* NOW ACCEPTING SALES AND PRESS APPOINTMENTS *
CONTACT: rsvp@occulter.org
Need an outfit for lying naked in the woods? These harnesses come courtesy of Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons, a Manhattan trinket house that seems to have moved beyond scrimshaw into equestrian gear. Our favorite part: The ebony and ivory centerpieces are made from vintage piano keys. Pants are optional.
—R.B.
GetKempt.com
By Laura Yacoe
Read full story on Refinery29.com
The mammoth has been around since fur vests were a necessity and not exactly a fashion statement, but since dying out at the hands of our bloodlusty ancestors, we haven't really given them much of a passing thought. Enter, mammoth ivory jewelry—the strangest jewelry material that's quickly becoming a trend...
Read full story on Refinery29.com
Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons Cottonmouth Scarf
"Don't be fooled—Southern women are tough as nails, but our tenacity is not always obvious. I prefer the subtlety of this scarf to the spikes and chains of last season."
View the full Spring 2010 Buyer's Guide on Style.com
Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons"Pah" Horsehair and Sterling Cross
Learn more about the "Pah" Horsehair Cross.
Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons will be available for sales appointments at Capsule New York on January 18 and 19, 2010.
Location:
The Puck Building
295 Lafayette St.
New York, NY 10002
Show hours: 10am-7pm
Book Appointments:
rsvp@occulter.org
Excerpt:
What's one of the most influential books you've read? why?
It has to be Demian by Herman Hesse, which I read in High School and read again and again. I’ve never seen the world in the same light since. It really made superficiality something to eschew and overcome. It defined that period in my life when I knew I needed to grow up and personally redefine the role of everything society presented to me as good, evil and sacred. Funny, I just realized that most of my favorite characters are named Max.
Read full interview at Antlermag.com
WILD THINGS
Photos by Thomas Iannacone
Accessories are going on a fantastical journey for spring, as organic materials and animal prints, walking a fine line between wild fantasy and natural reality.
"O'Ha" horse hair and leather cuffs in Ghost White and Flax. Purchase online or at In God We Trust boutiques.
Photos from the Cole, Rood & Haan shoot available at TheSelby.com
For more information, coleroodhaan.com.
All those incredibly vertiginous shoes you’ve been teetering about in, willing yourself to be able to take another step, praying you don’t go down to the ground quicker than you can say ankle fracture? Please. Take them off. The flat, sensible shoe is here to the rescue—an update on the classic men’s wingtip, and a step on from the jazz flats of the past summer. The latest company to go down to earth? Cole Haan, who this past week threw a party in a SoHo loft for new line Cole, Rood & Haan, which launches this fall. (It’s what the company was called before Mr. Rood passed away, and his partners decided to just use their own surnames.) There was a distinct look of relief on the faces of Jessica Joffe and the like who were trying on styles like this, a high-shine aubergine lace-up; $350. (There are also utilitarian ankle boots and beaten-up deck shoes.) Of course, that relief could have been down to the fact that on exiting the party, they weren’t going to have to navigate the steep wooden staircase to get to the street.
—Mark Holgate
Dazed and Confused digital coverage of Theft of Light by Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons and Pamela Love at Milk Studios. Read More...
On September 16th of New York Fashion Week, Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons presented at Milk Studios alongside Pamela Love to debut their respective Spring 2010 collections. Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons unveiled it's "Theft of Light" collection as well as a limited edition collaboration with Love. The collaboration, aptly named "The Mammoth Talon Cuff", is a take on Love's signature sterling Talon Cuff, now elevated with hand-carved fossilized Mammoth ivory claws, scrimshaw edition numbering, diamonds, and engravings.
The video below highlights selections from "Theft of Light" and " The Mammoth Talon Cuff".
To read descriptive annotations on this video, please view as full screen or on youtube.com
Special thanks to Pamela and her team, Nico, Christine, Ryder Robison and the amazing Spoke Visuals team for making such an incredible installation -- Genga, you rule.
9/9/9 @ St. Mark's Church, East Village, New York City. Photos provided by Scoute.org
"Hexagonal Animal Viewer": Sterlings silver, seven 160x quartz Stanhope lenses with dissected honeybees. One of a kind.
"Una": Twisted Horsehair, leather and leather cuff.
"Havataneo": Braided horsehair, leather and sterling sliding necklace.
"Havataneo": Braided horsehair, leather and sterling sliding necklace.
"YIKSA": Leather and vintage ivory harness • Limited Edition of 7.
"YIKSA": Leather and vintage ivory harness • Limited Edition of 7.
"Tasunke": American horse hair tassel and sterling necklace with "wolf mother" charm.
"Tasunke": American horse hair tassel and sterling necklace with "wolf mother" charm.
"Chogan": Leather and vintage ebony harness. Limited Edition of 7.
"Chogan": Leather and vintage ebony harness. Limited Edition of 7.
"Chogan": Leather and vintage ebony harness. Limited Edition of 7.
