nOir Showroom: Behind the Scenes with Leeora Catalan

Leeora Catalan in her office, standing in front of her inspiration board

nOir is one of my all-time fave brands. I love their boldly original rings and the jewelry line is carried everywhere from Bendel’s in New York City to Flip in Munich. I didn’t realize though until I went to their showroom a few weeks ago that nOir also makes a ton of necklaces, bracelets, and they even made a one-of-a-kind dress out of mesh, spikes, and beads that Rihanna is slated to wear soon! I got a tour of the showroom by the line’s founder and designer, Leeora Catalan, who is one of the sweetest designer’s I’ve ever met. She was wearing this great all-black outfit which was perfect for keeping the focus on all the hot baubles she was sporting (of particular note was her Brooklyn Bridge ring . It’s a Cubic Zirconia encrusted ring with 22K gold plated brass — so fierce!). I had so much fun in the showroom — seriously I was like a kid in a candy store looking and trying on all the pieces that were displayed! More after the jump!

Some spike jewelry as worn by, among others, Rihanna and Miley Cyrus

I was surprised to find out that a great deal of the jewelry is made by hand and in the photo below you can see one of the pieces being carefully worked on.

Catalan just launched her e-commerce site as well, so you can buy a number of her pieces online (they ship from her showroom in Manhattan).

Necklace that inspired a dress made especially for Rihanna (she is slated to wear said dress in the coming weeks!)

It’s pretty much impossible to keep track of how many celebs wear nOir. On a daily basis you can come across the likes of Madonna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Fergie, Beyonce, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mary J. Blige, Paris Hilton and Mariah Carey all in pieces from the line and Catalan’s has collaborated with everyone from Marc

Jacobs, DKNY, Betsey Johnson, and Moschino to Patricia Field (she has a bunch of pieces in the Sex and the City sequel).

My dream drawers!!!!