(Jose)
The year was 2001. I had just entered a partnership with a leather manufacturer in Los Angeles, California, to create JOED. Nyovee was designing for Hollywood Trading Company (HTC) as well as creating jewelry for celebrity clients on the side. We worked together for years manufacturing and designing leather accessories. Both of us ended up starting our own accessory lines. We became competitors but also good friends and our lines did very well including being featured in magazines, movies, television and coveted by the Hollywood elite.
(Nyovee)
Life happened. Graduations, births, kids growing up, I had a baby and took a break to raise my daughter. We kept in touch and I even designed a few accessories for Jose’s line “ J. Urbina” in 2011. Fast forward to 2017. What happens when two designer friends of 16 years meet for lunch after not seeing each other in five years? Our creative minds started collaborating over margarita’s and tacos and that’s pretty much how Royal Kratos was born.
(Jose)
We knew we had something very cool on our hands. My line, J. Urbina has a very biker swanky sensibility and Nyovee leans more towards an ethnic bohemian style. The combination of design sensibility creates a unique, elegant, yet edgy fashion forward line.
(Nyovee)
Jose had a lot of leftover pieces of leather that were laying around that he was saving because he didn’t have the heart to throw them out. I was making jewelry and saving the scraps of metal in a bin to be recycled. In the past, we had always been conscious about maximizing yields on materials and limiting waste but inherently we knew we could do more. That is how Royal Kratos mission came into being. We wanted our line to have a luxury stamp in the fashion world, yet we needed to make a real fashion statement as well. We started upcycling the leather for our samples and witnessed the birth of our eco-luxury brand.
THE MISSION
Our mission is to convey that high-end brands can still be environmentally conscious while maintaining a luxury status. Most of our material (metal or leather) is either recycled, repurposed or upcycled. We try to use every inch of it. All metal scraps are saved and melted down and recycled.
The Royal Kratos line is designed and handmade in Los Angeles, CA. Abundant attention goes into assuring each piece is created with the highest standards while preserving a handmade appeal. Additionally, we want to be positive in everything we do including our employee relationships. Royal Kratos is a family of artists that do impeccable workmanship and care deeply about the brand, it’s mission and each other.
Royal Kratos is powerfully progressive brand that aims to make a fashion statement. Literally.