Meet Luka/Isa Gidwani Monterrubio | VENITULZ

We had the good fortune of connecting with Luka/Isa Gidwani Monterrubio and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Luka/Isa, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
I started off by selling clothes on depop in 2018, and during that time, I met many people who made and sold jewelry. I really love to express myself through accessorizing and knew that I wanted to pursue crafting my own jewelry and accessories, but did not know where to start. Then, in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and I had a lot of time to myself and to explore my creative needs. So in December 2020, I finally purchased some simple tools and beads and as I improved my jewelry-making skills, I decided to start selling my creations through Etsy. I am largely inspired by things that I love such as the colors purple, black, and white, myself, animals, eyes and tears, stars and space, anime, abstract shapes, and my QTBIPOC and Latine communities. The name of my business, VENITULZ (pronounced veh-knee-toolz), is a merging of my deadname “Itzel” and “Venus”, which I created probably around 2017 or so. The meaning is deeply personal to me, because it represents much of the growth that I have experienced since then.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My work primarily consists of necklaces and earrings, but I have also been starting to make more keychains, phonecharms, and glasses chains. I feel what distinguishes VENITULZ from other businesses is my brand’s identity, which is truly consistent with the use of the colors of purple, black, and white as well as the use of stars and glass beads. I like to create simple jewelry that can be worn with anything but also adds a bit more to a person’s expression of their personality and taste.

In order to get to the point that I have reached today, as VENITULZ, I really just had to practice and experiment A LOT. I
always experiment with different materials and techniques in order to find what I truly love, and this honestly always changes. Even though I love to work with purples a lot, I also do still keep in mind that customers enjoy other colors so I do try to experiment with other colors like blue, pink, green, yellow and orange. It hasn’t been easy to get out of my comfort zone, but I try to do so in a way that I will still be satisfied with what I make. My goal is always to love my pieces before I consider how other people will feel about them, and try not to be too influenced by external sources.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take my best friends on the 2 and 4 so we can explore different parts of LA, all the way from Westwood (even though I don’t particularly like any part of the West of Los Angeles), to Downtown LA where my heart resides. Those were the buses I took growing up, even though the lines themselves changed recently, it would be cool to show them my trips from my high school to my home, which took 2 hours long. I would show them all the places I grew up, even though they have all changed drastically due to gentrification and I actually no longer really visit them due to these changes and the fact my communities are almost entirely gone. I would also take them to get pupusas, maduros, chile relleno burritos, and tacos because my besties from the UK and Malaysia haven’t really tried Mexican or Salvadoran foods.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The owner of @shopdiscoblitz on instagram, Emylia, was a huuuge influence on why I felt motivated to begin creating my own jewelry!! They were one of the first people I ever met on depop back in 2018, and seeing them making and selling jewelry really inspired me and made me want to give it a shot. In my eyes, she was one of the OG jewelry-makers on depop.

Furthermore, my friends, partner and family have supported me a lot throughout my entire journey of VENITULZ. My baby sisters especially give me the confidence I need to continue my work :~)

Website: https://venitulz.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/venitulz/