After years of frequenting picturesque Jackson Hole, Wyo., jewelry designer Mimi So is setting up shop in the upscale ski town.
The designer's new spot is located on a main artery—South King St.—and the space combines the jeweler’s New York City-fied sophistication with the mountain town’s rugged natural beauty. It sits inside an historically significant log cabin that was built in 1948 and "was moved from Glenwood Street to this spot during a development phase in Jackson Hole," So explains. "It’s owned by [home-grown retailer] Belle Shoppes, which has been here for 30 years. Before Belle Shoppes owned it, it housed the town's first female clothing shop, called Ellen G. Walker, for 35 years. Now the baton is being passed on to me."
Inside Mimi So's new Jackson Hole boutique
Jewelry designer Mimi So
The 1,500-square-foot store boasts rustic charm with a metropolitan edge. “The shop’s style is very similar to our New York City store—with wood, cowhide, trees, and minimal graphic décor and our brand DNA's black-and-white theme," says So. "It was easy to transform the cabin to cozy."
So first came to Jackson Hole with her then-young family. While a winter lover at heart, she didn’t ski initially, but has since come to enjoy skiing in the winter and the charm of the mountainous region year-round. Her 20-year-plus dream for a retail location in Jackson Hole intensified after she designed and launched her Jackson Collection, inspired by the resort town, in 2007.
Mimi So 18k gold and diamond "Jackson" drops
So's store decor is rugged-meets-metropolitan!
The collection "brought out my graphic design background," she says. "I had fun with the juxtaposition of shapes and daring compositions suspended in air joining positive and negative space together in fashionable wearability,” The most popular motif in the collection is the aerial view of the majestic Teton Mountains. The store, So says, will surely inspire new Jackson Hole pieces.
Additionally, So will offer one-on-one private store appointments complete with champagne and caviar (or matcha tea service!). But all customers will get So’s undivided attention: “The retail landscape has challenges and shortfalls for finding staff, so I am manning it myself to get it up and running," she says. "My husband and kids [now in their 20s] are asking when I'm coming back and I replied, ‘I only bought a one-way ticket!'” she says with a laugh.
Mimi So 18k gold and diamond "Jackson" necklace
Mimi So's Jackson Hole Recommendations:
Horseback riding at Spring Creek Ranch
Dave Hansen Whitewater for whitewater rafting (and dog sledding in the winter).
Restaurants: King Sushi, Kampai, Annie’s Thai Kitchen, Code Red Tacos, and Trio for pizza and burgers "that even a New York foodie will love."
