(click on title above for link)
GEORGETOWN GEM
BY JULIE SANDERS
MAY/ JUNE 2009
Jewelry designer Heidi Hess, 25, brings her unique creations to her newly opened Georgetown boutique, Poppy. The shop, which takes its moniker from Hess’s own nickname, borrows inspiration for its décor from the flower: A deep purple hearth and red accent wall complement white, distressed wood floors.
Hess’s spring collection combines elongated forms and saturated colors to produce such delicate pieces as these garnet and green glass earrings (above). And moving from personal to home adornment, she also creates Hestia Daemons—a line of commissioned wall hangings intended to reflect a client’s spirit and personal history (top). Hess calls these pieces handcrafted from silver and gold metaphorical family seals.
GEORGETOWN GEM
BY JULIE SANDERS
MAY/ JUNE 2009
Jewelry designer Heidi Hess, 25, brings her unique creations to her newly opened Georgetown boutique, Poppy. The shop, which takes its moniker from Hess’s own nickname, borrows inspiration for its décor from the flower: A deep purple hearth and red accent wall complement white, distressed wood floors.
Hess’s spring collection combines elongated forms and saturated colors to produce such delicate pieces as these garnet and green glass earrings (above). And moving from personal to home adornment, she also creates Hestia Daemons—a line of commissioned wall hangings intended to reflect a client’s spirit and personal history (top). Hess calls these pieces handcrafted from silver and gold metaphorical family seals.
by Shilpika Das
"There are lots of chain stores on M Street but if you walk up Wisconsin on little side streets, you will find antiques and boutique shops unique to DC. There is a new jewelry store called Poppy off of Wisconsin that has lovely things that are reasonably priced (I've not been but was told)." - Foder's: DC Trip- Five Days
( click title above for link to online coverage )
Telling Stories
By Corinne Whiting
Jewelry designer Heidi Hess wants Poppy visitors to view her new Georgetown shop “as a parlor, a place where stories are shared.” Visitors to the intimate showroom, located in a row house off cobble-stoned P Street, find a purple hearth, rich red walls and friendly perks like complimentary cups of espresso...
Telling Stories
By Corinne Whiting
Jewelry designer Heidi Hess wants Poppy visitors to view her new Georgetown shop “as a parlor, a place where stories are shared.” Visitors to the intimate showroom, located in a row house off cobble-stoned P Street, find a purple hearth, rich red walls and friendly perks like complimentary cups of espresso...
( click title above for link to online coverage )
Grand Opening of POPPY featured in DC Scout February Events
( click title above for link to online coverage, page 7 )
YOUNG JEWELR DEBUTS HER DREAM SHOP IN GEORGETOWN by Beth Cope
( click title above for link to online coverage )
FIRST GLIMPS: POPPY
by McLean Robbins
We had the opportunity to spend Wednesday night at a preview of Georgetown’s newest jewelry boutique, Poppy. Named after owner and designer Heidi Hess’s nickname, the tiny showroom features one-of-a-kind wearable art and jewelry in a gallery-like setting.
Hess, a college-trained metal smith, discovered her love of jewelry making from her grandmother. Last night, the 25-year-old designer was wearing a simple outfit accented by her grandmother’s antique chain necklace, complete with an Antum Quislode, a vessel pendant she designed that’s used to hold scraps of paper on which you write daily resolutions, prayers, and dreams.
It seems Hess is big on dreams. The idea for the shop, she confesses, came to her in one. Several months later, she says, she saw an ad for the store space on Craigslist. “I looked inside and saw my dream,” she says. “I had to have it.”
The shop features whitewashed floors and walls, an antique dining table and display case, and a fireplace with an oversized poppy painting over the mantel, also made by Hess. Small vases of the shop’s namesake flower adorn windowsills and the counter.
“I want visitors to think of the shop as my parlor,” says Hess. “It’s a place where stories are shared and pieces are created that reflect the personal history of the wearer.”
Guests can browse the works or speak directly with Hess to commission one-of-a-kind pieces and artwork. She works with silver, 14- to 24-karat gold, found objects, and natural unfinished stones.
Hess also plans to feature other new designers in her store. The opening exhibit showcases the work of Seattle-based Jessi Taylor, whose rough yet elegant earrings caught our eye not only for their beauty, but their affordability (under $100).
Although Hess sells her work online and through poppymetals.com, she’d prefer that clients come directly to the showroom.
“Each piece has its own story, its own quirks,” says Hess. “I want customers to be able to touch and feel their jewels before buying them, which also allows me to make adjustments if necessary.”
“I’m looking to create pieces that bear witness to who we are. My pieces are symbols for our storytelling.”
Georgetown, Washington DC: Sophisticated Shopping
"Each store held something we wished to buy, and Poppy’s was no exception. Heidi Hess, the owner, draws her inspiration from her customers. She spends hours talking to a client, learning their history, their family, what they value and who they are. From this information, she symbolically weaves their story through the piece of jewelry, making it uniquely their own. Bending silver into polished rings, bracelets and necklaces, Heidi’s spirit of light effuses her creations." - Karen Hamlin
"Each store held something we wished to buy, and Poppy’s was no exception. Heidi Hess, the owner, draws her inspiration from her customers. She spends hours talking to a client, learning their history, their family, what they value and who they are. From this information, she symbolically weaves their story through the piece of jewelry, making it uniquely their own. Bending silver into polished rings, bracelets and necklaces, Heidi’s spirit of light effuses her creations." - Karen Hamlin
