Having grown up with a house full of sisters and played many childhood games of dress-up, Erin Tracy turned her affinity for dressing like the person you want to become into a full-time career.
“We’d take the catalogs for department stores that would come in the mail and cut out pictures of rings and necklaces to tape on our hands and necks,” Tracy recalls. “I am the middle child of three girls, so there was always a lot of jewelry in our house.”
The future founder of Erin Tracy Bridal and Fine Jewellery particularly loved bold statement jewelry and engagement rings. In high school in Mississauga, Ontario, she was known for her huge costume rings, some of which she found at vintage fairs.
As a teen, Tracy did filing and office work for her entrepreneur dad and worked as a receptionist in a physiotherapy office. When it came to selecting a career to pursue, she was torn between who she wanted to be artistically and what she thought would be a safer bet.
“I was debating going to Simon Fraser University for forensics or the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD),” she says. “I even flew out there to tour the [Simon Fraser] campus. But I chose OCAD. I have been creative my entire life, and that is where my real joy comes from. So I followed my heart and went to art school.”
At OCAD, students have to pick a major by their second year, and Tracy opted for advertising. She felt a disconnect to that choice, but she wasn’t sure how to resolve it. That changed in 2003, her last year in college. Working for a tuxedo rental company, she witnessed the excitement around planning a wedding.
“While trying to figure out if I should drop out or carry on, I saw that [OCAD] was offering a summer jewelry design and fabrication program, so I decided to give it a try and just have some fun,” Tracy says. “After two weeks of the jewelry classes, I knew this was where I was supposed to be. I loved working with my hands and being creative. I found my medium for creating what was in my head.”
She worked out of her apartment for the first two years following graduation, as she figured out what kind of jewelry she wanted to design. By 2006 she had established Erin Tracy Bridal and Fine Jewellery and had her first studio in Toronto. She’s moved twice since then, within the city, and says she enjoys collaborating with clients and turning their ideas into reality.
Her latest collections, Chroma and Empire, speak to her love of mixing materials and putting things together in unexpected ways. Chroma is about pure color, using gemstones with intense hues and faceted shine. Empire embraces the look and feel of stately elegance yet has a current vibe.
“My jewelry philosophy is to create modern heirlooms—classic with a twist,” Tracy says.
Top: Erin Tracy chose jewelry as the medium for expressing her creativity. (Photos courtesy of Erin Tracy Bridal and Fine Jewellery)
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