generations can learn to master traditional crafts. These are techniques that have been mostly unaltered for thousands of years, but by merging her innovative design ideas with the artisans’ ancestral know-how, Mónica hopes to imbue them with new value, ultimately helping to safeguard their survival. Each new creation entails research, experimentation and a lengthy development process that ensures the quality and durability of every piece. This pursuit of permanence is at the core of Mónica’s design mantra: she believes that to produce sustainably one must create timeless pieces that can be worn forever.
“The type of sustainable design we believe in is thoughtfully crafted and everlasting. It takes into account all the value and work that goes into each earring or necklace.
— Mónica Sordo, designer
