KATERINA MAKRIYIANNI
Katerina Makriyianni was born in Chania, Crete and was raised in a home where art was a way of life and artistic expression was encouraged. She studied ballet and theater throughout her childhood which led her to complete her degree in Theater Studies at Patra University, Greece.
In 1988, her parents Nikos and Eva Makriyianni opened a jewelry boutique–workshop specializing in unique, one-of-a-kind designs which quickly became a highly successful business. Katerina’s love for the applied arts, and her family’s legacy, led her to focus her own interests and career in the field of jewelry design and production. She pursued specialized courses in design and engraving at the L’Arti Orafe University in Florence while running the family boutique and developing her own personal design style.
In 2015 Katerina presented her first personal collection at the Paris Fashion, combining the world of theater with that of handmade jewelry, also influenced by the Cretan tradition and her great aesthetic sense.
The worldwide journey began with the presence of the brand on Net-a-Porter, which was followed by significant stores worldwide such as Browns Fashion and Matches Fashion in London, Boutique1 in UAE, On Pedder in Asia, Jill Wolf Jewelry in Switzerland and many more to this day.
Katerina has managed to create a team that works like a family and she is involved in both the designing and manufacturing process in the Makriyianni family studio. Every piece of metal, thread, and fabric is cut, glued, stitched, and ironed by hand.
From the very beginning, the design that became a huge worldwide trend was the Big Red Fan Earrings made from traditional hand-woven wool. These earrings are Katerina’s signature design that has been chosen for photoshoots by world-famous fashion photographers and stylists such as Mario Testino and Lucinda Chambers for the June ‘17 issue of English Vogue. This success continued as many of Katerina’s designs were featured in the pages and sites of famous magazines. Penelope Cruz, as guest editor for the April ‘19 issue of Spanish Vogue, chose one of Katerina’s designs for one of the covers.
In 2022, Katerina participated in the “Greekaba Collection” of Christian Louboutin. Among the designers that worked on this collection was Katerina, who with her team took over sole responsibility for the production of fabric beads that adorn all the bags of the collection and a bracelet that was also the only piece of jewelry included in the project. The fabric beads, along with semi-precious stones, were also incorporated into the design of limited edition Konstantimule slippers and Konstantinela sandals.
Katerina has succeeded in making her mark on the fashion world with her theatrical jewelry. Bold designs, clean lines, color combinations like we see in nature, with a touch of gold which has the ability to warmly embrace the beauty of the colors and bring it out. These are the key ideas that Katerina follows in every jewelry collection.
KM jewelry appeals to confident, strong, independent women who want to stand out by choosing a piece of jewelry that tells a story through its bold unique handmade style and its delicate aesthetics! Adele, Sarah Paulson, Veronica Li, Anna Nooshin, Penelope Cruz, Jolin Chai, Susan Bender Whitfield, Jasmine Hemsley, Rosanna Falconer, Charlene Choi, Tatiana Korsakova, Blair Eadie, Gillian Chung, and Aarika Lee are some of the ladies that choose Katerina Makriyianni Jewelry.
