Vicente Agor is the first jewelry artist with whom I ever placed an order and we developed an instant rapport. Maybe it was the fact that we both had recently left our previous lives behind to start the next phase — I call it my Chapter 2 and he calls it Life 2.0. Or, maybe it was that I was immediately drawn to his display of four or five gold chains of different lengths from his Moroccan Garden Collection. I remember immediately thinking that it was a highly modern, urban twist on the traditional Chanel look. Having recently stepped out of the corporate world, I not only wanted to wear all of these chains with the more casual way in which I now dress — with jeans and t-shirts, a black sweater and pants — but I also envisioned that this was exactly what I would want to be wearing the next time I walked into a boardroom or client presentation. I loved that the look was clean and sophisticated, and had an element of unusual design to it. Either way, we really hit it off and we’ve been friends ever since!
A real test of our friendship is that the first time he came to Minnesota for a trunk show at Max’s (our first show!), the mercury decided to take a dip to about 20 degrees below zero (and I think that that was without the wind chill) — not a great way to welcome someone who grew up in the Hawaii sun and who now resides in California! — and he agreed to come back the next year. Ok, so that year it snowed about 8 inches. Go figure — he is still willing to come to Max’s the first weekend of December every year. I guess that’s what friends do for each other!
This year, our trunk show is going to be really special. In addition to featuring Vicente’s beautiful jewelry (I absolutely love these silk cord bracelets — think of it as a very adult version of a friendship bracelet in 18k gold with diamonds), this trunk show will help build awareness about organ donation and transplantation to benefit LifeSource, a non-profit organ and tissue donation organization, the University Transplant Assistance Fund at University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview and University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital. Vicente is the recipient of a double-transplant and he will share his thoughts about how this experience changed his life (think Life 2.0) during an artist reception this Friday night. So, since this is the season of giving, and because saving lives is always in style, I hope that you’ll join us this weekend for this very special event. The trunk show will run from Friday, December 3 – Sunday, December 5 and 20% of the proceeds from the sale of Vicente’s jewelry will be donated to the organizations listed above. Click here for more details.