About Mylène Bernard:

Born in Paris, France, Mylène spent her childhood in Guadeloupe where women liked to compete in wearing the most beautiful, elegant, and eye-catching outfits. It is from the island's customs and tropical lifestyle that she developed her desire for warm and colorful materials.

She returned to Paris to finish her studies and later took a job with Air France, but after a few years she grew restless in a position that offered little in the way of a creative outlet. After marrying, she began to think about changing direction and during a short stint in the southern French city of Antibes, with its colorful countryside, her love of decoration emerged.

In the mid-1990's Mylène moved with her husband and two young daughters to Montreal, Canada where she was able to realize her dream of becoming an Interior Designer. She obtained a degree with Honors from LaSalle College, one of the most famous design schools in Quebec. Now, she was free to unleash her creativity using her unique taste and perfectionism for beauty. She began transforming ordinary rooms into extraordinary ones through the use of color, texture, moving wall, etc. This was not a job, it was a pleasure.

Here she created MilyDesign, her interior design business, and for the next five years worked as an Interior Designer with a growing list of regular customers. It was also during this period that Mylène was initiated to jewelry crochet and the woven wire technique at the Saidye Bronfman Center for Arts.

When her husband was transferred to San Francisco, she became a full time stay at home mom to help settle everyone in. During this time, she focused on jewelry making, taking several courses at the Revere Academy, the Sharon Art Studio, Beadissimo, and reading jewelry design books of all types. Her personal technique quickly evolved and what was once a hobby soon morphed into an addiction. Encouraged by her family and friends, she transformed this passion into a business creating MilyGems.

Mylène's jewels reflect the many cultures of her travels, the warmth and vibrancy, inspired by Guadeloupe and the South of France, the sophistication, straight from Paris.