Jewellery designer Marla Aaron on taking a unique approach to creating customisable pieces, finding her own way in the retail landscape, and why she designs jewellery for every woman
New York-based jeweller Marla Aaron, who knows accessories are an acquired taste. That's why her one-of-a-kind pieces – perfect for jewellery beginners without looking any less chic – are all about putting the fun in functional. Her pieces are inspired by everything from door latches to toilet roll holders, something that sounds nonsensical in theory but makes perfect sense when you see her pieces and suddenly, literally, everything clicks.
'I have a big cabinet in my office filled with what anyone else would think is junk,' says Aaron, as she runs through the various mechanisms of her signature chains and carabiners on a recent visit to Hong Kong – the push of a gemstone transforms a ring into a locket hiding an engraved message to a loved one, while locks double as charms and charms can be converted into
earrings
Marla Aaron's earring base with stacked lozenges. Photo: Net-a-Porter
Advertisement
Always full of surprises, both the designer and her trash-to-treasure approach to jewellery-making have proven popular since the launch of her eponymous brand back in 2012. After all, Aaron's modular pieces – designed to be mixed, matched and stacked to spectacular effect – make it easy to reinvent oneself time and time again. Colourful, individualistic and very on brand for New York, the designer's creations make instant classics with vintage quality.
Aaron lets Style in on the haphazard, somewhat chaotic, but always amusing creative process behind her bestselling pieces, available to shop in Hong Kong via e-tailer Net-a-Porter.
This is your first-ever visit to Hong Kong. Does travelling to different places inspire your jewellery pieces?
The design of Marla Aaron's diamond-studded Allstone Trundle Lock ring was inspired by a toilet roll holder. Photo: Net-a-Porter
There are designers that travel and [call] their collection 'Tuscany' or something like that. That's not the way it works for me. It's messy, very focused on the mechanisms – little bits and pieces of hardware and things that ultimately end up as inspiration for something. Let me give you an example – our trundle lock ring. We make it many ways – as a US$500 version that's sterling silver, all the way up to this diamond [version] that's US$18,000. I wanted it to be a ring and a lock, so it opens with this push mechanism, and when I was explaining this to our workshop and how I wanted it to work, we were like, 'How do I convey this?' So I would find household objects. I brought a toilet roll holder from my house and showed them, like, 'This is it.'
Your earrings were inspired by a zip-lining experience with your sons. What about that?
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
an hour ago
- South China Morning Post
3 newly revived New York art museums to get excited about
New York has long been synonymous with stellar museums. From Staten Island to the Bronx, more than 170 of all kinds are scattered across its five boroughs. Now, after years hidden behind scaffolding, three of the city's most iconic art institutions – The Frick, the New Museum and the Studio Museum in Harlem – will all finally reopen by this autumn. Each is offering expanded public spaces and ambitious inaugural exhibitions, reaffirming their contribution to the city's cultural landscape. One of the country's best collections of European Old Masters will be reinstalled in The Frick's refreshed galleries, with more works on view than ever before. The New Museum's expansion creates a larger platform for emerging and experimental artists, and the Studio Museum in Harlem continues to champion artists of African descent while also providing a new creative hub for the local community. 'What's particularly special is that we've all been around and had a presence in our neighbourhood and the larger ecosystem for years,' says New Museum artistic director Massimiliano Gioni. 'We aren't new kids on the block – each one of us is reconnecting to a long history and making a much larger contribution.' The Frick Collection The Frick has reopened following a five-year renovation. Photo: Nicholas Venezia Advertisement One of New York's most revered museums, The Frick reopened to the public in April following a five-year renovation. The former home of industrialist Henry Clay Frick, the Upper East Side mansion was transformed into a museum in 1935 and has remained largely unchanged since. The art world's go-to architect, Annabelle Selldorf – known for designing blue-chip galleries like David Zwirner and Hauser & Wirth – has given the former family home a major facelift. 'Many people cherish The Frick for its intimate setting, which lets visitors experience masterworks up close with minimal distractions,' says Aimee Ng, John Updike curator (so named for the museum's association with the late author). 'The recent renovation maintains this atmosphere while making the building more accessible.' Lodovico Capponi (1550–1555) by Agnolo Bronzino, part of The Frick Collection. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr The red rope that has blocked access to the family's private quarters for the last five decades has now been dropped, allowing the public to enter the bedrooms and living quarters, which have been transformed into galleries. 