Jerusalem swag at the Golden Globes
Local designer Daniella Farin gets her velvet turban into celebrities’ hands at the annual film award ceremony
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleJessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
When January 7 rolls around, designer Daniella Farin will be carefully watching the Golden Globes award ceremony.
Farin isn’t all that interested in the nominated films; she’ll be paying attention to the swag bags.
The Jerusalem designer is gifting her handmade velvet turban headbands to 100 celebrities attending the Golden Globes. It’s a big opportunity for a still-unknown designer.
Farin’s velvet headband, usually worn by religious women who cover their hair and prefer a more stylish headpiece to a hat, made its way into the revered swag bag — which is often stuffed with thousands of dollars worth of products — via The Artisan Group, also known as TAG.
Farin said there was another Israeli artisan whose work would also be featured in the Golden Globes gift bag.
The Artisan Group is an entertainment marketing organization dedicated to introducing Hollywood celebrities to the work of artisans who wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to the household name consumers. The group specializes in small, handcrafted products, ranging from jewelry, hair and purse accessories to photography, pet toys and bath products.
When a celebrity poses for a photo wearing or using one of the artisan products in their swag bag, the publicity is instantaneous, and usually helpful.
Farin joined the group after having her collection of handmade headbands approved. But it was the velvet headband that the group thought “would be amazing in the celebrity swag bag,” said Farin.
The Chicago-born designer, 27, made the turban a year ago.
“You have to plan things a year in advance, pretty much,” she said.
She was following some fashion bloggers online, sending them photos of her work and asking if they would be interested in trying on one of her pieces.
One of the bloggers loved the headband, and said “‘it was so ‘in’ for this year,'” remembered Farin. “I don’t read any fashion magazines, so I don’t know what’s in and what’s in style. She just liked it.”
A self-taught designer, Farin began making jewelry when she was 11 years old, and fell in love with a beaded necklace worn by an older lady she happened to meet. An arts and crafts aficionado, she began selling her designs to boutiques and galleries soon after. When she learned how to crochet in summer camp as a teenager, Farin made hats that were unlike those found in local stores.
She moved to Israel on her own as a teenager after attending a high school trip that was based in Kfar Saba. Farin fell in love with Israel and announced to her parents that she was staying, and finished high school in the Israeli town.
She began selling her crocheted hats and jewelry in small shops and boutiques in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and credits her success to her parents.
“They thought I was great, and they told me not to say that I make jewelry, but that I’m a designer,” she said.
When Farin got married five years ago she began making head coverings for herself, and then for others when people asked where she had purchased the ones she was wearing.
“I just pretty much pick out what I like and what I think is cool and whatever colors I like,” she said.
When Farin opened Daniella Faye, her eponymously named store in Jerusalem (Faye is her middle name), she added a few dresses to the inventory, mostly modest in style, but appealing to a fairly wide clientele, said Farin. She plans on adding sweater dresses and velvet dresses to her fall and winter collection, both of which “are in right now,” she said.
Once the Golden Globes ceremony takes place, and her velvet headbands are discovered, there will be Daniella Faye products around the world.
“That’s always been my goal,” she said.
It’s like the full Hebrew name of her store: Daniella Faye Ein Sof, or Daniella Faye, Unlimited.
Daniella Faye Ein Sof, 1 Hillel Street, Jerusalem. Prices range from NIS 50 to NIS 350 for head coverings, and from NIS 100 to NIS 1,000 for dresses. The Daniella Faye website is still under construction.
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