Meet Our Design Team

Diana Widmaier-Picasso — Chief Artistic Director

Sunjoo Moon — Chief Creative Officer

Art historian Diana Widmaier-Picasso and multifaceted designer Sunjoo Moon met when they were both living in Paris and have been close friends for decades. They joined forces for Menē, combining their extensive experience in their respective fields of art and design, and worked closely with skilled craftsmen to fully comprehend and utilize the qualities of pure gold and platinum to create timeless pieces.

Diana and Sunjoo draw inspiration from antiquity when developing designs in pure metal; artists have been paying homage to gold since the beginning of time, the Ancient Egyptians believed that it conferred immortal power, and there is no doubt that the dynamic Menē design team has enhanced both the modern and spiritual values of 24 karat precious metals.

FAVORITE PIECE OF MENĒ JEWELRY

DIANA: Split Ring
I love the Split Ring and wear it all the time. It’s very sexy and can dress up any outfit, taking it from casual to glamorous in an instant.

SUNJOO: Signet Ring
I've been wearing our Signet Ring around the clock. I feel I have a special connection to it as it’s the first piece I ever tried on.

APPROACH TO DESIGN

DIANA:
Wearing jewelry needs to be a pleasurable and beautiful experience; pieces should fit like a velvet glove and contour perfectly to the body.

SUNJOO:
Finding the perfect balance between aesthetic and wearability. Jewelry should live on you and not walk in front of you. For jewelry to be timeless and modern, it needs to be functional. Modern line, movement, and volume is found in anything with aesthetic depth.

EXPERIENCE & SOURCE OF PASSION

DIANA:
I’m an art historian specializing in modern art and sculpture as well as the work of my grandfather, Pablo Picasso. He, just like most great artists, produced several pieces of jewelry for his lovers, children, and friends. I love the sense of intimacy inherent in a piece of jewelry. People used to keep pieces in the same family forever and would pass them on from generation to generation. Nowadays, people tend to treat jewelry as disposable items. I want Menē to help bring that sense of tradition into the present – one in which someone is so attached to a piece that they want to keep and wear it forever.

SUNJOO:
I have decades of professional experience as a European-trained multifaceted designer in luxury goods ranging from accessories, shoes, women’s and men’s luxury ready-to-wear, including Missoni and LVMH’s Kenzo brand.

I also have a personal attachment to jewelry design, which includes spending my childhood designing jewelry with my mother. I think this is where I developed my natural curiosity and obsession for detail and quality. These are things I apply to designing for Menē every day. I’m incredibly passionate about what we’ve created and am excited for what we’re going to create next.