The duo behind AUrate met at Princeton, so it’s not surprising the brand has some serious smarts behind it. The name alone is steeped in thought (Au, as in the chemical symbol for gold; rate, a nod to their product standards; and the pronunciation mimics the verb orate, or to tell a story). Sophie and Bouchra, the founders, set out to overcome what they saw as a gaping hole in the jewelry market, one that should be filled by affordable yet high-quality pieces. Using their design and finance expertise, they’ve created a covetable brand, an efficient production model and a business that gives back to the greater community by partnering with schools and donating books to underprivileged children for every product purchased. Here, we spend a day in their shoes.
"Waking up to a bright and sunny NYC. New York is key to our brand—our designs are inspired by its architecture and its extraordinary women. Plus all of our jewelry is made in New York."
"We like to mix and match high street and luxury clothing and translated the same philosophy to AUrate. Our brand offers a wide range of price points and quality degrees, since we understand how versatile and creative today’s woman is, both in terms of style and budget."
Bouchra is wearing a vintage Chanel jacket, Rag & Bone shirt, and Zara Jeans; Sophie is wearing a Saint Laurent jacket, Cos shirt, and Dior skirt.
"We adore our workspace Neuehouse, a co-working space for creatives. We get a lot done here and also meet many inspiring individuals with whom we discuss ideas and share learnings. You can find us here plugging away almost every weekend."
"We're constantly selecting and building out our social media strategy. The idea is that you can really see the lifestyle of our products and our overall clean yet strong aesthetic."
"A typical day will also often involve selecting pictures from the latest shoot we did for our social media channels. Our primary goal is to show followers how to wear and pair our products."
"We conduct in-person press previews so editors can see how the jewelry looks in real life and hear the AUrate brand story straight from the source. Here Sophie is talking with an editor from Vogue. "
"Bouchra visits our producers in midtown to test and weigh the gold. We go here every day to manage the production process and since our pieces are all made in New York, we are able to keep a close eye on quality control and make sure our customers get the very best."
"We'll often do interviews to promote the brand and here is an outtake from a street style shoot. We’ve been best friends ever since we met at Princeton and luckily laugh a lot together, even when the going gets tough (which it inevitably does with your own company)."
"Our popup store in Soho is hugely important to us so we nip by whenever we have a chance. We introduced our first one in September and it went really well. Our jewelry speaks for itself in person so we’re definitely planning on more popups soon!"
"We both strongly believe that businesses today have a responsibility to give back, and we do that through reading. For every piece we sell, AUrate gives a school book to a child in need. Within one week of our most recent popup, we had already given books to more than 100 children!"
"Most of our life centers around working (hard), but whenever we have spare time, we like to spend it with our close friends and family. Here we are toasting our achievements at the end of a long day."
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