Kim Gordon’s designed sunglasses and Gang Gang Dance have a skate deck, but over the past century, band merch hasn’t really evolved past the simple T-shirt. It’s a shame, particularly as American music fans become more fashion-conscious (thank you, diffusion lines) and designers better understand that repping the right musicians can help define their whole aesthetic: why not take this collaborative energy in a more sartorial direction for those of us who love both?
Enter the latest piece of Peaking Lights merch, which synergizes the sparkling essence of the band as well as the gleaming, diner-blue cover art of their forthcoming album Lucifer (out June 19). A collaboration between the Wisconsin art-dub duo and New York-based jewelry line Peppercotton, the Lucifer bangle is an appropriate sprinkle of blue and white Swarovski crystals dangling about a gauzy bit of nylon casing like little clouds or drops of ice. The accompanying photos capture the dreamy spiritual aesthetic, though not necessarily the conceptual lightness of the bracelet — remember, Swarovski sparkles as diamonds do, y’all, and choosing a nylon web as a setting gives the accessory a dose of New Museum/contemporary art vibe that elevates the simple (daresay lo-fi) concept into a piece that is both practical and elegant. It’s not outside the purview of Peppercotton’s regular work, but the Peaking Lights colorway has a weightlessness that some of the other pieces don’t. Or maybe it’s just that listening to the chilled bubbly of Lucifer is making us feel more lightheaded than normal.
Peaking Lights/Peppercotton bracelet, $173. Available at Maryam Nassir Zadeh, 123 Norfolk Street, NY, NY or online. Peaking Lights Lucifer, Available June 19 from Mexican Summer.
