welcome to larue & co.

Hey guys! Welcome to LaRue & Co!

I thought it might be fun in my next post to introduce myself and welcome y’all to the LARUE family. I am Charlotte LaRue Mazey, Founder and CEO of LaRue&Co.- Fine Jewelry for Humans. Like the brand, I too am a born and bred New Yorker turned Arizonan turned San Fransiscan. Throughout my life art and fashion have been major aspects of what makes me the creative evil genius you all know and love today. From a young age I took interest in song/dance, fine art, fashion and design. So, it makes sense the path I chose includes most of those things here at LaRue&Co. Growing up was frustrating, just like many of my artisan peers, have likely experienced. I had a lot of authoritative figures try and discourage my vision of the future. Trying to make me prioritize subjects that didn’t interest me or had nothing to do with what I already knew would be my path. I am a dreamer. No one was going to change that. My brain processed differently than others(#ADHDBrain), I could see the big picture from a mile away. It also gave me an eerily calm nature but thats another story for another day.

For college, I went to the Academy of Art University in San Fransisco, to study Graphic Design. While there, I tasted many different avenues of art and fashion that little did I know would lead me down many different paths before I opened LaRue&Co. I honed in on my skills as a fine artist in paint and illustration along side darkroom and digital photography. I even dabbled in Interior design there for a second. Two years in, something changed in me and I knew I was burnt out and needed time to figure out what I wanted/ needed from this crazy thing we call life.

Six months later, I had the school itch again so I decided to take some classes at the city college out there. This time focusing completely on fashion. While in my intro to Image Consulting class I met a bunch of very talented humans that helped lead me down the fashion styling road. That summer was filled with freelance image consulting jobs, styling jobs, I even got to work on a couple of projects with a celebrity stylist(Victor Vargas)! I was having the time of my life so I made it my full time operation. That was the first time I got a taste of what it is like to be my own boss. I knew I was home. I had worked my way up and was being paid 100$ an hour as an image consultant and compared to my peers it had seemed that I had “made” it. Somehow I knew that this had an expiration date for me. So after countless events and photo shoots I wasn’t into it anymore.

I’ve always been the type of person to “if I want it, I can make it”and if I don’t know how to make it, I’ll learn. So, be that as it may, one day after a shoot I popped over to Haight-Ashbury to catch the bus home. I had wanted to get a new nose ring and I wanted it to be gold. Mine, alongside every other girl in her early twenties living in SF, had one in silver. I couldn’t find one. Anywhere. Gold plated, sure but none were solid gold. The shops that said they were solid gold lied to make the sale and or whomever the supplier was that they were using lied to them. None the less, it was driving me nuts! So, in true charlotte fashion, I said fuck it i’ll do it myself. Next thing I knew I was googling jewelry schools lol.

I went to the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts and studied under Alan Revere, Master Goldsmith. Among other amazing professors, it was love at first site. Metal, Fire, Design and fashion are you kidding me? Instantly obsessed!! After graduation, I knew I wanted to open my own shop. Etsy became my first home. Then after what felt like a lifetime, I made the jump to go off on my own and here we are.

So, welcome. Take a look around, and remember, you never know where your life journey will take you. Be who you want to be, say what you wanna say and always remember to play:)

xo,

LARUE