“While scavenging through a thrift store in Greenwich Village, Ryan Matthew became transfixed by several plastic beaded bracelets. It wasn’t the complete product that he found alluring, but the individual components. Matthew purchased the tired, older pieces and brought them home. Shortly thereafter, REBEAD was born. Matthew began to source other components—repurposed glass and wood beads, shells and stones. Through careful consideration and hand-assembly, his first collection of bracelets was born.” David Graver, COOL HUNTING.

In 2019, I found myself thinking of sustainability as I rode on the New York Subway. I wanted to explore a project that married my love for brand with a conscious message. I created the project I call REBEAD: The Confectionary for a Modern Wrist. Playing with the term “arm candy” and catching on to the trend of conscious summer accessorizing, I fell into branding inspiration. I launched the project in March of 2019 with a capsule collection of 30 pairs of bracelets, or as I called them “stacks.” Prior to the launch, I sourced materials in Manhattan’s Jewelry District, and in local thrift stores. In the second-hand stores, I was able to source unique beaded necklaces which I would then take back to my East Village apartment to disassemble and collect in a wooden bowl. I then was able to ‘rebead’ them by combining all beads from all different strands and turned them into one-of-a-kind bracelets.

Once all the stacks were completed, I sourced models and collaborated with photographer Noah O’Leary to create compelling imagery to showcase on a branded website and Instagram page.

After the product was photographed, I designed the REBEAD website (rebead.co), set up an e-commerce platform and began generating a plan for social media. The brand was to ultimately be playful and fun, but with an ounce of sophistication. Upon the launch, I contacted social media Influencers I have come to know in my fashion-blog years to get the word out and spread awareness about the brand and its story.

Once I stepped back to reflect on the project in full, I realized that it became less of an exploration of the concept of sustainability and more of an exploration of life and stories. I found myself fascinated in the beads as each one, having many lives before reaching me, seemed to tell their own stories. The way I looked at a series of beads meant something completely different then someone else. I found that the experience of the brand grew, and as I watched my small network of people wearing REBEAD, I began to see new stories come into play. This project enabled me many sweetnesses and confections as it felt like a project that kept on giving.