“I accept your entirety.”
Alok Vaid Menon
When was the last time somebody reminded you that your spirit is an everlasting parade, like you are a living poetry and your joy is non-negotiable?
When was the last time you affirmed your truth as the all-encompassing, multi-dimensional being of light that you are?
When our days, nights and lives get diluted in appeasing the collective societal metrics set out for us, it can be easy to get lost in a sea of voices that echo the inescapable, resounding words.
“You are not enough, you are not worthy.”
Like a slippery slope, those words cement our beliefs and those beliefs create our lives.
Words contain the influence to change our personal trajectory, so choose yours wisely…
It’s that sentiment that led to our collaboration with the poet and thought leader, Alok Vaid-Menon.
We set out to create a meeting point between two powerful forces; the healing wonder of words and the allure of unapologetic imagery.
This culminated in a 17-piece jewellery line designed to empower the wearer, reminding them of the inner strength and rarity.
The jewellery maintains a classic look of celestial and floral elements, central to the brand aesthetic but the special touch and one of a kind edition is the addition of Alok’s thoughts and words.
Embodying the essence of Alok’s self-love philosophy, is the ‘Letters of Love’ pendant, a statement piece (in every sense of the word) that takes the form of a gold-plated brass flower etched with reaffirming words from Alok – ‘becoming,’ ‘alive,’ ‘love you and need you.’ The words serve as reminders to stay in your power.
These pieces are encrusted with cabochon stones in rose quartz, glass jade stones and tumble stones in amethyst and turquoise tones.
A central motif to the collection takes the form of the Sapphic flower, named after the ancient Greek poetess Sappho. Her words became a symbol of strength for the LGBTQIA+ community and the flower is believed to represent the beauty, resilience, and strength of same-sex love.
Moving deeper into embracing one’s truth and lived experience whole heartedly, the jewellery also takes inspiration from Alok’s roots in Kerala with elements typically seen in South Indian jewellery. Debuting our Suriyan hair pin, inspired by the traditional hair jewelry of Kerala. It features delicate hand-embroidered metal elements. The design is inspired by the sun, known as Suriyan and is a symbol of power, strength, and vitality in South India.
The theme of the campaign shoot, modeled beautifully by Alok, is centered around deities and showcases the power of sacred geometric symbols and mudras as portals to the worlds within us.
Symbols of the merkaba and sacred geometry are also used to represent divine harmony, duality, the collaborative energies of mind and body and the divine amalgamation of masculine and feminine.
The collection includes 1 body chain, 3 neckpieces, 1 hair pin, 1 mathapatti, 6 rings and 5 pairs of earrings.
A collaboration that merges art, inclusivity and authenticity wouldn’t be possible without the people that fight to live their truth everyday.
For this project, Papa Don’t Preach will be donating 30% of the profits from the new jewellery collection ‘Alok x Papa Don’t Preach’ to Aravani Art Project – an Indian public art collective, run by trans and cis women. The proceeds from the sale will be donated to the collective for a period of three months from the launch of the collection.
We hope this collection brings you the courage to live your experience as authentically as you can.
After all, you are what you affirm.
