Elena Velez incorporates appreciation for the artisanal heritage of the American Midwest, epitomized by the metalsmith industry - a historically quintessential trademark of our hometown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The authenticity of our design process is paramount to the success of the work and is built on collaborative relationships with local artisans to revisit and re-contextualize iconic regional craftsmanship. A proponent of authentic process and creativity under constraint, our collections often incorporate found, salvaged, and site-specific materiality. Through an aggressively delicate aesthetic signature, the Elena Velez brand designs with the tactile sensibility of a maker who prioritizes functionality and utility over perfection or beauty, working beyond contemporary references to investigate the relationship between femininity and force. Our styling codes are anti beautiful, contemporary artisanal, industrial, and era agnostic. The brand thesis is the recontextualization of regional craftsmanship while sharing the stories of its makers. Our tone is divergent, anecdotal, artisanal, prescient, and steeped in contemporary anthropology.