Zoë Frantz
Edited by Leah Champagne
Atélier Melrai has quickly made a name for itself as a slow-made, stylish brand which specializes in “one of one” pieces of statement jewelry. Known best for their spikey silver seashell necklaces and similar accouterments, Atélier Melrai has been present at multiple McGill pop-ups, including with COF, and many other markets around Montréal. For this month’s designer spotlight, I was lucky enough to sit down and speak with Melissa Rainone, the creative genius behind it all.
Melissa began by telling me about her wonderful brand’s beginnings. Born and raised in Montréal, she grew up in a very creative household. In fact, she mentioned that she comes from a family of jewelers, including her mother and her aunt, and how there would always be a big bowl of beads on the table after dinner, and the family would have a tête-à-tête where they would just bead and get creative. Needless to say that while Melissa’s earliest memories of designing jewelry were at around 13 years old, she no doubt began long before this. Furthermore, jewelry design is something that her family passes down to each generation. Melissa has always been inspired by the ocean, especially oysters. So, having always focused on ethically sourcing her materials, she has sought to create a mermaid, coquette, and Marie Antoinette-inspired brand which caters to those who love bold, carefully crafted pieces. She has been greatly inspired by the brands Ulysse D, Soie Lait, and Picante Jewelry, as well as Monies, which uses giant chunks of coral. She also mentioned incorporating adornments more than jewelry into her everyday style, and loves her statement pieces the most out of all of the procust that she has created. In general, she seeks to provide people with an affordable and accessible range of intricately crafted pieces.
Atélier Melrai was, like many things, a byproduct of the pandemic. Melissa had been designing and creating long before this, but she began selling during Covid. She explained how at the time, she was an animal nutritionist and was on maternity leave; but when her leave ended, she was looking for something else. She then began making mask chains out of vintage beads and started selling them. She remarked that, because of Covid, people were buying these like nobody’s business, so it was quite lucrative for her. This was when she began to realize that her passion for creating could really become something bigger than just a hobby; she then launched her online marketplace, called Atélier Melrai, which sold mask chains, but also vintage clothes. She explained that this was her original vision of the brand, that is, an “umbrella” marketplace which sold a range of products, and hopefully expand this to include other small, local businesses in Montréal.
Over time, Melissa realized that she wanted to hone in on jewelry specifically for her brand, and put the vintage clothing piece on the back burner. This was at the timeher brand skyrocketed – she began soldering in September of 2023, and sold her pieces at Puces Pop market, which did extremely well. At this time she was perfecting her “juicy pearls,” which were part of her “kitchen sink” necklaces; these necklaces had, as the name promises, a melange of all of the beads Melissa had been collecting since she was a child. To be clear, soldering is a melting technique which allows one to form silver into different shapes, kind of like people do with clay or something traditionally more malleable. This technique was used on many of the pieces Atélier Melrai sold with COF.
According to Melissa, the name Atélier Melrai was created with the help of her partner. “I’m definitely a creative person, but when it came to coming up with a name for the brand,” she started, “I was stumped.” She explained that once her mask chains were selling so well, she knew she had to actually put a name to her product. Then, her husband suggested that she combine the first three letters of her first name, that is Mel, and the first three letters of her last name, that is Rai, and add Atélier to signify it as a marketplace. She also strongly believes in the power of manifestation, because she recalls visiting her grandparents in Mile-End as a child and wishing to work there as an adult. Now an adult herself, she sells at Ribotti Vintage in Mile-End, along with her online store.
For Melissa, her drive comes from her family, because she is the first to sell her pieces to the public. Coming from a family of self-made individuals, this has made her parents extremely proud and has also inspired her mother to get back into beading. In addition to this, Melissa explained that she absolutely loves being in a constant state of creation; “I’ve worked a lot of different jobs, done a lot of different things,” she told me. “I was just getting depressed because I knew the 9 to 5 job was not for me, and I did not feel very fulfilled.” For her, getting to be creative each day was the answer and she feels much happier and fulfilled because of it now. Finally, she feels driven by her extremely supportive and loyal clientele, saying that she feels as though she “owes it to them” to keep creating and seeing them happy.
Ideally, Atélier Melrai will become a long-term thing for Melissa. She wants to open up her own studio/atélier space, and expand into this marketplace she previously envisioned so she can give back to the brands that have helped her along the way. She mentioned that Soie Lait was very big in helping her navigate the world of small businesses in Montréal after that first pop-up at Puces Pop in broadening her views as to what she could make. She is extremely entrepreneurial and knew that she never wanted to work for someone else. She no doubt has the drive and talent to do all of this and more.
If you are interested in checking out Atélier Melrai (I know I will!), Melissa has sold at Dodo Bazaar, numerous pop-ups around Montréal, Puces Pop, Mural Festival, and currently sells, as mentioned, at Ribotti Vintage and online, as well as at Chaque-Mois in August. You can also find her at the links below:
Where to find Atélier Melrai:
- Instagram: @ateliermelrai
- For inquiries: ateliermelrai@gmail.com
- Brand Website: www.ateliermelrai.com
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