This Game of Thrones jewelry line honors the women of Westeros
Photo credit: Alex and Ani
The final season of Game of Thrones is here! Are you rooting for the Starks or the Lannisters? Hoping a Targaryen ends up on the Iron Throne? We’ll have to wait and see what the ultimate fates of these houses and the entirety of Westeros will be. Luckily as we do, we can now show our allegiance and our love for the show with a brand new stylish jewelry collection thanks to Alex and Ani!
Game of Thrones is the most licensed program in HBO’s history with over 100 licensees worldwide. While there’s numerous apparel and accessories among this number, Alex and Ani’s Game of Thrones collection stands out from the rest. It includes bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and rings featuring iconic quotes and imagery from the series. With such a huge world to work with, it’s no surprise that it was difficult for the company to decide what to include in the line.
“There is so much to choose from and so many directions the collection could have started. For the first launch, we felt that it was important to focus on the traits and nuances of each female lead,” Kate Robinson, Alex and Ani’s senior vice president of brand and creative, told GeekFold in an email interview. “We often identify ourselves through milestones, accomplishments and moments from our past, and we wanted to pay tribute to the strength of the women at the center of each house”
The line does just that with its pieces. There are bracelets for the Stark, Targaryen, and Lannister houses, displaying their sigils and family mottos, but also bracelets specifically for Arya, Sansa, Daenerys, and Cersei. These embody the spirits of the characters by including their house sigils along with other charms representing what they’ve been through. For example, Arya’s bracelet also has charms for the House of Black and White along with one reading “a girl has no name.” Each of these characters receives a necklace with two charms and a stone specific to them as well. In addition to these character specific pieces, there are also Stark and Lannister sigil earrings and a men’s Stark beaded bracelet.
A lot of thought clearly went into the line, which makes sense since Robinson said the show has a huge fan base at the Alex and Ani office.
“When we sat down to pursue the conversation of relevant, out of the ordinary partnerships, it was first on our list. You don’t often find a show that’s fan base is such a strong mix of both men and women. The exploration of the divine feminine, strength, honor, love, and some of the most bad ass women that TV has seen in a long time is just unparalleled,” she said.
The team has been working on the collection since early-mid last year and Robinson called HBO an incredible partner throughout it all, “allowing creative process and representation to really take shape.”
Photo credit: Alex and Ani
“They have trusted and supported our direction, and have been eager to share crucial information every step of the way,” she said. “When you work with an organization that genuinely loves and cares about its story telling and its characters, you are able to create something magical together.”
Alex and Ani is no stranger to the world of fandom jewelry. They’ve created stunning pieces for Harry Potter, Wonder Woman, Fantastic Beasts, and sports teams. Their interpretations of these fandoms on jewelry is always impressive. When asked about their process for moving from a fandom idea like a Game of Thrones house sigil to deciding the right design that would work for it, Robinson noted that the strength of the company’s design team “is in interpreting style guides and ideas into pieces that will be meaningful and recognizable to an Alex and Ani customer.”
“You have to translate design decisions in a way that does justice to the series, but is also styled appropriately for someone currently wearing our jewelry. Often, design will dictate functionality,” she explained. “If you’re working with a crest, it starts showing up in sketch form as a ring, you have to allow the shapes and symbolism to find their way to the appropriate piece. We go into the process with an open mind.”
Fandom collections aren’t without their challenges and Game of Thrones was no different. According to Robinson, for this line and the others they always try to honor the fans’ commitment and devotion in their decisions.
“We don’t take our licensed product lightly. We live and breathe in the stories until we are able to construct a genuine representation of why we are creating. You are tasked with doing something interesting and new, and also being incredibly accurate and specific with details. Die-hard fans hold the highest standards for relevance and authenticity, so creating for them is very important and always top of mind,” Robinson said.
You’ll be able to see that as Alex and Ani releases even more pieces for this Game of Thrones collection. On Wednesday Stark earrings and rings with the Stark, Lannister, and Targaryen sigils were added to the website. More items inspired by other aspects of the show will be released in the future.
The collection is one that Robinson said they’re proud of for many reasons.
“We think the messaging is perfect for the world right now. This is a collection, and a story, about strength and perseverance, and the fire inside all of us to thrive,” Robinson said. “These characters remind us of the things that give us strength and purpose, and we have had so much fun in bringing that to life.”
The Game of Thrones line is available on Alex and Ani’s website now.
Don't forget to sign up for GeekFold so you can receive the week's essential geek fashion news every Friday!