Caitlyn Minimalist brings sparkle to Ecotrust

Emilie Chen

Communications Manager

Ecotrust’s trillium pin, custom made by Caitlyn Minimalist. Photo credit: Erich Chen

California

Storytelling

Caitlyn Minimalist, a 1% for the Planet member and Ecotrust supporter, is a southern California-based jewelry business started by Van Phung, who also goes by Kate. Earlier this year, Caitlyn Minimalist collaborated with Ecotrust to create custom pins in the shape of trilliums.

Originally from Vietnam, Kate studied foreign trade while at university, before coming to the US to study fashion design. While at school, she began creating custom jewelry for herself, friends, and family.

How did you start Caitlyn Minimalist?

I’ve been doing this for 10 years already. When I went away for college, I created a really meaningful piece of jewelry for myself. And everybody liked it. When I went online and looked around to see if there were any options like that, I didn’t see anybody offering that kind of [custom] handwriting jewelry. Or the designers creating them would charge $300. It was a lot of money for me. So we had a small workshop, and I started creating them for my friends and family for the cost of like, $30, $40. Then I realized, OK, there’s some potential here. So I started a brand on Etsy called Silver Handwriting, offering handwriting jewelry. And then I saw that people like minimalist jewelry, so I rebranded to Caitlyn Minimalist and had my sister run the Silver Handwriting store.

Everybody who moves from Vietnam picks an English name, so when I immigrated I chose the name Caitlyn. When I rebranded to Caitlyn Minimalist, it just sounded so good. Everybody started calling me Kate, but my Vietnamese name is Van.

Pearl Initial Tag Necklace. Photo courtesy of Caitlyn Minimalist

Tiny Multiple Name Bracelet. Photo courtesy of Caitlyn Minimalist.

How would you describe Caitlyn Minimalist jewelry and how you want customers to feel when wearing your pieces?

In the beginning, a lot of our jewelry was customized, personalized. … Everything was 100% handcrafted, sawed and cut. People felt very connected with the jewelry, because it was somebody’s fingerprint, like a daughter’s, or a newborn’s footprint. Everybody felt connected and very sentimental when they received the jewelry. We got a lot of reaction videos back then, from all over the world. People would call me at seven in the morning from the East Coast and say, “Oh my God, thank you so much for my necklace.” It was a great inspiration! We understand the importance behind every custom piece, and we take that to heart.

Now our jewelry has expanded with more modern designs, so people feel more confident or magnificent, in a different way, but still very connected. We keep our price point very affordable, though our jewelry quality stays the same. We are always trying to learn new techniques, buy new equipment and improve our jewelry quality. Everything has a bit of small meaning in it, like malachite is lucky.

Amelia Duo Huggies. Photo courtesy of Caitlyn Minimalist

Eternity Birthstone Ring. Photo courtesy of Caitlyn Minimalist

Do you have a favorite piece from your catalog?

It’s the 3D fingerprint pendant necklace, because when I designed it, I felt like it was so special. It’s like a touch to your loved one. It’s not only a fingerprint, but it’s 3D, so it curves down and then you put your finger on top of it. You feel them; you feel the energy. So that’s really special, but we also have birthstone [jewelry] and best sellers [on our website].

We really enjoyed creating the custom trillium pin design with you.

I had a lot of fun creating the pin, too. It’s a unique design and has a lot of small details, which is hard because everything is hand painted. But then I found we can circle around the colors with gold, kind of separate the two colors. I had a lot of fun for sure.

Custom Fingerprint Necklace. Photo courtesy of Caitlyn Minimalist

Essential Bracelet Chains. Photo courtesy of Caitlyn Minimalist

What inspired Caitlyn Minimalist to reach out to Ecotrust?

We are a member of 1% for the Planet, and we are committed to environmental improvement and innovation to make a better world. The company is rooted from love, and we create jewelry from a deep connection. When we joined 1% for the Planet, I wanted to share that with my staff, everyone in the team. So we had the team do research and vote which organizations they would like the company to support. So Ecotrust was one of the top 10 organizations [that we wanted to support].

I’m so honored to hear that. I think everyone will be excited to hear that. That means a lot to us.

I’m so grateful for our community and for every single customer. When they come to us, they’re not just customers….they become part of our community. We want them to be happy and like working with us. It’s not just a transaction when they come to Caitlyn Minimalist. It’s a connection between us. It’s our customer service. It’s the unboxing. It’s everything.

Learn more about Caitlyn Minimalist through their website. For the holiday season, they are offering 30% off their best-selling items.