Road to the Art & Wine Festival: Ruby Roxanne Cuffs Bring out the Girl in Everyone

There are many ways Scotts Valley designer Ruby Agresta measures her success—by the way her business is rapidly growing, by the number of thank you cards from celebrities she receives—but perhaps the most important is the way she makes people feel when they put on one of her handmade leather cuffs.

“All I want is to put a smile on someone’s face,” Agresta said. “I’m not looking for money or fame; I just want to add a bounce to someone’s step. That’s what makes me feel good.”

Agresta started her line of handcrafted leather cuffs, hairclips and headbands in 2008 after she accidently came across a leather store in Santa Cruz and knew she had to do something with the unique leathers she was seeing. But her penchant for designing and fashion goes way back.

“I was always a creative child,” she said. “I was just one of those kids who loved unique things. I used to create my own designs and jewelry—anything just to make it a little unique and different.”

As a young adult, Agresta was able to turn her passion into a job at Gottschalks doing visual display.

“I always loved Barbie dolls and my husband said, ‘Great, now you are getting paid to play with real Barbie dolls,’” Agresta laughed.

From there, she decided she wanted to make fashion a career so she enrolled in the Fashion Institute in San Francisco for design merchandising, where she graduated in the top of her class. That led her to a job with Surf City Coffee where she laid out the floor plan of one of their stores, and then to an internship with Macy’s Passport, an annual fashion show put on by the store in San Francisco to raise money for Aids awareness.

“I was in my 20s, working with celebrities and I loved it,” she said. “I didn’t want to be a designer though—but I loved creating things.”

And it wasn’t long before she was creating her own pieces and realizing that people wanted to buy them.

“I hate to waste, love to recycle and love vintage,” Agresta said. “One day my husband was throwing away some jeans and I said, ‘No you’re not!’ I decided to make a purse out of the pockets on the jeans.”

Agresta says the purses became popular among her friends who all wanted one and that led her to starting her first line of purses.

“A few stores picked them up, but they were so expensive for the handles and the materials, and my husband only had so many pockets,” she said. “I started thinking about other things I could make and I have always loved cuffs but could never find any, so I thought I could just make them myself.”

That is when she came across the leather store and knew she was headed in the right direction.

“First, I designed one for myself, then my friends all wanted one, and their friends wanted one,” she said.

And before long, she had a full-blown line of the custom cuffs, along with headbands and hair clips for children.

Her line has since taken off and more than just her friends have taken notice. After landing a gig to provide her cuffs for celebrity swag bags, her pieces have been seen on the arms of some pretty big celebrities and their children. Suri Cruise, Coco Arquette and Gwyneth Paltrow’s offspring have all sported the cuffs, along with adult celebrities such as Jordin Sparks, Nancy Odell, and most recently, James Durbin, who wore one of the cuffs during his performance at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk in May.

“It’s pretty incredible,” said Agresta, who has received numerous thank you cards from celebrities.

Though the celebrity love is amazing, Agresta says it is the support she has received from her friends and family in Scotts Valley that has meant the most.

“The local support I have is so amazing and I am so blessed. I love Scotts Valley, so I try to give back to this community as much as I can,” said Agresta, who donates cuffs to local fundraisers all year long. “I just think it’s important. When you help out others, good things happen.”

And it’s nothing but good times for Agresta as she continues to create her cuffs and expand her business.

“For me it’s about having fun and creating,” she said. “I love to put smiles on people’s faces. That’s what I want out of this. Who knows where this is going to go? I don’t, but I’m enjoying the ride while it lasts.”

Ruby Roxanne Designs will be at the Scotts Valley Art & Wine Festival, Aug. 13 & 14 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Skypark. The line is also available at , 5163 Scotts Valley Dr. For more information on Ruby Roxanne Designs, visit her Facebook page.