Anyone who has been following VidaKush might know about the very special project that was completed recently. For anyone who doesn't know, stick around because we are about to spill all the juicy details of this serendipitous opportunity.
This story consists of many exciting elements, so buckle up we are in for a Ride!
This story has to do with the one and only, Sparkle Jump Rope Queen, Lana Del Rey. Everyone knows this Grammy awarded American singer-songwriter and VidaKush was so honored to work with her and her team.
Let's take a trip down memory lane, the year is 2012. Imagine yourself at the Melrose Trading Post VidaKush booth and Lana freakin' Del Rey walks up, genuinely interested in your jewelry. Yup, that was us. She fell in love with our flower crowns and knuckle rings, two staple pieces of 2010's fashion trends and we have a picture to prove it.
Around that same time, our owner Rhianna Cooper's now boyfriend, Josh Dane was featured in a Lana Del Ray short film, Tropico. What a Young and Beautiful time.
Throughout the years, Lana has continued to frequent MTP and always makes a stop at the VidaKush booth. While chatting one day last summer, Rhianna brought up the music video memory of Josh and to our surprise, Lana fully remembered him! After reminiscing and catching up, the first thing that caught her eye was the Pearl Custom Word Choker with the word "SLUT" on it, she immediately put it on and wanted to show it off. A few weeks later her father, Robert England Grant Jr. posted a selfie with his daughter wearing the Slut Necklace. The internet erupted into a frenzy trying to find out where the iconic Daddy's girl got her West Coast handmade necklace came from.
Within the mix of all that, Lana and Rhianna had exchanged numbers, with the intention of working on a future project together. A few weeks later, Lana reached out to Rhianna to ask about making her favorite "SLUT" necklace into a personalized version for merchandise for her newest album titled, American Whore.
No more Summertime Sadness for us, the merch project was born. The International Entertainment company, Live Nation was the glue in between us and Lana. Communicating with them for all things "behind the scenes" to give the lovely fans the experience they deserve.
Since the album name and first single released was titled American Whore, Lana really wanted the custom letters on the necklace to say "A&W." Our creative minds got to work and designed a couple different samples we thought she would like. She ended up loving the one with small gold diamond encrusted "A" and "W" and a small sparkle in the middle to represent the "&." So that's what we did!
Normally when you purchase a VidaKush item, the tail end of the extension chain will have a small gold VidaKush heart tag. This feature Lana really resinated with and wanted to be a part of her design as well. In case you didn't know, technology is really cool these days allowing a 3D printed personalized "LDR" heart tag to be produced just for her. Adding to the cuteness factor, custom "LDR" jewelry boxes were also created for the necklace to have a safe home when not being worn.
Once everything was approved by the American singer, it was time to put the necklaces online. The Lana Fandom is no-joke and the first pre-order batch of "A&W" chokers sold out in one day! No one could've expected that, her supporters are really The Greatest!
Production was Off to the Races. This all women team acted fast, getting to work in our Los Angeles office one necklace at a time. This was definitely going to be a challenge, but we were inspired by the fans and honored that Lana trusted us with her merchandize.
The craziness didn't end there. After the "A&W" did so well, Lana came back to us and asked to do a second item! With her second single being titled Candy Necklace it was only right that we created a "Candy" necklace as well.
These exceptional accessories are still available! If you haven't already purchased one, the link to pre-order a Candy Necklace is right HERE.
Have another word or phrase in mind? Customize your own necklace on our website HERE.
Starting with a simple purchase, growing a customer relationship, to collaborating on an amazing project. We hope you enjoyed hearing this insane story through our perspective as much as we loved telling it. Lana is such a doll and we understand why her fan base has such a Lust for Life.
Thank you to everyone who was involved in this project. Even though it's over, we don't you to be sad or cry. We know the road was tough but we kept each other laughing and carried on. We had fun and took a walk on the wild side. Made it through the pouring rain, that was really insane. This will not be the last time, even though we were all Born to Die.
