“My original influences come from things I was seeing on TV when I was growing up in Chicago, particularly music videos on MTV in the 1990s,” explains designer Martine Ali. “I was really noticing the jewelry worn by indie musicians and hip-hop artists. I like revisiting these forms from the ‘90s and introducing them with hardware to make them modern.”

“I start with brass because it allows me to play with scale. I want the designs to feel shiny, but at the same time, like they’re an heirloom that’s been passed down. We send the brass designs to a place in Rhode Island where they dip them in sterling silver to achieve this heirloom-silver effect.”

“The hardware is something I picked up living in NYC, influenced by a friend who was a bike messenger—he needed things to be connected and functional. It’s important to me to infuse the pieces with function. Pieces that clip together or hold your keys or that can be styled in different ways. It embodies the energy and the spirit of NYC, how we’re all on the go and we need these items to be with us all the time.”