COVER WOMAN CALLBACK
A YEAR OF GROWTH
Since Nina Berenato graced the Austin Woman cover in June 2019, she’s embraced new opportunities while staying true to her mission. BY CY WHITE
Berenato isn’t shy, possessing an honesty that isn’t exactly commonplace among the Hollywood elite. In fact, she’s as far away from Hollywood as you can get, yet her creations continue to capture the attention of some of the most powerful women in entertainment. Her most recent job again made headlines: providing Angelina Jolie with an eye-catching chin cuff she wore on one of her first red carpet appearances in almost a decade, for the premier of another Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster, Eternals. “I didn’t even know it was going to go on Angelina,” Berenato reveals. “I get a message from her stylist, Jason Bolden, who’s a very famous stylist. He’s got Alicia Keys, Gabrielle Union. He’s never worked with me before, but I’ve been emailing him for 10 years,” she says with a laugh. “Rachel, who works in the store with me, says, ‘Hey, you got this order from somebody, and they need it tomorrow.’ I say, ‘Who is it?’ and she says, ‘Jason Bolden.’” Her eyes light up, the memory still sending tremors of excitement through her. “They wanted all the face pieces, the chin cuff, and I thought it’s for one of his regular clients. Of course I would have no idea he’s working with Angelina Jolie because she hasn’t been out. So I’m scrolling through Instagram the next day, and I see a picture of Angelina Jolie and her kids. I zoom in and I’m like…” The sound that comes out of her mouth, what sounds like she’s choked on her own gasp, accompanies an animated flourish of her hands. “Then the next day my website starts going, ‘Ring, ring.’” Not bad for a self-proclaimed nerd who has a deep adoration for Greek and Roman mythology. Her connection to the goddesses reigning on Mount Olympus famously informs the art she adorns equally powerful women in music and film with. Embracing change. Leaning into the challenges of the world’s ever-shifting landscape. Berenato is seemingly made of this: tenacity and the guile to move wherever a new opportunity presents itself. Even when the idea isn’t her own.
28 | AUSTIN WOMAN | DECEMBER 2021
“” The one thing we did differently was making it into an activity you would do with someone that you love, like a bestie set, or a mommy and mini set or creating an intention with it and then cutting the bracelet off when you accomplish it. [That’s] what really drove people to the bracelets.
Photos by Dallas Riley and Lily Hutchinson.
The Zoom window opens. A young woman, surprisingly young, graces the screen. Nina