'The domestic scale of these second-floor spaces, including around 10 rooms and several passageways, creates an ideal atmosphere for engaging with the collection,' says Ng of the ornate spaces adorned with ceiling murals, marble fireplaces and intricately carved woodwork. Iconic paintings have been reinstated in their original locations, such as English artist George Romney's evocative Lady Hamilton as 'Nature' (1782), which once again sits above the fireplace in the walnut room, formerly Frick's bedroom. His daughter Helen Clay Frick's room will be filled with luminous, early Italian gold-ground paintings – paying homage to her love for these Renaissance masterpieces. The Frick Research Library is directly accessible from the museum. Photo: Nicholas Venezia The renovation also features new spaces for public programming, including an impressive 218-seat auditorium for concerts and lectures, a new cafe and a revamped reception hall. The galleries now accommodate a greater number of works: while previously only 25 per cent of the 1,800-piece collection – which spans the Renaissance through the 19th century – could be shown, the expansion now allows close to half of all works to be displayed. The inaugural show, 'Vermeer's Love Letters', features rare works by the 17th century Dutch master, one of the most popular names in the collection. Studio Museum in Harlem
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Sean ‘Diddy' Combs' bail bid denied, judge says he must stay in jail until sentencing
Sean 'Diddy' Combs cannot go home to await sentencing on his prostitution-related conviction, a judge said on Monday, denying the jailed music mogul's latest bid for bail. Combs has been behind bars since his September arrest. He faced federal charges of coercing girlfriends into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers while he watched and filmed them. He was acquitted last month of the top charges – racketeering and sex trafficking – while being convicted of two counts of a prostitution-related offence. In denying Combs' US$50 million bond proposal, Judge Arun Subramanian said the musician had not proven that he did not pose a flight risk or danger, nor shown an 'exceptional circumstance' that would justify his release after a conviction that otherwise requires detention. Combs' arguments 'might have traction in a case that didn't involve evidence of violence, coercion or subjugation in connection with the acts of prostitution at issue, but the record here contains evidence of all three', the judge wrote. Prosecutors declined to comment on the ruling. Messages seeking comment were sent to Combs' lawyers. The conviction carries the potential for up to 10 years in prison. But there are complicated federal guidelines for calculating sentences in any given case and prosecutors and Combs' lawyers disagree substantially on how the guidelines come out for his case.
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Meet Helen J. Shen, the rising star set to appear in The Devil Wears Prada 2
Helen J. Shen, who first gained recognition for her performance as the helperbot Claire in Broadway musical Maybe Happy Ending, is set to star in The Devil Wears Prada sequel alongside Meryl Streep , Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt – further solidifying her rising star status. Helen J. Shen plays Claire in the Broadway musical Maybe Happy Ending. Photo: @maybehappyending/Instagram The recently confirmed follow up to 2006's film The Devil Wears Prada is reportedly scheduled for release in spring 2026, and sees Miranda Priestly – editor-in-chief of the high-fashion magazine Runway, played by Streep – contending with the decline of print media, per The Hollywood Reporter. As for whether Anne Hathaway 's Andy is still working as a journalist at the fictional New York Mirror, as she was at the end of the first film, remains to be seen. Advertisement Helen J. Shen will appear in The Devil Wears Prada 2. Photo: @helenjshen/Instagram While we don't yet have details about her role in The Devil Wears Prada 2, we do know that Shen was recently nominated for outstanding lead performance in a musical at the 2025 Drama Desk Awards for Maybe Happy Ending, and won a 2025 Theatre World Award for her outstanding debut performance in the same show. Here's everything you need to know about the rising young star. She's a musical theatre actress Helen J. Shen has acted in multiple stage productions including Teeth and Sunset Boulevard. Photo: @helenjshen/Instagram In 2022, Shen appeared in The Lonely Few's world premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, staring as JJ, and reprised the role at the MCC Theater in New York in 2024. That same year, she also appeared in Anna Ouyang Moench's Man of God at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Helen's regional theatre credits also include playing Keke, the Promise Keeper Girl, in Michael R. Jackson's off Broadway musical Teeth, and portraying Betty Schaefer in Sunset Boulevard at ACT of Connecticut in 2023. She originally set out to be a pianist Helen J. Chen is classically trained in piano. Photo: @helenjshen/Instagram Born in Bernards Township, New Jersey, Shen began learning classical piano at the age of five, continuing through high school, while taking part in community theatre. Shen believes that piano taught her self-discipline and focus, as well as the ability to handle pressure, per an interview she gave to Vogue last year.
