Designer Susan Alexandra Finds Inspiration in Childhood Delight

Breaking bread with Susan Korn, the designer behind Susan Alexandra. Take a look at where she finds design inspiration and her love for miniature items.

Welcome back to Breaking Bread, Brightland's new editorial series that fosters dialogues with creatives, makers and artists who inspire us. Our second installment features Susan Korn, the designer behind Susan Alexandra, a jewelry and accessories brand based in New York City. Susan's bright, whimsical designs are joyful and reminiscent of childhood imagination. Her colorful creations have been seen on everyone from fashion editors to Gigi Hadid and Dakota Fanning, and have likely appeared in your Instagram feed. Susan has a wonderful collection of mini items in her home and that she has designed, so she was a natural fit to celebrate the launch of Brightland's Mini Essentials.

How do you describe what you do?
I make pretty things!

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
I pool a LOT from the things that made me shriek with delight when I was little.

What design / fashion trends are you excited about for fall?
I really really don't like fall and wish we could pretend it didn't exist...A trend I love, fall aside is anything that makes sense for tredding through foggy moors a la Jane Austen.

What are your favorite mini things in your home?
I love the mini plate of fish I bought in Naples and the fruit cart I bought in Mexico City. I have sooo many minis that I can't even remember where I find them.

How did you decide to start creating miniature food sculptures?
Food is my favorite subject matter for art and during the first months of quarantine, there were so many foods I was craving so I decided to bring those foods to me! I posted them online and was making hundreds for friends who were hungry too!

What dishes currently nourish you?
I have recently found that I'm able to eat bread again after years of maintaining a monastic GF lifestyle. I've been eating bread, olive oil, good tomatoes, Maldon sea salt, basil and anchovies almost every day for a month.

Where do you get cooking inspiration (certain cookbooks, sites, etc)?
I feel like when I cook, just like when I make art, that I'm connected to a higher power. The combinations come to me.

What does “living in a golden state” mean to you?
Those moments when I feel a combination of absolute trust and like the only moment that is real is the one we're in.