Where’s the best place to tease your new brand as a celebrity? Some would say Soho, Ginza, Shoreditch, Melrose even. I’d argue Square Jean Perrin, 17 Avenue du Général Eisenhower, at the Grand Palais in Paris, right in the middle of a Matthieu Blazy for Chanel show, make sure it’s a couture debut too.
PAVĒ NITEO’s first appearance dates back to May 2024 in trademark filings under the banner of A$AP Rocky Ventures, Inc. and it really was a well-kept secret. At least before French haute couture waltzed in. Once the show wrapped, a short-and-sweet interview was filmed, in which the head-to-toe Chanel-dressed creative confirmed the label. Little birdies whispered that all the current designs were rings, seven in total, but only four made it onto Rocky’s hands. Good thing I’ve already caught a glimpse of the rest.
It’s a collaboration with the Venetian, family-run jewelry shop Casa Codognato and its little army of trusted artisans. Since 1866, Codognato has been mining Italian archaeological scraps to make jewelry that doubles as art, memento mori POV included. Over the decades, the business has dressed only the slightly famous, like Coco Chanel (really didn’t make this up, but works perfectly), Maria Callas, Elizabeth Taylor, and the list goes on. Tim Burton clearly played his part too, considering the rings’ skulls feel like distant cousins of the creatures from Rocky’s latest album cover, “Don’t Be Dumb.” Plainly, Burton also found his way into the jewelry’s design.
The collection feels like Rocky’s alter egos got trapped in gemstone form. Grim drags the Wizard of Oz witch into pink hair curlers, enamel and gold. Shirtheads buries a skull under shirts, rats, and a jeweled I love NY nod. Mr. Mayers leans into Codognato’s raw Samorodoc setting with a Saint Laurent foulard cameo. Dummy goes full baroque with ten rats and a ruby clenched between its teeth. Rugahand mixes Byzantine fantasy with Madonnas, panthers, pearls, and blackout sunglasses. Babushka Boy throws skeletal hands, paisley foulards, and a music-video telephone into the mix. And finally, Six Headed predictably escalates things with mammoth bone and a diamond-heavy skull universe orbiting a central yellow stone.
No launch date, no details, just an eerily empty Instagram page. Apparently, that’s more than enough to set Italian phone lines on fire. Then again, who wouldn’t want a front-row seat in Rocky’s universe, especially when it comes with diamonds.
