This is an episode of the Glossy Fashion Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the fashion industry. More from the series →
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As chief creative officer of the 20-year-old jewelry brand Catbird, Leigh Batnick Plessner is always thinking of ways to bring the brand’s story to life through innovative products and collaborations. In 2015, for example, Catbird introduced the concept of “getting zapped,” the brand’s term for custom-fitting and welding one of its solid gold Forever Bracelets on a customer’s wrist.
Since joining Catbird a year after its 2004 launch, Plessner has worked alongside Rony Vardi, co-owner and founder of Catbird, to grow the Williamsburg-birthed brand beyond its first 225-square-foot retail store on Metropolitan Avenue. In 2006, they opened a second location on Bedford Avenue that quickly became Catbird’s flagship. Under Plessner’s creative direction, Catbird also evolved into a popular retailer of demi-fine jewelry.
After David Yurman alum Mo Sakurai joined the company as CEO in September 2022, Catbird has accelerated its growth mode, including by opening stores across the country. The company plans to open at least 10 more by 2026.
On the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast, Plessner discusses Catbird’s strategies for becoming a national brand and staying true to its mission: to create the ultimate luxury jewelry that can be repaired.
Highlights from the conversation, below, have been lightly edited for clarity.
The advantages and disadvantages of having an NYC-based brand
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“We were spoiled for so long. We didn’t really have to travel for trade shows to find materials or to find partners, and we carry so many independent designers. Many of them have been with us since the beginning, now 20 years ago, and they came from the Williamsburg community, which is full of makers. [New York] is a place where you can always be in constant conversation with the world. That’s why we love New York. It’s sort of priceless, but of course, there is also a price tag associated with priceless.”
Staying competitive in a growing market
“It’s important to let people know the materials that we work with because there are so many different materials being used [by other brands]. That’s going to impact the longevity of wear, and that’s going to impact the price point — and [that will impact] so many of the other aspects you may want to bear in mind when deciding where you’re going to buy [jewelry].”
Catbird’s approach to brick-and-mortar expansion
“At this point, we are definitely going to our big markets. We [recently] opened in San Francisco, finally, which we’re so excited about. … We’ve done a number of pop-ups there over the years. … I got to meet all kinds of customers on that first day who were wearing archival Catbird — all kinds of people always come out for the openings. We also have two stores in Los Angeles, which speaks to both the layout of that city and our customer base there.”
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Navigating the lab-grown vs. mine diamond conversation
“Over 95% of our diamonds are recycled, which means they are coming from jewelry that’s had a past life. That was an important breakthrough for us a number of years ago, and we’re really proud of that. We do have a small part of the collection that we offer in lab-grown, as well. We’ve done that for a good number of years, at this point. We sort of like to say, ‘Science can be so romantic,’ so we reserve that for some of our ‘Swans,’ which is what we call our engagement rings. Some of our larger carrots, we do those in lab-grown, as well.”
