Q&A with Fragments Founder & CEO, Janet Goldman

Fragments has become a well-known name in the industry for providing the jewelry that is “most wanted” by fashionistas, trendy women, and jewelry lovers of all kinds. Founder and CEO Janet Goldman launched the premiere jewelry store 28 years ago, where she carefully curates items from designers from all over the world, and still does today. Being a jewelry designer and having your pieces featured at Fragments is a huge honor! Fragments is located in SOHO and can now be visited 24/7 online with their newly launched e-commerce site.

With the new website debut, I had to catch up with Janet herself and ask her a few questions:

Jewelry always made me happy – it’s like an aphrodisiac – to buy it, to wear it, to collect it and to give it. And what could be better than choosing a career doing something you love. I’m an artist and after doing a stint as dean of women at New York City High School, I went back to school to study fashion as a second career. I had my own design studio and then met this wonderful guy named Jimmy Moore – and he I and I together, started Fragments. A company to represent unique, handcrafted jewelry that was not “craft” jewelry – it was a term that we labeled “fashion jewelry.” It was new in the industry – the category didn’t exist and they had never had a showroom dedicated to high fashion and glamorous jewelry. There was nothing like Fragments in the industry in 1984 and there is still nothing like Fragments. Our first showroom was a walk up on the second floor on Greene Street – which was not a fashion destination at that time. We were pioneers moving to SoHo in the mid 80s. We started with a wholesale showroom and in 1994, I went to Harvard business school’s OPM program and decided to go retail! My first venture was with Henri Bendel – we had Fragments at Bendels for 5 years – and then opened up our own destination store on Greene Street. The whole experience was and is serendipitous. We built it and they came. . . and they’re still coming.

For me, selecting jewelry is an instinct, a gut reaction to something that speaks to you. The jewelry has to have a unique spirit and soul. Each designer has to be unique and doing their own thing. I consider myself an art curator of sorts – and never select anything that will overpower everything else. There has to be harmony in the house because the Fragments concept is about mixing designers that can live together. It has to live together in the store, so it can live together in your jewelry box and on you. We’re all about discovering new talent and bringing the newness and fresh creativity to market first.

My proudest moment was discovering the Huichol Indian tribe and bringing their jewelry from the sierra madre mountains to the cover of Vogue – and raising enough money for the tribe through jewelry sales for them to create scholarships, buy trucks, build an infirmary and care for 350 families.

Fragments is 28 years old and I hope that we will grow to be 100 as we evolve and change – just a fashion does.

My Moritz Glik oval diamond shaker earrings – because they’re infinitely wearable. I wear them casual for day with jeans and dressy for night– they’re so versatile – they have so much style. These earrings make me feel most like me. I put them on and I’m happy!