From an early age Rachael Compton became interested in jewelry, something she eventually chose to parlay into a career. Now the Philadelphia designer, who is growing her business revenue by nearly double each year, is launching a storefront with a fellow jeweler and was recently tapped by Madewell to showcase her work.
New York-based retailer Madewell launched its Hometown Heroes Collective in 2019 with a goal of helping “local creatives and makers all over the country grow their businesses.” In the three years since, it has showcased over 100 such artisans. Compton was among those recently selected for its cohort and a collection of her jewelry hit Madewell’s website this spring. Her designs, under the moniker By Ren, will be available there for six months. Those in the cohort also receive support to grow their businesses, including grants and mentorships.
Already the placement is proving a boon for Compton, who said about 40% of her jewelry sales are coming from the women’s fashion brand. That’s only building on her already successful business, which saw revenue nearly double annually since its inception in 2017, she said.
That’s impressive given jewelry making wasn’t initially in the cards for Compton. A native of Huntingdon Valley, Compton thought she would go into public relations. After pursuing a degree in the field at Loyola University in Maryland, she worked for different agencies but wasn’t quite connecting with the industry. Instead she found herself drawn to jewelry design.
Despite her previous fascination with jewelry – something she credits to her mom and their Chinese heritage, where it has cultural significance – Compton said she’d never considered how pieces came to be. That changed when she saw a video of a woman silversmithing. “I thought it looked really cool and fun, so I bought a starter soldering kit and just started teaching myself some really basic silversmithing and soldering skills,” she said. “From there, I just kind of was hooked.”
Compton, 29, is almost entirely self-taught and five years in is at a place where she feels her skills now align with her vision for her pieces.
Early on, Compton focused on simpler pieces and local markets, but has since expanded both business and her designs, which include earrings, rings and necklaces.
While her sterling silver rainbow earrings are quickly becoming a favorite of Madewell shoppers, Compton said her pieces featuring an eye, which she calls the Vision Series, are more her signature. “It's a super recognizable and simple symbol that appears in all cultures, but I like that people can see it, recognize it and then apply their own meaning to it, whatever the meaning may be for them,” she said.
Pieces start at $20 and reach into the $140 range for those with semiprecious gemstones. Compton’s goal with her line is to create pieces that fit her aesthetic – which she describes as minimalist statement jewelry – while also being affordable.
That vision is now carrying into a brick-and-mortar in the form of Tshatshke. The brainchild of Maddy Hirsch of Rad Mad Jeweler, the pair debuted the storefront at 3176 Richmond St. in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 6. Both identify as sustainable jewelers and work in small batches.
Not only will the storefront allow them to showcase their work – they have studios in the back and a gallery in the front – but they hope it will become a gathering place for fellow women jewelers, some of whom they’ll display on a rotating basis. Equally important will be making the space inclusive and accessible.
“There's a ton of young women in Philly making jewelry like we are and there's no real place to meet and talk and have that community,” Compton said. That will change with Tshatshke.
The store is open Wednesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at present. Compton hopes that it is the first presence in a storefront for her, with potentially her own flagship somewhere down the line. “I love the community aspects of what I do. I love that it is such a Philly-based business,” she said. “I want to keep that part of my business. … If I could have multiple storefronts in other cities, that would be great as well.”
What’s your brand’s aesthetic?
I've always gravitated toward simplicity, but I don't want it to be boring ever. I want really clean lines and simple pieces, but with a bit of funkiness to them. I always kind of call it minimal statement jewelry. Not super over the top, but it's got a little bit of an edge to it.
What’s your design and inspiration process?
I used to design really intuitively. I would just kind of sit down – especially when I was doing more simple forming and fabricating – with different materials, different wires and just start creating shapes and then eventually a design would kind of appear. It wasn't a lot of sketching. I do more sketching now. I think because I have more experience with the materials that I'm using and how they work, I can see it on paper a lot clearer now. And doing the sketches beforehand kind of helped me narrow in my designs and get it right on the first try instead of the 10th. If I'm working with stones, the stones will kind of direct the design a bit. … It just depends on what I'm working with. I let the materials do the talking and then I tweak them to my style.
Who is your customer?
It's a lot of younger professional women. I feel like as I've grown and as my business has grown over the years, I'm growing with my customers which is really nice because now I'm starting to make more fine jewelry, more investment pieces…. They're all finally settling into their careers. They want quality pieces, but they want something unique. They value the handmade aspect, the sustainable aspect.
