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| Dorus Mhor designer Elizabeth Bloom |
Some passions are truly 'in our blood'. Some come to us in a flash. For Scottish born designer Elizabeth Bloom, a long road of family tradition, forked with a surprise revelation led to her unique jewelry line, Dorus Mhor. Bloom grew up in the town of Carlisle, in northwest England, famous for Linton Tweeds, a local factory that produced tweed textiles for Chanel. Her grandfather worked in another textile factory, and her mother was a dressmaker. This led to an appreciation for the craftsmanship of fine fabrics (and an ability to sew!) for Bloom, but what really moved her was sculpture. She set out to earn a degree in fine arts, studying at the same place her other grandfather had studied to be a silversmith. Over the summer, she worked in the textile factory. One day, Bloom noticed a bag of fabric scraps, headed for the trash. The pieces were too small to craft anything substantial but Bloom found them too beautiful to simply throw away. She rescued the scraps and tucked them away at home.
A few years later, Bloom was traveling in Vietnam, when, strolling down a crowded, dusty street, she discovered a button maker. Suddenly, she had a vision for the bag of tweed scraps at home. Buttons progressed into bead making and Bloom discovered she could cover a variety of shapes with luxurious fabrics. "What really interested me," says Bloom, "Was creating a new platform for the use of textiles that would emphasize their beauty and craftsmanship." Using her sculpture training to design settings, she began her line, Dorus Mhor (Gaelic for 'the great, open door') as a nod to her hometown, and her silversmith and textile-making roots.
After launching to great success in London, Bloom relocated to Chicago. But a small move across the pond hasn't kept her from her favorite fabric supplier, Liberty of London. She's used Liberty prints in her limited-edition Dorus Mhor collection for ShopBevel, set to launch November 28th. Bevel, a new company that brings the trunk show online, is a platform for independent designers. Bevel allows designers to host a trunk show for a bound set of time - the flash sale approach to purchasing hand-crafted, one of a kind jewelry. The Dorus Mhor collection for Bevel will be made with a Liberty fabric called 'Virtual Light' and the shapes are "adaptations of my most popular designs" said Bloom. The designs are exclusive to the Bevel trunk show. While some vibrant red and blue fabrics will be used in an upcoming Dorus Mhor collection, the print is also exclusive to the show. "There's something special about using textiles for jewelry." Bloom says. "You're not restricted by the limited types of stones out there - you can do colors, neons, prints, anything you want!" Sounds like a true marriage of tradition and surprise.
You can purchase the Dorus Mhor collection for ShopBevel starting November 28th. In the meantime, you can sign up for the Bevel waitlist - the higher you are on the list, the earlier access you get to the shows!
Want to learn more about Dorus Mhor? Join me for a live Twitter chat with Liz Bloom and other Bevel designers on Wednesday, November 28th (Bevel's Launch Day) at Noon EST!
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