It’s February 2020 and the world has yet to be upended by the coronavirus pandemic. While designers, in the throes of New York Fashion Week, are sending stone-faced models down the runway, Susan Alexandra (née Korn) is staging a musical. There’s lively dancing, acting, and singing, peppered by a chorus of laughs from the usually stoic audience. Both onstage and in the crowd, you can see a splattering of her famous beaded bags: in rainbow checkered print, in watermelon colours, littered with cherries or clouds or butterflies. This burst of unadulterated joy – at a time before we even knew we needed it – is a core part of Susan Alexandra’s brand ethos.
Launched in 2017, her beaded purses are widely considered collector’s items. Rendered in animal print or kaleidoscopic colour, they’re loved by everyday shoppers, influencers, and celebrities alike, even popping up on supermodels like Gigi Hadid.
Her beaded jewellery gets the same praise and adoration: Pete Davidson wears his Susan Alexandra “Pete” pearl necklace regularly. “To have that validation from celebrities is really exciting. I’m a huge pop culture fanatic,” she tells POPSUGAR over Zoom. “There are quite a few people from Euphoria that have pieces, which is really exciting to me because I think that they’re what’s next.”
“What I love about the metaverse is there’s no restrictions on what’s possible. I could just make it total fantasy and that’s a dream as a designer.”
Susan Alexandra lives on the cusp of what’s next, perennially one step ahead of the rest of the industry. Consider this: several designers are still skeptical of the metaverse, but Alexandra is diving right in. Her latest career move is creating NFT wearables for Absolut‘s Coachella project. The digital fashion accessories live in Absolut.Land where fans (21+) are encouraged to connect over shared virtual drinks and outfit their avatars in custom festival fashion pieces. Among Alexandra’s digital designs, you’ll find a pair of watermelon earrings with an Absolut cocktail charm, resembling her favourite drink: a dirty martini.
“What I love about the metaverse is there’s no restrictions on what’s possible,” she says. “If it’s a shoe, it doesn’t have to be comfortable. If it’s an earring, it doesn’t have to be lightweight. I could just make it total fantasy and that’s a dream as a designer.”
Fantasy could soon transcend into real life: Susan Alexandra now plans to foray into the shoe category. “For the metaverse [project], I made these shoes and they have an Absolut cocktail heel,” she says. “And I’m like, ‘OK, I’m dying to do shoes now.'”
Clothing is on her radar as well, and she’s thrilled about how street style – particularly at festivals – is evolving. “Something that’s happening right now is a lot of people just showing their bodies regardless of size,” she says, naming cutouts as a festival fashion trend she loves. “I feel there’s this unselfconscious way that people are dressing now. And there’s this openness and acceptance. And I really love the idea of genderless fashion; I think that’s something that’s really exciting, too.”
Ahead of Coachella Weekend 1, Susan Alexandra chatted with POPSUGAR about designing for the metaverse, expanding her beloved brand, and the one celebrity she really wants to work with. Read our full interview ahead.
Courtesy of Absolut
On Designing for the Metaverse
PS: Why did you decide to enter the NFT space? Do you have future plans to expand?
SA: The NFT metaverse space is something that people have been saying for a while now that I should be getting into and I’m always like ‘OK but I don’t even know the first thing about it.’ It was this strange new world. The Absolut team helped guide me through the process and now I want to continue with it.
Fashion is art but we have to really keep in mind that people are wearing these pieces and they have to feel good and they have to be practical. And what I love about the metaverse is there’s no restrictions on what’s possible. If it’s a shoe, it doesn’t have to be comfortable. If it’s an earring, it doesn’t have to be lightweight. I could just make it total fantasy and that’s a dream as a designer.
Courtesy of Absolut
On Her NFT Wearable Collection
PS: What’s the inspiration behind the NFT collection?
SA: I was sort of given free reign. They told me to literally do anything and that’s pretty shocking when you’re working with a partner; usually, there are all these parameters. And then knowing it was for Coachella adds a whole other element of fun and creativity because that’s really where people go to express themselves and wear such cool pieces. And I was able to design everything within a day, I was so inspired. I had all these ideas.
Courtesy of Absolut
On Working With Absolut
PS: How did the collaboration with Absolute.Land come about? Are you a longtime fan of the brand?
SA: The collaboration came about organically, they reached out to me and I was so excited when I saw their name come up. I’m a huge, dirty martini fan. That’s my favourite drink. And I also have a couple pieces in the collection inspired by it. So yeah, I was really excited to work with Absolut. And then they explained what the project was and I was like, ‘Oh, OK. Yeah. I think we can do this.’ It all worked out really harmoniously.
Getty Images/Edward Berthelot
On Festival Fashion Trends
PS: What are your predictions for festival style? Any festival trends you hope will surface this season?
SA: I’m really excited to see what people wear, because I feel the way that people dress for Coachella will shape how we all dress for the upcoming years. I think a lot of people just look at the street style photos from Coachella and that’s how they get inspired. So, I would say that I predict a lot of colour, a lot of fluidity, a lot of very specific ’90s references. I see a lot of cutouts.
Something that’s happening right now is a lot of people just showing their bodies regardless of size. I feel there’s this unselfconscious way that people are dressing now. And there’s this openness and acceptance. And I really love the idea of genderless fashion; I think that’s something that’s really exciting, too.
Courtesy of Susan Alexandra
On the Susan Alexandra Star-Sign Collection
PS: Tell us the inspiration behind your star-sign collection and how it came to fruition.
SA: I’ve been into astrology for as long as I can remember. And I’m very in tune with what my sun sign represents and my rising and my moon. Nothing feels stable right now: as soon as COVID is over, it comes back. I wanted to create something that makes people feel a sense of control or a sense of identity in really turbulent times. And I think that’s what astrology is so great for. So, I was like ‘This is our time. Let’s do it.’
Courtesy of Susan Alexandra
On Her Future Plans for the Susan Alexandra Brand
PS: Your NYC store is already a fan favorite. What plans do you have to expand and evolve the Susan Alexandra brand?
SA: My absolute dream would be to have stores around the world. That’s my vision board. I definitely would love to do a store in LA next. And then the rest of the world; I really want to travel and create these beautiful places of community everywhere I go.
The next thing I’m dying to do is clothing. And then for the metaverse project that we did, I made these shoes and they have an Absolut cocktail heel. And I’m like ‘OK, I’m dying to do shoes.’
Getty Images/Edward Berthelot
On the Future of Fashion and Production
PS: With the way the industry has been turned upside down lately, when you think about the future of fashion overall, what comes to mind?
SA: I think that the future is stuff that’s never been done in terms of everything from the way we produce fashion to the way we gender it. I think it’s all about going to places that have never been touched before. And even talking about things that make us uncomfortable and really looking into the reasons why and how things are done: shattering what fashion is supposed to be and changing what it is.
PS: I would love for you to expound on the production part, because I don’t think people realise that your pieces are all handmade locally. Can you share a bit about your process?
SA: We work with the type of beading that we do because the women who we employ locally in New York City, that’s their specialty. And so it’s been amazing because over the years, we’ve created a team of nearly 40 female-identifying artisans who are able to work from their homes to create all the pieces that we make.
