Up-and-coming San Jose fashion and jewelry designer Kathryn Marie Delgadillo, 18, has gone from selling her unique jewelry to her fellow classmates to having her products featured in local shops.

Delgadillo, known for taking everyday products and transforming them into creative jewelry pieces, was born and raised in San Jose and graduated from Evergreen Valley High School last May.

“I have been making jewelry for as long as I can remember,” said Delgadillo. “My mom still has one of my earliest pieces — a bracelet, I believe, that was made with heart-shaped pony beads and a thick green pipe cleaner.”

During her junior and senior years of high school, Delgadillo helped organize a few jewelry fundraisers for several San Jose schools, including Evergreen Valley High School, Leyva Middle School and Independence High School. These fundraisers featured Delgadillo’s very popular soda can daisy rings as well as her silver bow rings.

According to Delgadillo, she considers herself to be a natural entrepreneur. She has been successfully marketing and promoting her own small businesses since she was a child.

“In elementary school, I sold little notebooks, good luck charms, and gel pen tattoos to my classmates,” said Delgadillo. “I also sold handmade cards to my neighbors and drew up little catalogues for clothing lines, complete with descriptions, prices and color options.”

Delgadillo says she and her mother spent a lot of time making jewelry together. In 2008, they made a substantial purchase of charms. While she made a number of pieces of jewelry to wear, there were far too many left over for her to wear all by herself.
As a result, she came up with the idea of selling her jewelry for the first time, giving others an opportunity to enjoy the products of her craft.

“The first design to take off was a necklace that had an ornate pink heart charm with a silver crown attached in the center,” said Delgadillo. “I ended up making nine of them, if I remember correctly, for a group of my mom’s friends called the ‘Drama Queens.’”

Her first official jewelry collection consisted of various one-of-a-kind charm bracelets.

“I invest a lot of time in my designs,” said Delgadillo. “I can’t simply string a charm on a chain and call it a necklace. Even in my simpler pieces, I’ve put a lot of thought into choosing the size and style of the chain and the type of earring finding, for example.”

“I also try to avoid using the components that are popular with other jewelry designs and look for unique or unusual supplies,” Delgadillo added.

Her second and most popular collection, titled “Responsibility Eclectic,” focuses on recycling and reusing soda cans, plastic bags and scrap vinyl to produce this unique line of jewelry.

Take a soda can for example; normally we would just throw it in the trash or a recycling bin. Delgadillo can take that same can and produce approximately six rings.

She takes recycling to another level. Some of the cans she has used include Starbucks Doubleshot, Monster Energy drinks and Arizona Iced Tea.

She also has rings originated from store grocery bags. It is quite fascinating to see how such everyday objects, which are commonly overlooked, can be transformed into unique, vintage-looking jewelry.

“I love statement pieces, so I tend to design big necklaces, full bracelets and dramatic earrings,” said Delgadillo. “I’m thinking of adding another style of soda can ring, and will continue to come out with new jewelry collections. I’d also like to start offering some crocheted goods, handbags, and hair accessories in my store.”

Delgadillo also mentioned that she has a clothing line in the works. She couldn’t reveal too much about her future clothing business, but she assured us that she is taking the necessary steps to make it a success. Currently, Delgadillo is taking classes at West Valley College in Saratoga. Following her AA, she hopes to study at either the Los Angeles or the San Francisco Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) campus.

“Eventually, I would love to have a chain of stores featuring clothing, jewelry, shoes, and other accessories,” said Delgadillo. “At that point, only some items would still be handmade by me, because I want to be an affordable brand.”