"O' Ha Double Rope" Braided horsehair, leather with brass hooks.
"Tasunke": American horse hair tassel and sterling necklace with "wolf mother" charm.
"Tasunke": American horse hair tassel and sterling necklace with "wolf mother" charm.
"O'Ha": Braided American horse hair cuff with leather.
"Doba" Double leather cuff with snaps.
"Tasunke": American horse hair tassel and sterling necklace with "wolf mother" charm.
"O'Ha": Braided American horse hair cuff with leather.
"Tasunke": American horse hair tassel and sterling necklace with "wolf mother" charm.
"O'Ha": Braided American horse hair cuff with leather.
"Nascha": Distressed leather and painted vintage ivory. Limited Edition of 7.
"Una": Twisted Horsehair, leather and leather cuff.
"Nascha": Distressed leather and painted vintage ivory. Limited Edition of 7.
"Una": Twisted Horsehair, leather and leather cuff.
Dark and ingenious, local accessories shaman Derrick Cruz of Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons always manages to throw a couple of devilish curveballs. Just like past collections, Cruz's new "Theft of Light" line uses the same formula of brooding, outré designs and unlikely materials to create a parade of new, daring works. This time, though, Cruz's catalog of horsehair bracelets, ebony and ivory keys plucked from vintage pianos, and Navajo-influenced leather strapping has a poignant edge. "Theft of Light" is a tribute to Cruz's father, Jose, who died this year at 57. A bit of a cross-cultural creative himself, the senior Cruz had moved from Puerto Rico to Colorado, created a traditional Native American craft studio, and eventually earned membership in a local tribe. To Derrick Cruz, the collection and its lookbook are, "illustrations for a chapter in my personal book of myths." For us—as emotional as that all is—the Navajo ivory breastplates are just damned cool.
Fang Pin (in hair) and Aikea Guinea Ring(on bare hand)
Black Bighorn and Key Necklace
The Silver Jaw (on head)
More at Lurvemag.com
The Bone Collectors
It’s a slightly macabre moment for several emerging jewelry designers who prefer anatomical elements to glitzy gems. True, the skull-and bone trend has been around and continues to thrive—see Luis Morais’ glammed-up wares. But Pamela Love and Lady Grey’s Sabine Le Guyader and Jill Martinelli take the motif a step further by casting actual remains—human teeth—in gold, silver and bronze. Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons’ Derrick Cruz, meanwhile, offers an ashtray from human jaw cast in bronze and plated in gold. Love works with claws, bird skulls and teeth, all of which she finds “spiritual,” while Martinelli and Le Guyader, both of whom worked in dental offices as teenagers, bonded over their fascination with teeth as students at the Massachusetts College of Art. Still, they’ve branched out: Their most recent work includes a bib necklace of cast mink bones. “In some of Prague’s old ossuaries from the 1800s, they built huge chandeliers out of human skeletons. The arrangements of bones…and casting them in metal can become very beautiful,” says Martinelli of their inspiration. Love acknowledges the edge of it all: “Obviously, aesthetically it’s kind of tough and cool, and people like that. But I also feel like it’s bringing you back to nature, in a way.”
A Night Out with Pamela Love
CHIC WEEK
A couple Thursdays ago I took the L train to Brooklyn (a place I don’t venture to all that often) to attend a trunk show featuring collections from a handful of ELLE favorites: Anna Sheffield, Chris Habanna, Pamela Liou’s Langoliers, and Pamela Love. I’m quite the Brooklyn novice, but I knew HopStop had successfully guided me to Oak’s Williamsburg outpost when I ran into a group of look-alike Alexander Wang catwalkers outside the store. Once inside the sweltering space (I had originally thought that Oak was “going green” and had decided to forgo the AC, but later learned it had just broken down that morning), I caught up with cult-followed jewelry genius Love, where she proclaimed Derrick Cruz (of Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons) her hero, divulged that there is a new lower-priced line in the works (one that we won’t have to give up lattes or lunch for, perhaps?), and confessed (though tight-lipped) that collaborations at September’s Fashion Week are a go!..
—Natasha Clark, Associate Fashion Credits Editor
Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons "O'HA" Horsehair Double Rope with brass hooks.
Learn more about the "O'HA" Horsehair Double Rope
Abandoned Comb Amulet: 18k gold honeycomb cast from abandoned Brooklyn comb, cast sugar, Brooklyn honey, glass, rubber.
LOST & FOUND
Dates: MAY/JUNE/JULY
SPRING GALLERY
126a Front Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel: 718-222-1054
Wasted and gained; missed and discovered; failed and experienced - searching for clues in design and art. We keep time; get organized; make lists and draw maps; we reclaim our place; protect our identity and show our feelings; we fill in the empty spaces and hold on to memories.
Curated by Anna Cosentino
Featuring selected works and designs by Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons, 5.5 designers, Gregoire Abrial, Ralph Ball & Maxine Naylor, Deborah Bowness, Steve Butcher, Angel Chang, Peter Cole, Manreet Deol, Leah Evans, Paul Loebach, Stijn Ossevoort, Kathy and Rob Price, Random International, Justin Richel, Suck UK and Tokyoflash!
