Karen McClintock Makes Waves in the Fashion and Jewelry World

by Stephanie Findlay photos by Valerie Keele

What began when Karen McClintock wanted to
improve a necklace to sell at a garage sale has
catapulted her to the forefront of Canadian jewelry
design. In just three years, McClintock has established
herself in the Canadian custom jewelry market, selling
pieces at six of the nine Holt Renfrews in Canada
as well as, the boutique clothing store, Shepherd’s in
Ottawa.
McClintock spent the summer of 2005, designing
and producing custom pieces. By October, her buyer
recommended that she try selling to Holt Renfrew.
In what she describes as a “huge learning curve”,
McClintock spent the next seven months traveling
back and forth from Toronto customizing and
refining her work for sale in the specialty department
store. After only 10 months in the business, Holt
Renfrew picked up her line. She was one of only
two Canadian designers launched by Holt Renfrew
in 2006. Since then, McClintock has shown no signs
of slowing down. She’s recently been to Paris with
veteran fashion designer Linda Lundstrom, and is
currently planning a bridal line as well as working on a
coffee table book with award-winning photographer
Michelle Valberg of Ottawa.
McClintock is animated about her new ventures. “It’s
kind of like I have two people in me,” she explains, “a
realistic side, oh-my-god-I’ve-got-so-many-ordersto-
fill, and another entrepreneurial side. And it’s
definitely that entrepreneurial side that takes over.”
“If you had asked me three years ago if I had
expected this, there is no way.” McClintlock relays
that her close attention to her buyer’s needs make
her different from everyone else, “she (the buyer) told
me what she’d like to see and I did exactly that. I
took it literally because I didn’t know any different.
I didn’t have my own preconceived ideas of what I
was doing.” Since then, McClintock says that she’s
been able to develop her own look. However it is
her commitment to her clients that gives her an edge
in this competitive industry. “I never back down
from a challenge,” she says. Her first assignment for
Holt Renfrew was to create pieces following various
themes, including Pop Art. “Pop art wasn’t me at all. I
was at first going ‘wow, that’s a huge leap for me’ but
it came out really well.” McClintock is able to work
within unknown parameters and achieve success
with her diverse talents in jewelry design.
When asked about her favourite client relationship
story, McClintock tells about a woman soon to
become grandmother, “She wanted to get something
that would make her feel young and vibrant. She
bought a piece of my jewelry because it made her
feel wonderful…I had touched a person, believe it or
not, in a way that I had no idea.” Governor General
Michaelle Jean, who is featured in the upcoming
McClintock-Valberg book collaboration, is one of
many Canadians to appreciate McClintock’s work
and McClintock says that she has received positive
feedback from Her Excellency.
For now, the book release is tentatively scheduled
for Earth Day, 2009. In the meantime, McClintock
is busy finishing up her first wedding collection and
continuing to design and produce other designs.
Expansion to the United States is also in the works,
“I don’t know how many times people have said that
I’m going to make Oprah,” she laughs. If she does, and
Oprah is in one of her gifting moods — we’d like to
be a member of that studio audience with hopes that
McClintock’s designs were in the offering! n
For more information or to shop on-line visit,
www.karenmcclintock.com.
Karen McClintock