Hide & chic
Atlanta-based MooMoo Designs creates contemporary jewelry and home accessories using exotic and responsibly sourced skins, horn and bone sourced from all over the world.
The company: Based in Atlanta, MooMoo Designs was founded in 2008 by Juan Hernandez.
The founder: Hernandez, a native of Colombia, South America, came to the United States to attend the University of Georgia before heading to Paris to study at the Sorbonne Université. He worked in international sales for 17 years before starting his own product line.
Best sellers: Springbok hide pillows. Prices range from $200 for a throw pillow to $550 for a bolster.
Other favorites: Horn jewelry, including long-link necklaces and simple pendants ($125 and up), plus earrings ($115).
Go-to gifts: Tapletop items, such as water buffalo horn servers ($75); snakeskin frames ($115) and ostrich shin coasters (set of six for $215).
Where to buy: MooMoo-Designs.com or at its studio and retail store at Studioplex, 659 Auburn Ave. #G-4, in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward. For an appointment, call 404-963-7116 or email info@moomoo-designs.com.
Show your teeth
New Orleans plays a big role in the work of designer Ashley Porter. It is a place she finds inspiration – from alligators to voodoo — for her boho chic works of wearable art.
The designer: Ashley Porter, a San Francisco-born New Orleans transplant, has a master's degree in finance from Tulane University. She left a career in finance to pursue her passion for fashion design and went back to school at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. Then, after stints at Balenciaga and Ralph Lauren in New York, Porter set out to design and manage her own brand.
The company: Porter Lyons launched in 2012 in New Orleans. The company creates jewelry and other accessories, such as purses and belts using a variety of materials from metals and crystals to alligator bones, teeth and hides.
What's popular: Custom coordinate ID bracelets for women and men in brass ($100), 24K gold and rose gold ($165) and sterling silver ($200).
Other favorites: Tooth 30 necklace ($275), adjustable to 30 different lengths, and the Uptown Twist Wrap bracelet and necklace ($165).
What's next: Deco Bohemia, a bohemian look at art deco in jewelry, launches Oct. 24 in New Orleans.
Where to buy: porterlyons.com. In Atlanta, visit Hemline, 4300 Paces Ferry Road, in Vinings (shophemline.com), and Huff Harrington, 102 West Paces Ferry Road, in Buckhead (huffharrington.com).
For outdoorsy guys
Few women would go for skin-care products with the names like Spit Shine, Snakeskin and Grit Happens. And that’s just fine for James Rupley, the creator of Tennessee-based Otter Creek.
The company: Otter Creek, founded in Nashville in 2011, designs and formulates a line of skin-care products for outdoorsmen.
The founder: Rupley is a graduate of The Citadel (the Military College of South Carolina) and Tulane University Law School. He practiced corporate finance law in New York before moving back to Nashville to be legal counsel for Therapy Systems Inc., a cosmetic retail company. As a man working for a company that generally caters to women, Rupley wanted to create products for men that wouldn't need to say "for men" on the label.
Claim to fame: The company partnered with Realtree to put its camouflage patterns on some of the products. The camo patterns were designed by Georgia based Jordan Outdoor Enterprises in Columbus.
What's popular: The Sasq (wash) ($18), an all-in-one body wash + shampoo and Grit Happens ($18), a scrubbing body wash. Also Duck Call Primer ($7), a non-glossy lip balm.
Other favorites: Non-drying bar soaps ($6). Rupley's favorite: Bar Mexico, made with a Mexican beer and agave nectar.
Where to buy: www.ocreek.com. In the Atlanta area, visit The Cosmetic Market at Avalon, 3130 Avalon Blvd., in Alpharetta.
Best of the South
Do you have favorite finds from around the South that you give as gifts, buy for your home or rave about to friends? If so, please write me at: lljerkins@gmail.com. Find more Southern-made products at southernfinds on facebook or twitter@lindajerkins.
About the Author
