East Meets West, Part III: An Interview with Rita Chung of Asian2Woman
(Be sure to catch Part I and Part II of the interview!)
Rita Chung wears Asian2Woman silver and jade hoop earrings.
One day, Rita Chung was signing up for a new e-mail account. The username she wanted, asianchica (many of her friends call her “chica”), was already taken. So was her next choice, asianwoman. So was asian1woman. Can you guess where she went next?
Rita’s always been a people person. She loves getting to know new people, as well as keeping up with old friends. Her people skills often help her to stay on the cutting edge of her trade.
Take for example, the way she learned to tie Chinese knots: she was running a production house in the early 2000s, and she needed to find some corporate gifts. She found a place that made Chinese gift baskets tied with Chinese knots, and quickly made friends with the people who made the baskets. She was inspired to create jewelry from these decorative tassels, and offered to buy lunch for anyone who could teach her how to tie them. They quickly jumped to the task, and Rita was soon tying her own knots for jewelry that she would design and make herself.
The designer wears her own jade necklace and carries an evening bag of her own design.
She also knows a certain Mr. Kung in China. He’s known in Hong Kong as The King of Jade (I like to think of him as “King Kung” — heehee!). She confessed to me that she doesn’t know all of the specific details about the different kinds of jade (although she does know plenty) — but Mr. Kung knows all there is to know. He carves all of her jade for her.
Jade lends substance and dignity to everyday silver hoops.
And she doesn’t stop at jewelry, either — she also designs evening bags (see above) and is working on an exclusive line of kimono accessories for a boutique in Tokyo, Japan. I’m sure that she’s already made friends with half of Tokyo.
And it’s no wonder that she has so many friends — she’s got such a magnetic personality! Much like jade, her favorite material to work with, she’s beautiful, mysterious, and high-energy. It has been our pleasure to get to know this lively woman, and we look forward to seeing what she cooks up in the future.
Enthusiastically,
Olivia
Five Things Jewelry Lovers are Thankful for This Holiday Season | WooMeOver Bling Blog has written on November 27th, 2008 at 6:50 am
[...] 3. Jewelry Designers This year, I was able to meet some really cool jewelry designers — Rita Chung, for example (check out our interview of her: Part I, Part II, Part III). [...]