East West - The Asian American Lifestyle Magazine

When New York jewelry designer Alex Woo decided to launch her own company and introduce her designs to the world, she had no reservations about dialing up the nation’s top fashion editors.

“Maybe I was just ambitious or naïve, but I always aim high and the worst that could have happened is that they say no,” Woo says.

Fortunately for the Chinese American designer, her risk paid off when “InStyle” magazine (her first choice) decided to feature Woo’s designs in 2001. Since then, her jewelry has graced the pages of “Self,” “Elle” and “Lucky” magazines and garnered a notable celebrity following from the likes of Eva Longoria, Jessica Simpson and Kelly Ripa.

Woo’s proactive and persistent self-marketing and public relations skills may have jumpstarted her career, but it’s her sophisticated, elegant designs that have kept her brand recognizable and in demand. Her Icons Collection , specifically her “Original Little Numbers” and “The Little Letters” lines appeal to the young and old who want something personal and special, as evidenced by adolescent girls who wear the initials of their beaus or proud grandmothers unabashedly displaying the number of grandchildren in their lives.

The success of Woo’s designs has already spawned a host of imitators selling knock-offs, which has surprised the designer, who seems to be in awe of the popularity of the fashion trend she began.

In nearly seven years, Woo has managed to grow her one-woman brand into a fully functioning, growing company with a dozen people on her team. Like so many independent business owners, Woo began her operations small, keeping a day job to support herself, while designing diligently at night inside the comfort of her apartment. 

It wasn’t a career or a business that Woo had seriously considered until a design professor at Parsons recognized Woo’s talent and encouraged her to enter a national design contest. Competing among industry professionals as well as tyro designers, Woo had her first taste of success after winning the Women’s Jewelry Association’s competition in 1998. It was just the sort of validation that she needed to transition her dream into reality.

“I didn’t necessarily want to do it at first because my dad did that, and I wanted to do something different. But then I thought, ‘what’s wrong with me? Why wouldn’t I want to do it?’ It’s the perfect combination of my art background and everything that I learned as a child,” Woo says. 

Her interest in the arts is almost expected considering she grew up with an artistic mother and a father who was a skilled jeweler. She spent a majority of her free time drawing or observing and studying her father at work. A liberal arts education further cemented her technical skills, but it’s the memory of Woo’s mother that continues to influence her the most.

After losing her mother to breast cancer at the age of 16, Woo’s life took on a different meaning.

“It really changed my outlook on life… and that’s why I like to be optimistic and happy, and you should live your life everyday like it’s your last,” she says.

Her mother’s death also serves as a reminder that breast cancer should not be ignored or taken lightly.

“I didn’t really know much about breast cancer, and when she was diagnosed she thought it was something that would just go away in a month. She didn’t think it was a big deal,” Woo recalls.

Feeling overwhelmed and describing the year of her mother’s death as, “a transition period and a really tough year,” Woo refused to hold onto the pain and instead saw an opportunity to keep her mother’s memory alive while providing support for others.

Woo got involved with the Women’s Cancer Research Fund, a program associated with the Entertainment Industry Foundation, which has in the past had the support of celebrity ambassadors Nicole Kidman and Hilary Swank. Taking no small part in her own involvement to raise breast cancer awareness, Woo designed a special heart collection in honor of her mother. This year’s design is the “Open Heart Necklace,” a delicate cutout heart-shaped necklace that is inscribed with Woo’s personal message, “live.love.be involved.” For Woo, the necklace is one of the most personal designs she has ever created.

“It’s something that is close to my heart and that’s why I have the heart as my symbol. The whole symbolic feeling of opening up your heart and living your life to the fullest and being full of love,” Woo explains.  

Determined to pass along her message, Woo is hoping that at the very least, each of her pieces translates into “happy thoughts” for all of her customers.

“I want people to look at it [the jewelry] and be happy. That’s part of the optimism of my designs.”