Playing with memory

For Shahla Karimi ’04, jewelry is a way of life. Growing up in an Iranian family, she has been wearing jewelry since she was two weeks old. Fast forward to today and Karimi finds herself owning a high-end jewelry brand and designing pieces worn by celebrities like Taylor Swift.

Karimi finds inspiration for her pieces in psychology, architecture, relationships and Louisville. But mostly she uncovers inspiration in recollections. Her brand captures the longing humans have to embrace and express their own memories.

When Karimi is asked to recount how she got to where she is today, vivid memories of failing a class project, a night out where she decided to quit her job and of the support of her friends and family from Louisville and UofL meld together to craft her own story much like she melds metal to design her jewelry.

“Shahla is the bravest person that I know,” said Casey Harden ’07, who has been close friends with Karimi since high school. Now the senior director of engagement at the Frazier History Museum, Harden graduated from UofL with a bachelor of arts in humanities. “(Shahla) always had a gift for art and design. She isn’t afraid of the next step or trying something new. Life is a balancing act and Shahla is a professional plate spinner.”

The mind behind the designs

Born in Louisville, Karimi spent her middle and high school years in Oldham County before finding her way to UofL in 2000. She entered as a pre-medical student with an interest in psychology.

When recalling her time at UofL, Karimi mentioned the friendly atmosphere on campus. She also remembers, however, that being a student in the University Honors Program was often challenging. After graduating from high school as a straight-A student, Karimi experienced her first failing grade in a psychology class at UofL. Despite finishing the class with an A, she remembers this moment as a wakeup call that taught her to take things seriously. It helped her gain a strong work ethic, a skill that has been vital to her success.

She earned a bachelor of arts degree in 2004 and continued to New York University where she majored in graphic design. From there, she entered the corporate space and spent a decade immersed in digital and physical product work before finding her place at a creative agency, Code and Theory. She credits her mentor, the company’s current CEO Michael Treff, for guiding her away from the corporate realm and onto the entrepreneurial path.

She remembers a Kentucky bourbon-fueled evening where Treff encouraged her to pursue her dream. Karimi quit her corporate position the next day.

“From the first time we met, I was struck by (Shahla’s) incredible passion, drive and unwavering determination,” Treff said. “She’s a force. She built this business all on her own, (and) it’s really remarkable. I’ve watched Shahla become a mentor herself, generously giving her time to nurture the next generation. Shahla is living, breathing proof that with enough passion, perseverance, intelligence and creativity, you can create anything.”

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Making it personal

Shahla Karimi Jewelry launched in 2014. Karimi put everything she had into her business as it expanded, turning a profit for the first time in 2018.

“There is no such thing as an overnight success,” she said. “An overnight success is five to seven years.”

Though she enjoys every project, her favorite pieces to craft are those which celebrate a milestone. Drawing on her lifelong love and appreciation for psychology, Karimi translates customers’ stories and memories into uniquely personal pieces.

In addition, Karimi strives to keep her collections inclusive and genderfluid. Her specialty collection focused on men’s jewelry is called JOON, drawing inspiration from a Farsi term of endearment meaning life or soul. This collection was born from Karimi’s appreciation of marriage as a decision a couple makes together as an equal unit.

Karimi’s jewelry has been displayed by a handful of celebrities including Reese Witherspoon, Gigi Hadid and Carrie Underwood. At Super Bowl LVIII, Taylor Swift showed off two of Karimi’s 14k gold ruby rings from her Chromatic Collection.

“Taylor Swift was the epitome,” Karimi said with a smile.

Though designing jewelry for big names is an exciting part of Karimi’s career journey, she also enjoys creating bespoke pieces for many of her friends from UofL in celebration of life achievements like engagements and promotions. She keeps in touch with many of her peers from her time on campus, citing some as daily sources of inspiration and others as resources for professional development.

Karimi noted that remembering and nurturing these connections has helped her business thrive.

“Through the power of word-of-mouth recommendations, a significant proportion of our online sales now originate from Louisville and its surrounding areas,” she said.

The beauty of architecture

Drawing from her experiences at UofL, Karimi shared what a piece representative of the university itself might look like.

“When envisioning a jewelry piece inspired by UofL, I am drawn to the distinctive brutalist architecture on campus,” she said. “The angular forms and intriguing geometries of structures like the Bingham Humanities Building and the Interfaith Center serve as a wellspring of creative inspiration.”

Karimi credited architect Zaha Hadid as the muse behind three of her collections to date, including an exclusive capsule sold online at Zales. Hadid’s “Bench,” a futuristic cast aluminum bench, will be displayed as a part of the Speed Art Museum’s initiative Speed Outdoors slated to open in 2025 and will provide Louisvillians with an opportunity to connect art and nature.

In fact, many of her brand’s collections reference the architects responsible for prominent buildings in Louisville, such as Frank Lloyd Wright who designed Wright Tower on Dutchmans Lane and Mies van der Rohe who composed the American Life Building downtown. Karimi recalls that downtown Louisville’s Main Street boasts one of the largest concentrations of cast-iron buildings, second only to the SoHo District in New York City where she currently resides.

When envisioning a jewelry piece inspired by UofL, I am drawn to the distinctive brutalist architecture on campus. The angular forms and intriguing geometries of structures like the Bingham Humanities Building and Interfaith Building serve as a wellspring of creative inspriation.
- Shahla Karimi

Though her favorite piece changes as her work continues, she currently loves the Azadi Puff-Set Convertible Body Chain, a versatile piece that can be styled in a variety of ways. This item is part of the Azadi Collection – the Persian word “azadi” translating to freedom – and takes its inspiration from the Azadi Tower in Iran.

Karimi’s jewelry and brand is representative of a lifetime of important moments etched into memories and how passion and perseverance can come full circle – reminiscent of the rings Swift wore at the Super Bowl that brought her pieces to the forefront.

She wants future UofL graduates and entrepreneurs to know they can achieve their dreams, too. They just need to remember one thing.

“Fail fast,” she said. “The faster you fail, the faster you grow.”

To read and learn more, take a look inside the fall/winter 2024 issue of UofL Magazine.