BRANDING: Provocative Imagery Sets New Jewelry Brand At Forefront
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT: IAN SAUDE, T. +1.805.784.0967 (EXT. 402) | E. media@iansaude.com
San Luis Obispo, CA — California-based accessories firm Saudē & Co. unveiled images for advertising its newly launched jewelry and lifestyle brand, Ian Saudē www.iansaude.com. The new label, marked with a stylized version of the designer’s initials “IS,” features provocative photo concepts that some audiences may find shocking.
In a radical departure from the norm, creative director Ian Saudē admits, “Such images aren’t often the stuff of conventional American jewelry marketing, but our jewelry and lifestyle products aim to serve a different clientele — sophisticated women who live on their own terms. I like to work with women who have an innate sense of style and confidence, not someone who needs to be lead. So, I started to question many of the usual concepts that are being used to market jewelry these days: ideas like “forever” and “eternity” and “cherishing” this or that. A lot of that just seems kind of anachronistic or even presumptuous.” The designer also muses, “Sometimes, it sounds like the kind of sentiments you get on bad condolence cards! In contrast, I want my jewelry to make people feel alive, not dead!”
The photographs were shot on location in Thailand at the showroom of Christian Liagre, the renowned French architect and visionary designer of Soho’s Mercer Hotel, Rupert Murdock’s New York loft, and numerous international high-profile projects. Bangkok-based fashion photographer Bigs Vatcharasith produced the images with art direction from 2 Magazine, the young award-winning men’s English-language monthly, distributed throughout S.E. Asia. Turning the tables, many shots prominently feature a male nude and clothed female, looking confident and powerful. To some though, the images might even border on risqué. One such photo shows a female executive half-clad in a Dolce & Gabbana suit, poised on a desk with here legs open. Kneeling in front of her is an adoring male nude, facing her, well… you get the idea.
When questioned about the provocative concept, Saudē explains: “‘IS’ is the present tense of the verb ‘to be’. So, I want IAN SAUDĒ: IS to represent what’s happening in the world right now. I want it to reflect the sensibilities of women today, and I want it to always keep me in the present moment and constantly evolving. So, the images should echo that spirit and be fresh and challenging.
“The role of woman in American society has changed immensely over the last few decades, but so much of high-end jewelry purchasing is still articulated based on a woman’s relationship to a man: it’s about a wedding or an anniversary or the birth of a child, etc. But many women don’t have ‘that man’ in their lives or, if they do, they don’t necessarily want to be beholding to him to dress them or choose their jewelry! They want to express themselves on their own terms. So, we chose to use a powerful feminine icon to present the collection. She’s beautiful and sexy, but she plays the game by her own rules. My designs are not outlandish, but neither are they for the faint of heart!”
The new website www.iansaude.com introduces this theme with the anthem “Take Charge,” encouraging women to take a fresh approach to jewelry and jewelry purchasing, by selecting pieces that reflect their inner aspirations, outwardly. Much of the nature and art-inspired jewelry collection centers on the idea of transformation. So, appropriately, many of the individual designs are also able to “transform” by being reconfigured or by adding enhancers.
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