Bio

Nature is my touchstone. I grew up on the coast of New England and spent summers rapt with the simple pleasures of looking. The horizon of surf and sand. The tangles of seaweed.  Rock and shell architecture.

All those years of looking took voice in art school at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). It was a fantastic era for design and I interpreted the moment by launching a collection of innovative, large-scale jewelry made with roughly hewn metals and somber patinas. Everything was possible.

My icons were Miyake, Kawakubo and Yamamoto, whose designs were fierce and experimental. Retail buyers saw a similar spirit in my work and I shared floor space with my heroes in the finest American boutiques and department stores. Fashion editors featured the work in every top fashion magazine.

Fashion thrills because it is never still. Taste moderated expression and jewelry distilled to a smaller scale. In this new career phase, I began collaborating with top clothing catalogs to create private label jewelry lines to complete and distinguish their collections. 

At KateHines.com, I have the freedom to ask, “What is timeless, what will endure, what do I want to offer to my customer?” And that brought me to pearls. For me the femininity, spirit and enduring style of pearls are the culmination of thirty years of jewelry design. Pearls have a purity that is noble and natural, soft, voluptuous and light filled. They return me to surf and sand. It is thrilling to have this website to showcase my designs and evolving perspective, and to share direct communication with you.