Vanessa Walilko, Jewelry & Fashion Designer
Kali Butterfly
Most people have never heard of chainmail jewelry design as a career let alone one that spans Broadway, Hollywood, and the WWE. Vanessa Walilko is the designer behind Kali Butterfly, an international award-winning wearable art and jewelry brand built entirely out of hand-linked metal rings and scales.
Vanessa’s path started with a beaded jewelry class at age eight and a college work-study job that led her into metalsmithing almost by accident. Nearly two decades later, her chainmail and scale-mail work has appeared in Broadway’s Pippin, on screen in Night at the Museum 3, in international wearable-art exhibitions including the Society of North American Goldsmiths’ “Exhibition in Motion” and the National Wool Museum in Australia, and most unexpectedly — as entrance gear for WWE superstar Cody Rhodes.
In this episode, Vanessa talks with us about how a single cold DM to gear designer Sandra Gray turned into a standing collaboration and work in five WrestleManias, why she believes tenacity, not patience, is the real skill behind both the craft and the business, and the physical cost, including a pinched ulnar nerve in both wrists, of a career built on repetition. She also shares the business side of running a creative practice: teaching, selling patterns and kits, and building multiple income streams around a genuinely niche skill.
In this episode:
✦ How Vanessa turned a college metal-smithing class into an 18-year chainmail career
✦ The cold DM tht led to designing wrestling gear for Cody Rhodes’ WWE return
✦ Why she chooses aluminum over steel, and what that means for wearability
✦ The physical toll of thousands of hours linking rings and scales by hand
✦ Her advice to her younger, burned-out self about tenacity and fear
MBTI vibe: INFP / INFJ / ISTP / INTJ / ISFJ
Strong aesthetic vision • Preference for focused, hands-on, autonomous work • High attention to detail • Iterative problem-solving and tinkering • Values-driven / meaning-oriented approach
Need to Know Facts*
Salary Range:
Entry-Level Education &
Additional Certification
Work Experience in Related
Occupation:
Type of organizations to
work for:
Job Outlook:
Resources:
• Range: $25,000 – $100,000+
– Median: $52,540
– Jewelry Designer avg:
$68,898
– Bench jeweler: $52,500
– Appraiser: $60,800
• No mandatory degree req’d
• Formal programs:
– Certificates / degrees in jewelry
design or metalsmithing
• Apprenticeships / tech training:
– 18-month technical college
programs
• Self-directed + short courses:
– CAD design training, workshops
• Key skills include:
– Metalworking / fabrication
– Stone setting and gemstone
identification / grading basics
– CAD/3D modeling for jewelry
and prototyping
– Repair/restoration and quality
inspection for durability and fit
– Digital/production literacy:
3D printing applications, basic
photography for portfolio/
e-commerce
– Creativity and aesthetic judgment
– Communication and client
consultation
– Problem-solving and
critical thinking
– Attention to detail and patience
– Business mindset
• Custom / bridal & heirloon redesign
• Contemporary art jewelry / gallery
• CAD-only design services
• Ethical / sustainable jewelry
• Performance / costume
armor and chainmail for theatre,
film, LARP, etc.
• Men’s jewelry, minimalist
daily wear
• Repair / restoration specialist
• -5.5% overall employment for
Jewelers and Precious Stone
Metal Workers
• Note, strong consumer demand
for handmade/fine jewelry suggests
entrepreneurial makers have some opportunities
About Vanessa Walilko
Vanessa Walilko is the international award-winning jewelry and fashion designer behind Kali Butterfly. At age eight, a beaded jewelry class. This sparked her love of assembling small objects into her designs. She started making chainmail in 2006 and hasn’t stopped linking together rings and scales since.
Pieces from Vanessa’s wearable art collections have been featured in international exhibitions, including the Society of North American Goldsmiths “Exhibition in Motion” at the Museum of Fine Art in Houston, TX, the Indianapolis Museum of Fine Art, and the National Wool Museum in Australia. Her pieces have also won international awards in the Bead Dreams competition, British Bead Awards, and the Wearable Art Awards for the past several years.
Vanessa’s work has been seen on stage in Broadway’s Pippin, on screen in Night at the Musuem 3, and in the squared circle on Cody Rhodes’ entrance gear.
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