Q&A with Nadia Lee at Kollectin’s Fashion Jewelry Pop-Up Party

Anyone who attended last year’s Stylecon, which took place in Orange County, will remember Kollectin, a virtual shopping app that’s built on a community of “style stars” sharing their favorite jewelry designs. Back then, the app was young, still in the process of development and still working out some kinks. Now that Kollectin has matured, it has something to say about changing the way we shop.

In a nutshell, this is how the app works: After downloading the app, Kollectin’s “style stars” can share their jewelry on social media for followers to purchase or promote via friends and co-workers. Style stars make up to 50 percent commission for every piece they sell on the platform.

To spread the word, on a breezy June evening in Los Angeles, Kollectin hosted a pop-up party full of trendy jewelry on display and thoughtful pastries to match. (Not to mention, an augment reality jewelry experience, a live performance by Serena Laurel, and an exclusive DJ set from Kane Fortune). The event kick-started a special Pop-Up Week that showcased designers, guest influencers and evening women empowerment panels. Nadia Lee, the company’s co-founder and CEO, was there to toast the occasion and share her thoughts on the platform and how far it’s come.

On why she started the company.

“I’m a jewelry designer myself, so I’ve been in the business for 20 years. It was kind of a need to survive. I started working with a lot of influencers, and I thought, what a wonderful [idea] to bring in influencers and our designers all together in one platform. That’s kind of the reason why, because everything is changing so fast with fashion. This is kind of the new method, or the new distribution channel.”

On when the the idea came to her

“I actually had the idea five years ago. It took three years to come into fruition, and we literally just started testing. We were really testing back [at Stylecon]. [The app] wasn’t even fully developed.”

On her personal style.

“I’m like very classic. Simple pieces. That’s kind of my style.”

On what she hopes to accomplish.

“I want to change the way people shop. I want people to shop through their girlfriends, through their friends. I want to inspire people to be more entrepreneurial in any way they want. I want people to genuinely want [to be on the app], to genuinely feel like we really want to help them. Not something that’s just on the surface. We always invite everybody to come in and teach them how to do things. We encourage them, and we show them.”