5 April 2024 |
BLINGIN’ IT IS TEN’S ONLINE SERIES WHERE WE SPOTLIGHT THE INNOVATORS AND CHANGE-MAKERS OF THE JEWELLERY WORLD.
New York City native Marla Aaron is all about innovative design. Starting her eponymous brand in 2013 after 25 years in the advertising industry, the creative decided to marry two of her passions – hardware and jewellery – into one prettily packaged offering. Handcrafted in the Big Apple, Aaron had the simple idea of incorporating the carabiner (a heavy duty clip often used in mountaineering and other climbing sports) into jewellery and hasn’t looked back since.
Blending this industrial aesthetic with a romantic flare inspired by the Victorian and Georgian eras, Aaron has built up a cult following of jewel-loving customers who appreciate the brand’s refreshing take. Fashion darling Sarah Jessica Parker was styled in Aaron’s jewels for her reprise role of Carrie Bradshaw in And Just Like That, whilst Hollywood power couple, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are also fans. This swathe of high-profile attention has meant Aaron is not only recognised as a talented creator, but also as a trailblazer within the wider industry trend of incorporating functional objects like carabiners into luxury accessories.
Aaron’s pioneering approach extends beyond her trendsetting designs. In 2016, a jewellery vending machine created by Aaron was featured in the Museum of American Finance’s Gold: Worth Its Weight exhibition. The following year, the creation was installed in full working condition at the Brooklyn Museum, allowing customers to purchase products like a silver ear cuff and lock-affixed gold chain. The vending machine now sits at The William Vale, a modern luxury hotel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Aaron is also heavily focused on building a solid community around her and has been successful in doing so. Initiatives like the #lockyourmom project, which saw the brand provide single mums with sterling silver baby heart-locks in 2015, have shown Aaron’s commitment to social responsibility – a venture her consumers have registered and appreciated.
Merging this dedication to inclusivity with her aptitude for creative craft, Aaron’s future is bright. With jewellery insiders anticipating the continued growth of the carabiner trend, the designer’s aesthetic is set to transcend products into wider trendsetting narratives, spelling out a long and fruitful future.
ON TURNING CARABINERS INTO JEWELLERY
Aaron: “I would say it was more obsession than inspiration. I always wanted to make things. Even when I worked in marketing and advertising I was making jewellery, studying jewellery, obsessing about jewellery. I was very taken with the idea of convertible jewellery and I had begun making it – experimenting with carabiners and clasp-less chains. Once I realised that we could morph the shape of the lock itself it opened an entire world to me and gave me a never-ending fountain of ideas. The more I know the more I want to do. It was challenging though, figuring out how to get my ideas made, being overwhelmed with our production from very early days. It was a lot.”
ON HOW NEW YORK IMPACT’S THE BRAND’S STYLE
Aaron: “In some respects, the collection and how we choose to make most everything here in New York and base our offices in the wild world of New York’s Diamond district is my intense love letter to New York. There are easier ways to build a company. This is not one of them. 47th Street is quite literally the story of New York on one small city block, and it plays out every minute of every day. Cultures clash and embrace and do business together over and over again. There is never a day I am not grateful to live in this ridiculous, extraordinary city. Because I find beauty in function and mechanisms I am of course always looking up and down and finding something to take with me from a construction site or even how a manhole cover lies. Nothing is safe. And I call Harlem home which is a story unto itself”.
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LOCAL ARTISANS
Aaron: “Manufacturing in America is scarcer and scarcer every day and getting to make things here is important. From a purely logistical standpoint our pieces are complex and making them here simply makes sense in our development process.”
ON HISTORICAL INFLUENCES
Aaron: “I am equally influenced by antique jewellery from every era as I am industrial landscapes, as well as the way stuff works, colour – anything could influence the work and it is unlikely to be other jewellery.
There are some antique dealers on Portobello Road in London who know about my fascination with weird old mechanisms and occasionally they send me things and those pieces. They sit in a cabinet next to my desk and I often refer to them – sometimes they will inspire a new piece…”
ON VENDING MACHINES AT THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM
Aaron: “In 2016 upon the heels of a trip to Japan where I saw vending machines everywhere selling all manner of objects. It struck me that we should do the same and I began building one immediately upon my return. It launched as an installation at the Brooklyn Museum and went on to a garden in Brooklyn and finally to Rockefeller Center. Precious things available to people in an unexpected and joyful way… that was my motivation, and we are excited to keep developing down this path.”
ON THE #LOCKYOURMUM PROJECT
Aaron: “Being a single mom was the most difficult time in my life. Mother’s Day was specifically bittersweet. When you have a small child and it’s Mother’s Day and virtually everyone around you has a partner who is celebrating their “motherliness”… well it can feel sad.
I knew I wanted to do something for single moms as soon as I was able so in 2016 I began gifting silver heart-locks to single moms on Mother’s Day. The #lockyourmom project began with 50 Locks given away via Instagram has transformed into an annual event that gifts 1,500 sterling silver heart-locks to deserving single moms across the country.
For the second year in a row with an eye toward doing more for single moms in need, our company partnered with Henry Street Settlement to create an event for moms and their children. Our first year we hosted 75 houseless single moms and their children for lunch, who each received a piece of jewellery. Their children were cared for and each mom left with her own chosen bouquet of flowers from a specially created “flower market” at the event. This year we welcomed 150 moms and their children.”
ON RECEIVING THE ‘GEM AWARD FOR JEWELLERY DESIGN’
Aaron: “I am still utterly speechless, although my speech said it all. I definitely feel like I’m not supposed to be here. That it is a gift. That I am not done yet. That I am deeply proud of our work. That in a world of fast fashion and lightning speed trend changes we make things that matter to a broad range of people.”
ON HOPES FOR THE FUTURE OF HER DESIGNS
Aaron: “That it can exist as something that could be a part of their life. The lobby of a building, on the street (this is always my favourite). Anywhere that people are… that one could stumble upon it.
We (I) believe that jewellery’s only job is to bring joy to people, so we look at everything we do from that perspective. We have lots more to do. And it’s not all about jewellery. There are many more things I’m interested in and so many projects outside the world of jewellery on the horizon. Walk with us!”
Photography courtesy of Marla Aaron.
