Art can come in many forms: fashion, music, painting and more, but why limit yourself to one? Junior Jacob Ayson will reinforce that idea later this month.
Combining the two’s talents, junior Jacob Ayson and fashion influencer Samuel Norris (freesami__) will be releasing a keyblade pendant in late December. This pendant is inspired by the “Kingdom Hearts” game series. Having known each other for over a year, this marks the pair’s first collaboration, as well as the first piece released by Norris’ self-titled brand: “Samuel Norris.”
“I think I got into fashion just because I started to truly understand art,” Ayson said. “As I started to obtain a more diverse music taste and I started to make more music, I started to truly recognize artistic intention and meaning. Through this recognition, I started to look at clothing and jewelry in a new light.”
Norris is an influencer most predominantly on TikTok and Instagram. He does many various things on his platform, including styling musicians.
“Fashion found me,” Norris said. “It wasn’t anything that I ever really tried to seek out. I just started to notice over time that I was growing an obsession for an art form that I didn’t understand. When I realized that it was fashion, I sunk my teeth into it unlike anything I’ve ever loved before.”
This is not Ayson’s first extracurricular endeavor, though. He makes music, going by the name of “WRECKM,” and he also already released a different “4” pendant last year, which is how he met Norris online.
“I found him from my TikTok feed in May and thought his content was both entertaining and refreshingly not pretentious, unlike a somewhat high number of fashion-based creators,” Ayson said. “I met him by messaging him on Instagram with the intention of gifting him a ‘4’ pendant I had made independently about two months earlier.”
Once Norris accepted and received the pendant, it sold out within the span of less than two months. Because of his success, Ayson made another batch of the same pendants in June, which also subsequently sold out in the same amount of time.
“Through my whole time of promoting my brand I was communicating with Sami because [he] had [kind of] been the whole reason people discovered my work in the first place,” Ayson said.
An online call between the two and a few others eventually acted as the exigence of their collaboration.
“I realized that I wanted to start making and selling products, but wasn’t extremely knowledgeable on how to do so exactly,” Norris said. “I reached out to Jacob to team up, because it just made the most sense.”
The two decided that Ayson would handle the manufacturing aspect of the pendant, whereas Norris would handle the business aspect. They then quickly decided on the design of the keyblade pendant.
“I wanted to make a simple product that meant a lot to me,” Norris said. “A big thing for me growing up was gaming; I was always obsessed with kingdom hearts. I figured it would make the most sense to recall something that I cherish, but in a form that suits me the best: jewelry.”
The keyblade pendant has already been made and received by both Ayson and Norris. Norris is currently acquiring photos and statements from musicians that are modeling for the brand in New York City.
“Exclusivity is never important to me,” Norris said. “We could make ten, we could make a thousand, I’ll feel the same. I simply just want my audience to enjoy the product that I’m putting in front of them.”
In an effort to both not sacrifice their business and to make the pendant affordable to those who want one, it will be priced at $30.
“It’s a result of months of collaborative work and is the first item that the ‘Samuel Norris’ brand will ever sell,” Ayson said. “Not only that, but I myself have had a pretty successful past as a jewelry designer and the people that have bought from me love my work. It’s also a shiny piece of jewelry that would add just that much more to your outfit.”
