Montserrat New York represents the restless energy of New York City mixed with a nostalgia of carefree summer love on the beaches of Costa Brava. Each piece is designed with the mentality of what one would pack for a last minute trip: pieces that can take you from a comfortable yet chic travel outfit, to a night out dancing with friends. Montserrat grows and lives out of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, where our jewelry is made by hand.
Montserrat New York was born out of the two worlds of designer and founder, Carolina Cordón-Bouzán: New York City and Barcelona. Born and raised in Manhattan, Carolina grew up watching her grandfather hand make window-piece jewelry for the likes of Tiffany’s, Harry Winston, and collaborations with Paloma Picasso in his midtown atelier and showroom. Her summers were spent in the Costa Brava city of Calella where her grandmother, Montserrat, had a garment factory that employed many women from the surrounding provinces in Costa Brava. Fast forward a few years to Carolina's college graduation, where she decided to tell her Father - a prominent doctor - that she was no longer going to pursue a Master's in Public Health, but rather she was going to work at a CFDA/Vogue incubator brand called WHIT. During that time, she served as WHIT’s Production & Wholesale Coordinator, and was taught production costing by Project Runway’s Daniel Vosovic. Carolina also began teaching herself how to sketch fashions in Illustrator, and how to manipulate metals and tools to make her own jewelry. Ultimately, Carolina’s family history in design and fashion led her to create a label straddling the multicultural lifestyles of the Mediterranean and New York. Carolina’s designs embody the strong and sensual women in her life that stomp the streets of the Mediterranean and Manhattan.