From shut associates to enterprise companions: Chelsea Parke (founding father of Parke) and Cass DiMicco (founding father of Aureum Collective) are teaming up for an unique mission.
On Wednesday, the duo — who’ve been associates for over a yr — launched an unique 10-piece capsule assortment crammed with “timeless necessities that everybody wants of their closet.”
Leaning on 27-year-old Parke’s denim experience, the 2 created an elevated denim jacket that mimics a shacket, making it “the right piece” for Gen Zers (her main viewers) coming into the workforce, in keeping with DiMicco. The gathering additionally options traditional light-wash denims.
“For the denim, we needed one thing that felt cool and Gen Z, but additionally had what I’d personally put on as just a little little bit of an older particular person. So we got here up with this unfastened, very cool, extra wide-leg jean,” DiMicco advised WWD. “And the denim jacket is extra of a shacket so it’s just a little extra polished than only a regular informal denim jacket. That was form of how we fused the 2 manufacturers collectively.”
In the meantime, 32-year-old DiMicco’s expertise with leather-based was utilized to create two belts. Handcrafted in Italy, the belts can be found in a darkish brown or black with gold plated {hardware} meant to be an extension of Aureum Collective’s jewellery.
“Since we began as a jewellery firm, we needed the buckles and gold {hardware} to really feel like an [adjunct] of our [core] items,” DiMicco stated. “We sampled with a couple of producers in Italy, and the manufacturing unit we selected — the one we nonetheless use — actually took an opportunity on us to assist us create these items.”
The gathering, which took about 10 months from ideation to execution, will even characteristic shirts, sweats and equipment like hats and earrings. It’s accessible for buy on each web sites with costs starting from $45 to $200.
“A very powerful factor about this collab is that it’s timeless, elevated classics you’ll have eternally — items that gained’t be out of fashion subsequent yr,” Parke advised WWD. “That’s the method [we both] take with every little thing we put out. It’s so vital to me that I wish to put on these items eternally, and I would like our prospects to really feel like they’re not simply investing in garments, however in the way forward for their wardrobe.”
Parke x Aureum Collective
Amelia Patsalos-Fox
Whereas some could be hesitant to enter enterprise with a good friend, Parke and DiMicco each stated working collectively was “unbelievably simple,” particularly since they’d already examined the waters with a earlier collaboration.
That preliminary partnership got here to life final September when Parke hosted its second New York Metropolis pop-up in SoHo, drawing greater than 2,000 buyers who lined up across the block. The 1,600-square-foot area showcased items from the model’s fall 2024 assortment and previous drops — together with denim jackets, denims, sweaters, T-shirts, hats and tote luggage.
It was at this pop-up that their enterprise enterprise formally started, with Parke that includes an unique number of Aureum Collective jewellery for her prospects to buy.
“Beginning [our partnership] on the pop-up and seeing the way it went was actually vital to the entire collaboration,” Parke stated. “However we had the thought for a collab approach earlier than that. Cass and I met as a result of we each lived in Miami and had been making an attempt to construct our manufacturers. We’re each tremendous formidable, and I feel it actually resonated with us how hard-working we each are.”