Rising Stars: Meet Celeste Roberts of Lakeside

Today we’d like to introduce you to Celeste Roberts

Hi Celeste, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
As far back as I can remember, I have had a knack for creativity in the arts. Born in Mexico and raised by the border allowed me to be culturally diverse and appreciative of international design.

After high school I traveled the world and volunteered throughout the years in different organizations from living at Casa del Migrante for human rights one summer to helping create a mosaic with architect James Hubbel at Colegio La Esperanza School in Tijuana. I also curated art exhibits at Cultura de la Raza in Balboa Park with the common thread being in both art work and volunteering was by uplifting others thru art.

I put myself thru design school and was the first in my family to get BA in fine arts. Currently, I am a lead interior designer for a boutique design firm and have a creative small Latina women owned business of Azul Celeste Artisanal hat bar and design custom hats.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I came from a Mexican middle class family from Imperial Valley and if I wanted to go to college, I would have to find a way to do it myself. I moved out on my own to San Diego, I got a full time job, and started looking at art schools. so when I toured Design Institute of San Diego and realized it was FIDM accredited for interior design, I signed up. There I learned about textiles, block printing, silk screening, materials and color theory.

As far as my hat bar business, I wanted to have something that had my own signature design style and incorporate my love for textiles, so after visiting family in Texas and seeing all the hats I immediately saw them as walking blank canvases that I could creatively tap into.

I saved some money, bought a variety of hats and created a hat bar display with a mix of vintage and new hat accessories, and did my first pop up event 2 1/2 years ago. Ever since then, I have created one of kind hats for clients locally, nationally and internationally.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As I mentioned, I was one of the first to create a hat bar in East County of San Diego, I have had pop ups in Alpine, Lakeside, Flynn Springs, El Cajon, Ramona, and La Mesa to name a few.

Hat Bars are like “Build a Bears” for hats, you can buy a hat or bring a hat you already own to my pop ups and you select accessories, hat bands, iron branding, cards, hat pins and feathers to make your one if a kind hat design.

I stand out from other hat bars because most of my hat accessories, hat bands and hat bar kits to go for those who want to design their own at home are hand made from textiles, and materials I salvage.

I specialize in free hand artwork that I burn on hats without templates or machines. The designs of hats I create are from simple ball caps, suede hats, to bridal couture collections. Most recently I have started to paint on hats as well.

I am very proud of my artwork and the fact that, it has opened up the doors for me to collaborate with different partnerships. The latest partnership has been to be selected by Mor Furniture for their Designer Series in which an influencer takes a vignette space and merchandises a Mor Furniture collection with their own design aesthetic. My Designer Series for a dining room was a mixture of rustic and vintage finds with vintage textile as my inspiration. My second was a home office for a creative like myself and both spaces displayed hats.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Azul Celeste Artisanal doesn’t just design hats it’s a lifestyle that encompasses eco-friendly and sustainable design in fashion, as I mentioned the accessories are hand-made. For example, my hat bands are made from fabrics scraps or samples, the hat pins are made from broken vintage and new jewelry that otherwise would be going to the dumpster. My artistry in 5-10 years is to continue to take what someone would consider trash and repurpose it. The same will be applied to future Azul Celeste Artisanal collections whether it’s pillows, housewares, or clothing, these will all be from salvaged items to help lessen our trash.

Pricing:

• Painted Hats range $25-$45
• Accessorized hats range $45-$65
• Burned hats top or bottom brim range $75-$125

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/azulcelesteartisanal?igshid=MjEwN2IyYWYwYw==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/azulcelesteartisanal?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@azulceleste_artisanal?_t=8qloS18mWWB&_r=1

Image Credits
Mor Furniture