By Seth Fera-Schanes
Mango Parde by Audrey Prieboy is a handcrafted jewelry and accessory company based in Brooklyn, New York. I first noticed this jewelry at the Artists and Fleas in Williamsburg and had the opportunity to sit down with owner and designer Audrey Prieboy to learn more about her company.
Audrey, a Chicago native originally moved to New York to attend the Pratt Institute. Graduating with a degree in Fashion Design, her interests started to evolve into creating accessories and jewelry. Her company, Mango Parade was founded in 2012.
I was curious as to why Audrey decided to name her company after a fruit. From the Mango Parade website: “Mango refers to the organically imperfect and imbalanced shape of the natural mango fruit and the ever changing, one-of-a-kind color variation seen in each fruit.”
When I spoke with Audrey about her process she noted:
“My process always begins with experimentation and then sourcing or the other way around. I am inspired by weird shapes and textures. I am inspired by small pieces of larger preexisting things such as a toggle closure on a coat or a buckle on a shoe. Also, I have always loved all things Art Deco – like Art Deco in its heyday and the relationship between the Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts design movement relative to Art Deco.”
Audrey likes to use many deadstock components in her work. These items can be found in thrift stores around the city and online from websites such as eBay. Considering she uses so many different kinds of materials, I wanted to know what was the most difficult to work with. She mentioned a difficult item to work with, but one of her favorites is fabric. When using that material you have to think about how it feels and wears on the customer.
Mango Parade currently offers three product lines: necklaces, keychains and bracelets. The company is considering expanding this year to include rings, earrings and sunglasses. Audrey is also considering incorporating wood into her products. She likes the natural patterns in wood and locating the right pieces to use in her jewelry.
Pictured below are some pieces from Mango Parade’s collection. The best selling items are in the keychain line. These are popular not only for personal use but people also like to buy them for gifts.
You can purchase Mango Parade jewelry and accessories through the company website. Many of Audrey’s pieces have production limits of 50 items with many one of a kind pieces as well. With these limits, you can also connect with Audrey to find out when she will be appearing at artist and craft shows in the city. Mango Parade is also available at retailers such as Something Happening Shop and Halcyon in D.U.M.B.O.
We are looking forward to seeing more great work from Audrey and Mango Parade this coming year.
