For a Hollywood celebrity, shopping for accessories and jewelry might involve a trip to someplace like Rodeo Drive, New York, Milan or Paris.
How about Scotts Valley?
For fashion designer and entrepreneur Ruby Agresta of Ruby Roxanne Designs, rubbing elbows with the Hollywood glitterati is rapidly becoming a regular part of her job.
Since 2008, Agresta has been in business creating and selling stylish handmade leather cuffs, headbands and clutch bags, mostly over the Internet. She works from her Scotts Valley home, where she lives with her husband and three children.
“It’s kind of a family thing,” Agresta said. “I want to be a designer and a mom.”
Agresta’s big break came when she became involved with Jewels and Pinstripes, an organization that provides what are known as “swag bags” — gift bags of high-end designer goods for charity events and birthdays given to the children of celebrities.
The walls of Agresta’s studio are almost completely covered in the thank-you notes she has received from the children of such celebrities as Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Hudson, Courteney Cox and Denise Richards, among others.
Agresta and two of her friends recently returned from Jayneoni Moore’s pre-Golden Globes event at The Boom Boom Room — an annual gathering where fashion vendors convene to gift celebrities and their families with their goods in hopes of the products gaining notice.
Singers Jewel and Jordin Sparks were among those who sported her leather cuffs there, Agresta said.
Her desire is that other women with children see her success with Ruby Roxanne Designs and follow their own dreams and aspirations.
“I design because I want to put a smile on a mom’s face,” she said, “help her to feel girly and pretty.”
Agresta said she started out designing cloth purses, but she switched to headbands and leather cuffs, which required less money and material.
“I’ve always been a fan of leather cuffs, and I could never find them,” she said.
So she started designing her own.
She buys the leather locally and cuts hides into different shapes and measurements, according to style and size, before affixing clasps, Swarovski crystals and other adornments.
“I try and support as much local business as I can,” Agresta said.
Each leather cuff takes anywhere from two to eight hours to make, depending on the style.
Agresta also makes custom and unique cuffs, designed from small scraps of leather, as opposed to entire hides.
She is scheduled to participate in the fashion marketing program’s career panel at San Lorenzo Valley High School in the next month.
“I love being involved in the community,” Agresta said. “Anything I can do to help these kids dream big.”
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