LOVE IS YOU & ME

Jewelry by Lucia Nieves Cortés

 Handmade things are magical. Even in the 21st century, when the technology of our times pushes the boundaries of the imagination with amazing gadgets like iPhones and iPads and Kindles, the simple grace of the handcrafted holds perennial appeal, especially if the pieces are original and well made. Which perfectly describes the goods sold at a uniquely named store on Del Parque St., off Loiza street in San Juan: Love is You & Me The Concept Store.

Its hand crafted jewelry, clothing and accessories vie for the visitor's attention the moment you step into the airy store decorated with flair and a vivid sense of color by owner Carolina Leonidas Rivera, a statuesque 27-year-old with a broad smile and an easy going manner.  Some of the furnishings, including the dreamy white lace tent that functions as the store's single "fitting room," serve to display the wonders that Rivera chooses with care.

The "fitting room"

"I select things that I fall in love with," says Rivera about her curating process which also takes into account craftsmanship and the impact of a piece; that is, "Does it say anything?" Rivera opened the store in partnership with boyfriend Dante Arroyo. Though once headed to a medical career, Rivera, whose family is in the restaurant business, switched over to marketing, apprenticing the retail business by working in stores and helping to sell the work of artist friends. Two years ago she conceived a pop up store, a type of business that doubles up with a stand-alone store.  Recently, the desire to set down roots led the couple to scout a location around Loiza St., currently undergoing a quiet transformation with new restaurants, bars, boutiques drawing a young crowd to this formerly honky tonk area of the city. Once they found a space, they set about transforming it into their ideal store, doing all the work themselves...with some hands-on help from Arroyo's dad.

The inventory at Love is You & Me offers a broad range of imaginative pieces yet it is small enough not to overwhelm. For sheer drama you can't beat designer Beatriz Lopez' neckwear, multiple loops of long, cotton jersey strips highlighted by a single colored stone. Available in a palette of pale pink, black and white, the loops frame the neck in the manner of a collar (prices: $25 for the short version, $40 for the long). Also on hand are a few samples from Lopez' Consuelo clothing line, built around natural fabrics such as silk and organic cotton. One particularly attractive piece from the line is a girlish white halter dress with an asymmetric flounce cascading across the side. (Consuelo clothing retails between $55 and $300)

A sense of theatricality pervades Luiny Rivera's jewelry line, named Fililí.  Her intriguing necklaces are like architectural pieces which one could choose to wear or, perhaps, hang on a wall like artwork. Combining and juxtaposing different materials such as bronze, stainless steel, stones and fabric, each necklace is put together as if it were scaffolding, creating intriguing geometric shapes highlighted with stones and fabric. A newer collection by Rivera recycles vintage pieces to transform them into showy, rhinestone-studded neckwear. And then there's her fun and playful word necklaces built around favorite Spanish words like "tropical," "suave," and "amor."

Iacoli & McAllister jewelry

Geometry is at the heart of the simple yet elegant bronze jewelry produced by the Seattle-based design team of (Jamie) Iacoli & (Brian) McAllister, whose line of furnishings and house ware Rivera plans to add very soon. One houseware item already available is a strangely shaped bottle opener made out of bronze that is practical tool, fancy artwork, and conversation piece all rolled up into one (price $55). Rivera's lineup of some 20 artists, both from Puerto Rico and off the island, also includes Berlin-based Lucia Nieves Cortés, the creator of eye popping and intriguingly shaped acrylic and silver rings and necklaces. The rings are ideally worn stacked; buy more than one and it gets you a discount: The first ring is $25; the second, $23; the third, $20.

Rounding out the store's offerings are select vintage clothing items and cotton t-shirts decorated with a small pocket in vintage fabric. The whimsical tweaking is the work of none other but Carolina's boyfriend (The line is called El Pocket). The store likewise carries hand painted cards by Hélène Pe, a French artist living in New York; tile coasters by Aslan, the noted Puerto Rican street artist; and CDs and vinyl records by Puerto Rican singer Mima, whose latest music is a mix of Afro Caribbean rhythms, folk and jazz. Love is You & Me offers a truly fresh take on things. Visiting the store is an aesthetic experience of the most enjoyable kind.

Love is You & Me, Condominio Balmoral, 110 Calle del Parque, 787.503.3003

 Hours: Tue - Sat. 11 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Monday by appointment

Photograph by Denise Blasor

"By then I knew that everything good and bad left an emptiness when it stopped. But if it was bad, the emptiness filled up by itself. If it was good you could only fill it by finding something better."-- Ernest Hemingway

A SIMPLE TIP

The tops of Old Fashioned Quaker Oats 18 oz cartons are made out of paper ringed
with plastic and, once you have polished off the oats, make practical lids for half empty cans of cat food, like Friskies. The tops also make convenient, graphic coasters to use under cold or hot drinks.

"Our revels now are ended...We are such stuff
as dreams are made on, and our little life is
 rounded with a sleep."
  William Shakespeare
"The Tempest"

Copyright ©2012 Lorraine Blasor, All Rights Reserved