BK 50
SADE MIMS
Designer and founder, Edas
Jun 16, 2022
Philly-born and based in Bed-Stuy, Sade Mims began making her own bags and jewelry over a decade ago while studying at the Art Institute in Manhattan. She always harbored dreams of becoming an entrepreneur — “I used to say, ‘I’m going to be the Black Martha Stewart,’” she told Architectural Digest earlier this year — but couldn’t have guessed success would come so swiftly.
Almost immediately after founding her sustainable accessories brand, Edas (her first name spelled backward), in 2013, her eclectic wares went viral online. They’ve been worn by actors including Tessa Thompson and Laura Harrier, and they’re sold at Saks.
“Edas is a celebration of women and it’s an ode to the women that raised me and the women that brought me here, and have really paved the way in terms of my inspiration, but also just showing me that all things are possible and all things are tangible,” she told Hypebae last year.
Taking cues from nature’s lush colors and leaning into 1970s aesthetics, Mims crafts everything from groovy clutches to geometric earrings and brass-wire chokers to beaded bucket hats (made in collaboration with Cameron Tea) and handbags that evoke classic style with a decidedly 2022 twist. Recent trips to the Caribbean and Mexico have also influenced her designs.
“If I saw Chaka Khan in my stuff, I would flip,” she told W magazine. “I’m honored and I’m excited and geeked up about everything that has come my way and everything that has happened. But Chaka Khan? That would take my breath away.”
Recently, she’s branched into furniture and plans to get into shoes. At her newish brick-and-mortar showroom in Williamsburg, one standout piece is a table that she collaborated on with a woodworker friend and that got her a shout-out in Architectural Digest. “I want to build a brand that’s multidimensional, where I get to express all of the creative things that feel important to me,” she told the magazine. “The furniture part is just an extension of that. So, starting it in my own space was like, ‘Why the fuck not?’”