Meet Gabriela Schwartz, The Exec Who’s Bringing Her Music Industry Experience To Julien’s Auctions

Gabriela Schwartz

credit: Julien's Auctions

The creation of storytelling has been a changeless successful Gabriela Schwartz’s agelong profession arsenic a trading executive successful the euphony industry. During her tenures astatine companies specified arsenic J Records, Island Def Jam Group, and Capitol Music Group, she was progressive successful campaigns for Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Lil Baby, Migos and City Girls. More than 2 years ago, she pivoted to the auction world, peculiarly astatine Julien’s Auctions, wherever she was precocious promoted arsenic the company’s main marque officer. To her, the modulation represented the cleanable profession arc.

“It only affirmed for maine that each creator has a story,” Schwartz says. “Especially erstwhile you're trading euphony aliases a caller section of an artist’s sonic evolution, it's not astir conscionable getting people's attention. It's astir reminding them why they already attraction astir the creator and the music. That's wherever I felt it was truthful synergistic pinch what we're doing astatine Julien's.”

Since joining Julien’s successful precocious 2023, first arsenic a consultant, Schwartz has focused connected luxury and personage fashion, including building retired the company’s firm business ecosystem and expanding into different areas of the business.

“We person a publishing division, which I'm very excited about,” she explains. “We person immoderate awesome titles that are going to beryllium coming retired this fall. And we're really focused connected bringing successful younger collectors. So it's a bully innovative clip for america to enactment hyper-focused connected popular culture.”

Schwartz sees similarities betwixt her experiences successful the euphony manufacture and astatine Julien’s. “Julien's preserves popular culture, memorabilia and collectibles and has chiefly been really focused connected euphony and thoroughfare art,” she says. “Hollywood, of course, is simply a immense category. And I was capable to pivot from being a contractor into really focusing connected an area of growth, which they saw and I saw, which was luxury and fashion.”

During her clip astatine the company, Schwartz has been progressive successful projects that included the Unstoppable January Celebrity Fashion Auction featuring Princess Diana’s celebrated pieces. Subsequently, the Bold Luxury bid was launched, serving arsenic a “platform for personage manner and collectible luxury,” according to Julien’s. Auction income nether the bid featured notable celebs for illustration Bob Mackie and Gwyneth Paltrow.

“We saw that location was a runway for america to build retired luxury and manner and personage fashion, and group were really willing successful that,” Schwartz says. “We spot that pinch awesome celebrities. They want to deterioration pieces that person stories. They want to deterioration pieces that person nostalgia. That's what they want to deterioration connected the reddish carpet now. And that's what stylists are willing in. So we jumped connected really focusing connected that, and I'm really proud of what we've been capable to do successful the past two-and-a-half years.”

One of the caller Bold Luxury auctions highlighted the personal items of vocalist Boy George, including apparel and memorabilia from the past 45 years. Says Schwartz, “What I really loved astir the Boy George auction for Bold Luxury is that we were capable to beryllium edgy and cooler because Boy George is truthful overmuch much than music. He is fashion. He is identity. He is expression. He is an entrepreneur.”

Further continuing Julien’s relationship betwixt euphony and commerce is its upcoming auction of complete 100 pairs of sneakers from Eminem’s individual collection signed by the rapper; proceeds from the Aug. 25 auction will spell to the Marshall Mathers Foundation to thief Detroit youth.

“It's astir pivoting and transitioning to really being a culturally applicable marque and really making judge that the reside of sound of who we are and our pillars, that that gets really cemented,” Scxhwarts says. “For me, it's ever astir excellence. We want to make judge that we are showing up to the champion of our expertise and really supporting our talent, staying playful and successful statement pinch who we're collaborated with.”

Social media besides plays a domiciled successful spreading Julien’s message. “That's really wherever we get to show disconnected who our marque is and what our reside of sound is. And we put a batch of contented out, and we effort to show group that we cognize the history of popular civilization – whether you're a movie fan, aliases you emotion Hollywood, Star Wars aliases Carol Burnett.

“We salary homage to popular culture. We clasp it. We sphere it. And what I emotion astir our societal media is that we're besides really collaborative pinch our partners. We want to make judge that if we person a waste pinch Gwyneth Paltrow, that she's successful that speech pinch america because it only underscores the authenticity of what we're doing. And it shows that we are an hold of their world and their ecosystem. I deliberation that done TikTok and done Instagram and evidently YouTube that we're capable to deed each of our collectors globally and besides bring successful caller group to understand who Julien's is.”

Arts and civilization person been successful Schwartz’s DNA. Originally from Puerto Rico, she came to New York successful the precocious 1980s; her parents are artists and musicians, and she went to euphony schoolhouse and ballet. “So I grew up successful a really creator household,” Schwartz recalls. “I was astir creatives, whether they were painters aliases dancers aliases musicians.

“New York successful the precocious '80s and '90s, it was for illustration a petri crockery of culture. I was successful the city, and it only affirmed for maine successful my early adolescence that I knew I wanted to beryllium a protector and a nurturer of creation and artists' craft, and that I would person to activity pinch artists nary matter what. And lo and behold, I sewage to J Records astatine 23-24 years aged and spent 20 years doing it.”

As a female executive of color, Schwartz acknowleddges being a domiciled model. “I really deliberation activity is not astir being the only 1 astatine the table. It's astir making judge that we create much seats and spaces. As a female — and a Puerto Rican and a Jewish female — it's ever been a immense intent of excavation to support everybody and make judge that inclusivity is really, really, really important. And I can't hold to support being an ambassador for increasing opportunities.”

In the end, what remains for Schwartz is sharing the unsocial stories of Julien’s auction items while further elevating the company’s brand.

“Of course, we are trading collectibles that are popular civilization and memorabilia,” she says, “but we're besides preserving the bequest of truthful galore of those pieces. And we person the work of telling caller stories astir these pieces and really giving consumers the opportunity to study much astir a Kurt Cobain guitar aliases a Gwyneth Paltrow Versace dress that she wore to the Country Music Awards for the first time.

“Those are each small stories that make group attraction astir collecting popular culture. That pulls connected their heartstrings,” she continues. “That is nostalgia, and that increases the worth of these pieces because for me, popular civilization is the caller history, and provenance is the caller luxury. People want to understand what they're collecting. We get the chance to show these stories astir the pieces that we're auctioning. It's nary different than highlighting a portion of good art, aliases if you cod good vino aliases luxury handbags — these popular civilization artifacts person that bequest and story.”