isleempress

Aloha and welcome!
The story of Isle Empress started back in 2000, when I first caught the travel bug. I graduated high school, left 3 days later and started back packing around Europe by myself. Experiencing new cultures expanded my horizons. I fell in love with the unknown beauty of the world and longed to see more. After my first trip I knew I was going to be a gypsy for life. I went home after the summer and started college, well knowing travel days had only begun. I studied psychology, fashion design, and general Education in Norther California but it wasn't long until I went back to Europe for another endless summer in Ibiza Spain. I then decided to not come home for a year and a half. After a winter in Holland, a spring in South East Asia, and those 3 summers in Spain, I was hooked.

Eventually I made it back to the US and finished my degree, only to leave right after to wander again. I explored all the countries in Central America (except Panama) and some islands in the Caribbean. After that I worked my way down to South America, and eventually on to Africa and Eastern Europe.

The combination of my shopping addiction and my passion for fashion I couldn't help but fall in love with all the tribal statement jewelry and ethnic textiles I found along my journeys. So as I chased the sun, following cultural festivals, and on a mission to see all of the 7 World Wonders, I started treasure seeking and selling my jewelry and global finds along my way.

In Mexico, I collected amber and sterling silver. In South America, I started importing Peruvian textiles, turquoise and other semi-precious stone jewelry. In Asia, I fell in love with the Hill Tribe pure silver jewelry, and vibrant textiles. In Bali, I collected beautiful Balinese silver, shell jewelry, amazing art, handicrafts, and I designed some clothes using their traditional Batik fabrics. In India, I traveled far and wide to little villages collecting antique Afghani lapis and other gemstone jewelry. In Morocco, I imported more unique treasures like lamps, teapots, leather goods and of course, more jewelry. Back to South America for more textiles, and then Brazil for bikinis. The list goes on...Turkey, Egypt, Croatia, Greece, Kenya, Tanzania… and so eventually evolved Isle Empress.

Being a sunshine gal, living for the love of travel and warm tropical islands, in 2003 I moved to the beautiful island of Maui, Hawaii.

In 2009 I took an opportunity to open a little shop on the North Shore in Paia, Maui. That is when Isle Empress went from being a traveling life style, to an actual store front. I combined local artists designs with all my exotic imports and eventually built Isle Empress Boutique.

My lease was for only 2 years, and after 2 floods I saw it as an omen. I was getting itchy feet to go travel again, so when my lease was up, I took that as an opportunity to pack it up and go back to my wandering ways.

Now, being a new generation where the web is the simplest way to build a business, and a BIG thanks to Etsy, I can now expand my clientele base from a tiny little island in the middle of Pacific Ocean, to a world wide store!

My most recent adventure was to Senegal in West Africa where I personally designed a new Ankara clothing collection with the traditional African Wax Prints. Be sure to check them out, and stay tuned for the new Hill Tribe collection I'm working on next!

I plan to continue traveling as long as my little gypsy feet will allow, so be sure to follow Isle Empress new travel blog and check back often, as it will only continue to flourish with many new collections to come!