Keron Pico Wood was that banker – you know the ones that put on their Sunday-go-to-meeting best every day of the work week – and he doesn’t shy away from this fact. He owns it. But even dressed to the nines, he always felt he needed a little something extra to pull his “sharpness” together. A self-professed lover of fashion, and a GQ Magazine collector, he said he noticed that the men photographed always wore a lapel pin for that finishing touch. He had a “lightbulb” moment, and like the old overused adage goes, the rest is history for Wood and the PICO Brand, which he describes as “the feel good” fashion brand.
The PICO Brand is comprised of handcrafted lapel flowers, pins and pocket squares, all made by Wood himself, the company’s creative director and founder. They are accessories that he said put the finishing touch to an ensemble.
“When you wear a Picolapelle pin, the confidence that you feel is different… It’s incomparable. And also, when you wear a Picolapelle pin, it’s a conversation starter. People look at this pin. It’s unique. It’s original. They want to know where you got it from. They love it. They talk about it. So, your pin does the talking even before you have to,” said Wood.
Wood said the PICO Brand and Picolapelle pride themselves on three ideals – luxury, quality and originality – especially as a brand that was the result of his love for fashion.
“I was a GQ Magazine collector. I noticed pins on the guys’ suits and thought they were pretty cool, and I grew a fascination for it. I also realized it was something that was missing in our market,” said Wood.
“I started my professional career in banking, and being a banker, you have to be well-dressed. And the love for fashion, not only from the GQ Magazine, but having to be professionally dressed in the banking arena… I was the overdressed bank teller,” he recalled. “I always wanted to be extremely stylish, while providing excellent customer service in my banking days, and adding that Picolapelle pin just gave me that boost of confidence to my style during my banking days.”
He founded the lifestyle brand and fashion accessory company in November 2014.
“I was like, you know what…I think I want to make this. I learned how to sew one design, and from that one design I have about seven different styles now in the portfolio.”
He also knew he wanted to fill the void in the Bahamian market.
Wood took sewing lessons to create his first design, which he called “Bloom” – a handsewn chiffon fabric flower.
From that first creation, he said, the inspiration came from God for the remainder of his unique, original designs.
Wood now has a wide array of designs made with different materials, from wood, fabric, stones and crystals – the Picolapelle Lightbourne; Picolapelle Moncur; hand-carved Picowoods (blue marlin, turtle, seahorse, flamingo, crab, conch, pineapple, airplane, sand dollar, star, anchor, eagle and leaf); Picolapelle JW Starfish; Picolapelle Jadore; Picolapelle Flash; and Picolapelle Elyett.
He added pocket squares to the brand two years after launching.
The creative director stressed that his accessories are not only for men.
Picolapelle products are now the accessory and finishing touch of choice for everyone – women, men and children – who have a discerning eye for fashion.
“When I launched, I knew it was a male accessory, but I wanted women to not feel left out, so when I launched, I launched with a female model [and] I was the male model so the brand could be launched and marketed as unisex. So, the brand is for males, females and kids,” he said.
The person that will wear a Picolapelle pin, he said, is stylish and classic.
No matter the function – whether going to work, a wedding day, a child’s christening, prom, attending an event where a person is required to look sharp – he said if a person wants to be stylish and sharp, that the finishing touch is where PICO comes in.
“If you’re going to be getting married, your groomsmen are going to need to be wearing Picolapelle pins which last a lifetime and are the perfect gift for groomsmen. Ladies, when they go to work, they’re all dressed up and want to add that perfect touch – this is it. If they’re going to any function and wearing a blazer, they want to add a Picolapelle pin to add that classic touch. You feel complete with that pin on,” he said.
Wood’s lapel pins and accessories are made to order, and can be customized. Turnaround time is between 24 to 48 hours. For a large order, he said he needs at least a week’s notice.
The company’s name is actually his middle name, which he said he despised because he was teased incessantly in high school for having “such a weird or awkward name so-to-speak”, but which he decided to embrace when he launched the company.
Wood said he got stuck with the unique middle name, he thinks, because his dad was a fan of (former professional) baseball player Jeffrey Mark Pico, and his mom was a fan of Peco peanut candy.
Wood’s catalog can be viewed at the website www.thepicobrand.com. He can be messaged at his social media handles which are all at thepicobrand. The range for the handcrafted accessories is $25 to $50.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/the-finishing-touch/
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