She was born surrounded by a dynasty of legendary artisans in Taxco, Mexico. Her uncles, known as “Los Castillo’s” since 1946, were famous master silversmiths. While her grandmother, fashion designer, Tachi Castillo, provided traveling European aristocracy and sophisticated fashion conscious American women with extravagant couture wardrobes.
Brenda’s formative years were an amalgamation of artists, materials, design, form, detail, and craftsmanship. A combination which continue to significantly influence her expressive styles as a designer still today.
Brenda opened her first signature boutique in Dallas, Texas in the summer of 1990. Soon she became a source for uniquely feminine and finely articulated silver jewelry. By 1992, “Brenda Schoenfeld” jewelry was selling throughout the United States in over 2,000 locations.
Brenda then evolved her brand in Florence, Italy where she began offering commissioned designs made of gold and precious gems by experienced artisans in Florence. These uniquely crafted works of wonder effortlessly express Brenda’s passions in her native land of silver or of gold in Florence.
During her time in Florence, Brenda also began designing, creating, and restoring personal Villas in Tuscany alongside her lifelong friends. The Villa designs allowed her to go beyond her timeless creations made of silver and gold, and reshape her artistic mindset by developing unique objects, moods, and an entirely new array of collections.
After the last 18 years in Florence, Italy, Brenda has returned to her beloved United States. The country that nurtured her entrepreneurial dreams, gave her confidence, support, encouraged her self expression, and enthusiastically welcomed her as a young designer in 1989.
Brenda and her family have revitalized and renewed their devotion to design at her home away from home in Taxco, Mexico. Her family and her craftsman produce the culminations of her latest designs, balancing powerful forms of her vision with true passion and quality.
A second generation designer, born in Taxco, Mexico, where she grew up surrounded by an exotic environment filled with beautiful plants and animals, each piece she creates is an inspiration of her surroundings and a playful mixture of metals and natural elements such as, lapis lazuli, jasper, turquoise, malachite, onyx and alabaster.
Each handmade piece is as beautiful as it is functional and meant to be used.
Daughter of renowned Mexican silversmith Antonio Castillo, Emilia inherited the talent and ability to create. As a child growing up in her father’s workshops she found herself surrounded by talented master craftsmen, under the direction of these artists she mastered the techniques to work in silver and other metals.
At her workshops, her two daughters are now surrounded by their own environment of creativity. In 1992, Emilia was discovered by U.S. Chain Neiman Marcus, and has continued working with them to this date. Having already won numerous awards, her one of a kind pieces have come to be known by collectors worldwide. She has also been commissioned to create many works of art around the world, including the chapel of the Virgin of Guadalupe, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
Cristina Romo Castillo was born in Mexico City in 1986. She is part of the third generation of a silver family. At the age of 5 she made her first designs. Along with her mother, Emilia Castillo, Cristina fell in love for the work in silver: various techniques and a great motivation gave life to her first pieces. While she grew up and played at El Rancho, where her workshops would finally be, nature permeated her work and personality. Trees, insects, flowers and a river made her dream in her childhood. Therefore, in Cristina’s designs we find representations and interpretations of natural elements.
Eduardo Herrera Harfuch was born in Mexico City in 1984. He is an architect by profession and an apassionated jeweler. At the end of his studies, Eduardo became involved in various creative activities: furniture, construction, drawing and sculpture. In 2011 he founded his workshop in Taxco. There, thanks to the cultural legacy of the site, he became interested in crafts and silver work, thus entering the world of jewelry.His inspiration comes from the things he admires.