Meet Caroline Toro of Leander

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Toro.

Hi Caroline, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico in 1979. As a young child, I moved back and forth from Puerto Rico to the US several times, but my main roots and education were formed on the island. During my adolescent years, my education in the arts was becoming more guided by enrolling in after school art classes in San Juan. This became pivotal in my choice to later study Fine Art’s as a major at the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras, from which I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with a Concentration in Painting. Years later, I moved to New York City to continue my studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, where I studied Textile and Surface Design. Shortly after graduating, I worked in the fashion industry as an Art Director’s Assistant at Josephine Chaus Inc. Disillusioned with the way the fast fashion industry worked, I moved back to Puerto Rico and started developing textiles that later my mother would make garments with, leading to the creation of Madre Hija Design in 2008. Many life events, including a growing family postponed progress of developing further the brand. Throughout the early and mid-2000’s economic hardship on the island made it really hard to stay in Puerto Rico, and we chose to return to the mainland United States with my first child, who was almost two years old. Moving to my parents home in Fort Lauderdale, Fl, gave Madre Hija a bit of an opportunity to try again, a few ideas came about, but nothing was transformed into any successful business. By 2016 after living a little over a year in Florida, I moved with my family to Austin, Texas. Here we had a second child, and in the early days of parenting, I started weaving for pleasure at first, creating wall hangings. Later weaving with beads, shortly following semiprecious, and precious stones. This became a serious practice where many hours were dedicated to developing further my craftsmanship and design. In the spring of 2019, Madre Hija Design, although not the duo intended in its beginning, I decided to officially launch the website, and Madre Hija Design was reborn. This path has not been a straight one, but one filled with joy, growth and perseverance. Madre Hija Design is a growing brand, that just recently got accepted into the prestigious New York City Jewelry Week Initiative, “Here We Are”. -“Each jeweler and artist chosen to be a part of HWA 2020 has created a business that presents a well-crafted collection or body of work, a unique vision and a dedication to the work.” Which, is exactly what Madre Hija Design is committed to. Excellent craftsmanship and a unique perspective on design.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has been long, bumpy, curvy, dark, light, hopeful you name it. Considering the circumstances, we are all collectively going through, I stand hopeful. Since 2008 I have been trying to develop this brand and the growth has been small but steady. It doesn’t sound glamorous or exciting but this is true, particularly if you choose saturated markets such as fashion and jewelry, you really have to work hard if you want to stand out, and for me developing my style and collections always come before its commerciality. First and foremost I will be an artist true to my design process and I will never compromise the quality of my work just to make it more sellable. This comes with a cost, many times it affects my wholesale because the amount of time dedicated to the pieces, which is valuable and will not be underestimated. For now, the main goal is to create brand awareness and let people fall in love organically with Madre Hija Design.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Madre Hija Design is a contemporary handwoven jewelry brand made of fair trade beads, semi-precious, and precious stones. Our body of work consists of 4 capsules, MHD, Zodiac, Neon Dreams and our most recent Isla Collection. With every collection I intend to celebrate color, form, light, femininity, nature and beauty. Our statement pieces are made for elegant to semi-casual moments, where the pieces allow for the individual to create a bold style through subtly adornment. By simply wearing a pair of earrings or a necklace you will be making an entrance, guaranteed. I focus on seeking novelty, sustainable, high quality beads, and just recently high quality gold plating and gold-filled finishings to ensure the highest quality product. One of the things that we mostly take pride in is in our sustainable practices. We create zero to no waste, we only purchase fair trade beads and findings, we support other local Austin specialty bead businesses and we are hand made to order. My designs and process are very instinctual and many times meditative, but on the other hand, in order to create a collection, there is always a deep dive into research that preceded this free process. From woven techniques that will be applied to the collection all the way to the design concept, this process is taken seriously, I think that my meticulousness and unwillingness to compromise my style are what set me apart. Honestly, there are so many amazing designers on this planet that I admire, I could never be like them, I can only be me and work really really hard to be the best version of what I can be.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Aspirational one, rather than surprising, because for most people that know me know that I also love fashion and home decor, and for me, Madre Hija Design can be many things at once. I would love to resume the creation of textiles and expand my brand to offer different types of garments and accessories for all people as well as for our homes.

Contact Info:

• Email: madrehijadesignjewelry@gmail.com
• Website: www.madrehijadesign.com
• Instagram: @madrehijadesign
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madrehijadesign
• Twitter: @madrehijadesign

Image Credits
Image #7: MichelleChiques8
Photographer: Eddie Diaz Rivera
Instagram: @eddiaz18color