Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
When life gives you a Monday, dip it in glitter and sparkle all day. For Beatrice Matiash, this is not merely a posting on her very popular Instagram account, but a way of life. To learn how her company, Tashka by Beatrice, not only survived but actually thrived during the pandemic, we caught up with her in her New Jersey office.
Even as a small child growing up in Brooklyn, New York, Beatrice had an affinity for color—lots of color. “Where I grew up, many people wore black or dark clothes, and I thought they should accessorize with color,” she reminisces. “I have always loved color. Color is happy and it makes people happy. There is strength in color.”
But “happy” colors are only part of her story. She was also attracted to fashion and design. So, it’s not surprising that the young woman attended New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, for a B.A. in Fashion Buying and Merchandising. She also took classes in designing jewelry, handbags, and “a little of everything.”
After graduation, she joined Federated Merchandising (now Macy’s Inc.) working in product development for dress accessories—mostly scarves, sunglasses, and hats. “It was a tremendous experience working with graphic designers to create colorful patterns for scarf layouts. I also loved working closely with the factories, sourcing materials, researching trends and, best of all, seeing our products come to life.”
colorful sweatshirt.
After a couple of years, Beatrice was hired away by DKNY where she worked as merchandise manager for handbags. “It was there that my passion for bags really began.” And where the seeds of her own company sprouted. On her own time, while commuting into the city to work, she began crocheting handbags in colorful Italian yarns. Soon, she was making them for friends and a few local stores. “One day, a large order came in, so I needed to find people to help me.” She turned to friends and family, and her company was formed—Tashka by Beatrice. “Tashka is the word for handbag in Hungarian,” she explains.
After a couple of years, Beatrice was hired away by DKNY where she worked as merchandise manager for handbags. “It was there that my passion for bags really began.” And where the seeds of her own company sprouted. On her own time, while commuting into the city to work, she began crocheting handbags in colorful Italian yarns. Soon, she was making them for friends and a few local stores. “One day, a large order came in, so I needed to find people to help me.” She turned to friends and family, and her company was formed—Tashka by Beatrice. “Tashka is the word for handbag in Hungarian,” she explains.
In the spring of 2000, she left handbags and launched her jewelry company, keeping the same name. “I wanted to design colorful jewels that one dresses for,” explains Beatrice. Set in gold and silver in unexpected color combinations, her designs range from polished to playful, while her gems range from muted pastels to bright primaries. These demi fine™ pieces were often limited editions and one-of-a-kind. In addition to jewelry, she drew on her fashion roots to begin making special fabrics with gemstone motifs. Among the first items to “accessorize her jewels” were gembrellas—umbrellas featuring striking and dramatic gem patterns.
Sales were mostly wholesale through trade shows and a network of retailers. She also did trunk shows on high-end cruises for four years. Her website targeted stores and included a catalog but no pricing as retailers warned that her products would be dropped if she sold directly to clients from the site.
Yet, she could feel the industry was changing. More stores lowered their wholesale opening orders and others demanded memo. “We were not prepared to place our jewelry on consignment. It was something we could not do.”
Then the pandemic hit. “We were paralyzed for several weeks,” she laments. “There was so much uncertainty and people could not find masks.” Since Beatrice had the gemstone-motif fabric, she quickly tooled up to make masks and advertised them on Instagram and Facebook. “We sold out immediately. Our first shipments went out in early April. We ramped up production and were shipping 50-100 packages a day for the first few months. It was crazy busy.” She came out with new designs every week to meet demand. “An unexpected surprise was that the masks were attracting new customers for my jewelry,” she says. Because so many people were hurt by the pandemic, Beatrice donated a portion of the mask proceeds to five charities to give back to those in need, especially children.
With retail sales having fallen off in the early months of the pandemic, Beatrice decided to leave wholesale behind and concentrate on direct sales. In September 2020, she launched her own e-commerce site. She also expanded her non jewelry business with other gem-oriented fashion items such as sweatshirts, aprons, scarves, leggings, pillows, handbags, bedding, hair accessories, and more. She even found a new way to replace face masks sales. “We recently launched eye masks, and they are doing well, too.”
Probably, the most popular fashion items are pajamas. “When we launched them, we sent them to several jewelry influencers, and each time they wore them, sales went through the roof. PJs remain one of our bestsellers.”
Every month, the company comes out with new items, including collaborations, which Beatrice is starting to focus on. “There are many dynamic projects on the horizon,” she adds, “one of which is custom artwork on our original gem backgrounds.” These include working with Cheery Designs to create custom hand-drawn pets on the gemmy backdrops.
Jewelry still remains an important part of her business. While demi-fine™ pieces continue to play a major role, she is moving upmarket with finer stones set in 18K gold. “Since the pandemic, we are doing more custom work. Clients come to us for special stones, which we have cut for them and then create the design.”
“It has certainly been a trying year for the world,” she sighs, adding “and I am super grateful that we were able to transition to e-commerce. Without a website and focusing on retail, we could not have survived the pandemic.”
Today, Tashka by Beatrice has not only survived but is thriving. Beatrice Matiash dipped the pandemic in glitter and her company sparkles brighter every day.
Tashkabybeatrice.com Photos are courtesy of Tashka by Beatrice.
