Spring 2024 - 56

Photos courtesy of QUDO.
QUDO
QUDO is a maker that specializes in classic, colorful
and customizable jewelry.
A top-seller is QUDO's Interchangeable Collection,
where customers first select a bracelet, earring, necklace
or ring base, then complete it with colorful gem toppers
that are designed to be changed out to match any
occasion, mood or style.
QUDO's creative team is based out of Stuttgart,
Germany, so its pieces are influenced by both European
and American trends. The maker opts for a classic,
affordable luxury look over fast-changing trends.
What is something unique that you bring to the
saturated market of jewelry?
Angelina Blackmon, USA brand manager: We are
great brand partners. On top of the fact that we have the
customization opportunity, we have the ability to curate
your own line. We also have a really quality product.
We work with Polish stainless steel as the base for our
rings, which means that it's hypoallergenic. The gold is
created with an ion coating so there's no tarnishing. Our
quality is outstanding. So when you collectively put all
of that together, we have a lot to offer.
What trends are you seeing across the jewelry market
as a whole?
We see a lot of trend toward color. Individuals are
stepping away from neutral and brightening their
offerings a lot. Also, we were really rock solid with
gold for a while; now, some of our savvy retailers
are bringing in a little bit of silver, so we're seeing
movement back toward the silver. We're also seeing
that high-end designer look come back again - wanting
to dress up and have that luxury look is something that
we're seeing people really embracing again.
Tell me about your latest collection. What makes it
special or on trend?
One of the things we always offer is 20 trend colors per
season. So we have 20 trend colors that are happening
from now until July; those 20 colors will go away and 20
new colors will come in. We had this gorgeous collection
[for February and March] called Opulence, which had
a lot of shimmer to it, and some deep reds and pinks.
We've then moved into an outstanding fun spring
break program called Hello Happiness. We then go into
Sundrenched, which are just some deep, beautiful tones
of colors of reds, turquoises and oranges that are going
to be great for summer. So we're going to drive a new
customer back into your store every six weeks.
What are your bestsellers?
A ring called " basic small " is one of our bestsellers. It's
a simple band, and then it stacks where you can stack
three of them together. It retails for $30, so it's really a
nice price point. It can be worn every day, constantly. It
wears like fine jewelry, so it's comfortable and durable.
Once you have a ring on a hand, you got a customer
coming back for color.
What trends do you see taking hold of the market in the
coming years?
One of the trends in Europe that hasn't quite hit in
the U.S. is earring charms. If you go to Europe and you
shop in any of their accessory stores, charms are a big
deal. People are wearing two different [earring] charms
and they're putting charm bracelets together, and that
hasn't quite reached the U.S. yet.
56 SPRING 2024 GIFT SHOP® PLUS
Spring 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Spring 2024
