Photographs courtesy Rendor & Steel.
Katrina Steel and Renata Dorfman were two fashionistas with careers working in high-end retail when they collaborated in 2004 on Rendor & Steel. The fine jewelry line features geometric shapes intended to be layered — including the ever-so-hot midi ring — in styles ranging from yellow gold, white gold and rose gold, or a combination of the three. With the growth of their business, the line recently became available at The Katie Fong Boutique in Greenwich.
Steel, a Chicago native, began making jewelry as a pastime, a hobby that led to her costume jewelry line, KS Alexis. After moving to New York, she crossed paths with Dorfman as the pair both worked for Intermix, a Madison Avenue multibrand retailer. Dorfman admired Steel’s designs and entrepreneurship and Steel had been seeking a passionate business partner.
“We have both worked retail and understand a lot more on the buyer and consumer end of what sells and what doesn’t,” Steel said.
Dorfman operates the sales end while Steel focuses on operational matters, such as branding. Both women manage the jewelry design process from start to finish, looking to Modern art and architecture.
“Renata and I often visit The Museum of Modern Art to get inspiration from various artists,” Steel said. “The Adversus Collection consists of space and line. Adversus is made up of our geometric shapes that are opposites to be worn together and layered.”
In the near future, the designers aspire to donate a portion of their proceeds to help domestic violence victims.
“I started with the bullet [necklace] from my costume jewelry line,” Steel said. “I didn’t want this to be misunderstood for promoting domestic violence and guns, so I instead wanted to find a charity in the future that we could take the proceeds to help domestic violence victims. We haven’t yet been donating, but that is certainly a goal for the future.”
Dorfman and Steel also hope to continue growing their business.
“Our goals for this business are to enter all of our favorite high-end retailers, including overseas retailers,” Steel said. “We want to continue with these geometric shapes but incorporate more rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other precious color stones.”
The Katie Fong Boutique is at 60 Lewis St. in Greenwich.
For more, visit rendorandsteel.com.
