Hidden Gems: Meet Grace Nguyen of LOUPN

Today we’d like to introduce you to Grace Nguyen.

Hi Grace, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have always been drawn to fashion and jewelry. In my twenties before starting my own family and having babies, I would go to Unique LA in DTLA (now Unique Markets) every season and shop for unique handcrafted jewelry pieces made by local artists. I loved seeing the subtle brightness jewelry added to my hands, face, and my confidence.

They say what you were exposed to at age 7 is what you’re predisposed to be attracted to in the future. Sure enough at age seven, my mom owned a clothing shop in Korea, and her brother owned a jewelry shop.

As I was looking for opportunities to launch a business, I learned that there was a need to fill in the men’s market – most jewelry available to men were either very grungy, super blingy, very cheap, or too expensive. It was not easy to find clean, elevated, quality pieces at reasonable price points. Knowing that men’s fashion is becoming more diverse and unique, I decided to create LOUPN to give men more options to accessorize and create their personal looks. I thought it was as important for men as it is for women to feel cool, and stylish, and confident. I especially wanted to serve and highlight the minority men since I felt they were the ones who needed the confidence the most. It felt like it was the perfect fit between helping level up confidence, fulfilling my dreams of starting a business, and fashion!

As an immigrant from South Korea, during my teenage angst years, I looked to fashion and Korean fashion magazines as a creative outlet. I tried reading American magazines such as Vogue, Cosmopolitan, etc. but it was difficult to relate to all the non-Asian faces. At that time, and even today, it is not common to see Asian or minority faces in the mainstream media. As I launched LOUPN, I wanted to make sure that the under-represented audience can relate to LOUPN since our products were all about bringing confidence to those who needed it. I used Asian, Black, and mixed models to represent our brand so that we can help create role models for the minority youth. I added messages of hope and encouragement to all of our pieces to impact our audience in a positive way.

Now, we serve both men and women of all races and our audience is fairly diverse, but our initiatives are still to highlight and encourage the under-served communities. In the past couple of years of launching LOUPN, I have become friends with many of our clients and it brings me so much joy to see the progress they’re making in their lives and careers. I hope to continue to build relationships, encourage, and elevate the underserved communities.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with walking any unpaved roads, there are always struggles! Although I have worked in fashion in the past, not knowing the men’s space, I researched and worked without taking breaks to understand, build relationships, and break through in the market space. I became an obsessed workaholic.

However, working without breaks, working with blinders on came at a high price. I failed at maintaining a healthy relationship with my business partner, and my partner decided to leave the business. I had to learn from scratch how to stand alone as a business owner and manage double the workload, and manage my mental health.

During this challenging time, my family and friends, and my community really lifted me up. They volunteered to help fulfill orders, sell at pop-ups, design & build the website, dress our pieces on celebrities, write press releases, make connections, amplify & share, and much more. My community strengthened my motivation to stay focused on lifting the community through my brand.

We’ve been impressed with LOUPN, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
At LOUPN, our mission is to create a safe space for people to express themselves and encourage each other to improve daily.

We believe that what goes around comes around and we work to help our community flourish. Our promise is to provide quality jewelry to encourage self-expression and share stories of struggles & triumphs to empower and encourage.

We are third-generation jewelers and LOUPN was born with the mindset that less is more. Each piece is curated and handcrafted down to the finish. Our products are designed to last a lifetime, just like the relationships and confidence we build along the way. What’s better than that? Good pork belly is close, but we’d rather help a brother out.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
We launched during COVID-19, so we don’t know any better!

Pricing:

• Rings $95-225
• Bracelets $95-295
• Necklace $105-695
• Earrings $55-75

Contact Info:

• Website: https://loupn.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loupn_collection/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loupn.collection
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDrKvVqAwvkRDU8yk2gNVTA/featured

Image Credits
Personal photo by Sohyun Lee Campaign photos by Raul Romo