Stella & Dot Chief Creative Officer on Moving Design to San Francisco

Until now, Blythe Harris, co-creator and chief creative officer of San-Francisco-based Stella & Dot, has been designing all of the brand’s jewelry (Ruth Bader Ginsburg wore the spiky Phoenix layered bib necklace in her 2018 official Supreme Court portrait), apparel and accessories with a team split between the Bay Area and New York. “Compared to five years ago when we couldn’t find talent, now we can and the synergy outweighs the need for a bi-coastal studio,” said the designer, who is closing the satellite office in New York, and “tightening the brand’s point-of-view on casual chic.” Now that Stitch Fix, Everlane and other San Francisco fashion-tech startups are coming of age (and setting $1 billion-plus public offerings), they are recruiting and retaining more talent, including designers, stylists and editorial directors, and a new creative class is starting to emerge in the city. But Stella & Dot is the grande dame, founded by Jessica Herrin in 2003 as a multilevel marketing or “social selling” brand taking inspiration from Mary Kay. Herrin had already cofounded Weddingchannel.com, an online bridal planner, during the first tech boom, and sold it to The Knot in 2006 for $61.7 million in cash and 1.15 million shares. In 2010, Stella

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