Monday Moments Inside: ATHRA LUXE

Owner Background Summary:
Athra Luxe™ is a design house with a team of jewelers, artists and crafters with extensive backgrounds in their fields, who design collectable pieces. As Athra’s premier line, the designs have a distinctive elegance giving the “Essence of Luxury” to the everyday woman at an affordable price. The Athra Luxe collections incorporate sterling silver, 14k gold over sterling silver and other metals. Many designs incorporate black diamond crystal, cubic zirconia, freshwater pearls and black onyx.

How did you start your company?
Athra was established in 1984. Since the 1980’s, The brand ATHRA LUXE evolved from the founding company Athra which represents their premier luxury collections that cater to high end stores and clientele. The name “Athra” is a derivative from the Assyria meaning “homeland”. Four seasons, 12 months and a year represented within the core of the flower logo originating from the Assyrian daisy flower which is a symbolic meaning to the roots of the brand. Athra is proud to maintain a reputation as a family owned silver fashion house. Allowing Athra Luxe to satisfy the needs of a wide array of customers ranging from elite department stores to specialty boutiques.

What is your company about?
Athra Luxe is a designer jewelry brand with a distinctive and elegant “Essence of Luxury” to the everyday woman at an affordable price. Our vision is to be an icon in the industry as the “go to” brand for affordable luxury jewelry. Athra Luxe uses sterling silver and gold over sterling silver featuring black diamond crystals, fresh water pearls, cubic zirconia and black onyx creating a look of high end jewelry without breaking the bank or settling for a trendy costume jewelry brands. Athra Luxe pays attention to details by focusing on best-selling designs allowing our customers to collect pieces of the Athra Luxe whether is for day or evening creating their own timeless collection. Our customer ranges from middle to upper-class women ages 25-55 from around the world. We imagine our customer as an everyday woman who loves to rely on her staple pieces of fashion. This allows her to wear our pieces as a statement at a gala or for an added element of glamour on a day out with the girls.

What are the best and worst things about being a business owner?
The best things about running the business is seeing a brand grow and develop just from just simple ideas and concepts then working with your team to make an idea come to life.
The worst things about running a business is overseeing every detail with a fine comb and having to “wear many hats” to ensure brand integrity and high end customer service is always key.

What are the things you like most about your career?
The most fulfilling aspect of our business is that we get to meet new people and travel to different places around the world.

What are some of your top sources of inspiration?
The design team gathers inspiration from all over the world and from their own creative backgrounds. For instance our current collection is called “Night in Tuscany “is drawn by the enchanting sensation and sights of Italy during a warm autumn night in Tuscany. The “Night in Tuscany” collection features two lines -one is the black crystal collection which captures the essence of the Tuscan night sky through the sparkling black crystals set around 14k gold over sterling silver to give it a luxury feel. The second line is the Italian collection which is primarily made in Italy and incorporates the colors of the sunset comprising of warm yellow gold, silver and stunning rose gold. The Italian collection feature textured spiraling and mutli layered designs which portray the enriched countryside.

What is a typical day like?
A typical day consists of our daily operations of the business from orders and customer service. As well as reviewing marketing and design projects. Then our design team will meet and discuss new design concepts and mock ups of the design details. We also like to stay in touch with our followers and fans by socializing with them through social media outlets which makes our brand a little more personable than others.

What are some of your greatest accomplishments?
Athra Luxe has been featured in multiple blogs and magazines such as the Upscale Living “Best of Luxury” Magazine, Lucky Magazine Community, Elucid Magazine, INSTORE, INDESIGN, Accessories Magazine, Fashion Rooftop, JCK and many more! You can see some of our latest pieces worn by celebrity actress and singer Lauren Mayhew at the 2013 American Music Awards.

What’s your philosophy of life?
Our philosophy of life is that every woman is entitled to feel glamorous and for her to realize that every day women can enjoy the finer things in life.

Any additional info/comments:
The goal for the brand is to gain more exposure to allow Athra Luxe to be a recognizable name in the industry. Furthermore, continuing to develop new designs with luxury and elegance.