Excerpt:
Do you have anything in particular that influences you?
Ideas or objects that can be described as “ethereal” seem to appeal to me. Any degree of intangibility, whether aesthetic, spiritual or scientific reminds me that I know very little about the world around me, and that inspires me to make things.
Read the full interview at Scoute.org
Golden Cottonmouth Scarf and Bolo: 24k 2micron Gold Plated Bronze and Banner Cut Gauze Scarf with Silk Screened Logo.
SWEETER THAN HONEY
The honeybees have been disappearing, and scientists can't figure out why. But as a result, honeybees have been making more frequent appearances in art and design. In recent years, Mary Boone Gallery exhibited Pennsylvania artist Hilary Berseth's massive mounted honeybee hives, and design critics hailed Tomas Gabzdil Libertiny's beeswax vases for Droog. This year, this honeycomb pendant by Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons is the latest manifestation of bee mania. Cast from local Brooklyn honeycomb, it comes packaged floating in a honey-filled sugar-crystal casing; when the casing is cracked, golden honey oozes out, carrying with it the 18-carat pendant. Yum.
JACOB BROWN, PHOTOGRAPHY BY GISEL FLOREZ.
At New York City's F.S.C. barber, an offshoot of the Freemans Sporting Club men's fashion brand, shaving is fetishized by hipster barbers with gorgeously trimmed beards and retro tattoos. Under lighting from the Depression era, clients sit in 1930s barber chairs to look into handsome wooden mirrors flanked by ornately carved back bars. And the services are as old-school as the surroundings. F.S.C. (freemanssportingclub. com/nyc_barber.htm) offers a range of straight-razor shaves, all using products that reach back to the late 1800s: rosewater astringent, shaving oil from Portugal and heated shaving cream from chrome machines that have long since gone out of production.
But the razors are the most striking part of the process. Made by Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons (Purveyors of Dark and Uncommon Goods) in New York City, they have handles carved from 10,000-30,000-year-old Alaskan woolly mammoth tusks.
The handle of every Mammoth Razor (blacksheepandprodigalsons.com) can be personalized with an engraved scrimshaw monogram, and has a small quartz lens in it. Hold the lens to the light and you see a tiny photograph inside — turn-of-the-century erotica comes as standard, but you can choose any photo you like. Each blade is vintage and restored to be shave-ready. You'll have to supply the steady hand.
Read Article at Time.com
Visit the New York Times 2008 Gift Guide
Mammoth Straight Razor: Fossilized Woolly Mammoth Ivory (10-30 thousand years old), Sterling, Restored and Shave-Ready Vintage Blade, 160x Quartz Stanhope Lens with Vintage Erotica Microphotography, Engraved Wood Box. Handcrafted in New York City. Limited Production of 50.
Derrick R. Cruz wearing one-of-a-kind “Abandoned Comb” sculpture in 18k gold cast from wax honeycomb made by New York City honeybees.
Don’t call him a jewelry designer. For Derrick R. Cruz, the bookish chronic smoker and death-obsessed bee worshiper behind the NYC-based cult fave Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons, a career in conceptual accessories was a bit of an accident. “I don’t know anything about fashion,” says Cruz, who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Puerto Rico, before returning to the U.S. to study painting. Later, after drawing international attention for his detailed mixed-media works, he taught communication arts at Wesleyan College and worked as an art director prior to the conception of his label, in 2006.
“I couldn’t paint because of lack of space, so I started sculpting little things in my apartment, making tiny pins that I would wear on my tie at parties,” he says. “People started to notice and soon I had a business.”
Cruz’s work is at once intellectual and ironic, engaged in exploring the meaning of objects and the aesthetic of Otherness. “I’m always influenced by people and by the idea that everyone in New York is always the black sheep back home,” he says. Ever eclectic, his pieces range from Moby-Dick-inspired pins to human-jaw-shaped ashtrays in gold vermeil, and, most recently, pins, rings, and necklaces made from honeycombs sculpted by New York City honeybees and cast in 18k gold.
These spectacular pieces were made for A New Hive, Cruz’s nonprofit cooperative that raises awareness about the rapid disappearance of the beloved bugs throughout the world, and to raise money for research and education for the development of sustainable beekeeping practices (Cruz is also a part-time beekeeper).
All of the jewelry in this series is individually encased in a translucent, honey-lemon sugar pyramid that is filled with honey. To wear the free-floating jewelry, the person in possession of the honey statue must first destroy the mold by breaking it open, then lick off the honey before wearing the jewelry, a process that Cruz says is integral to understanding the relationship between object and owner, birth and destruction.
“I want to make things that you can pull out in your secret time and ponder, and show your friends and put away,” says Cruz. “Things that people may want to pass on.”
x—Bunny Kinney
Dark Miracle Box: Engraved and Ebonized Maple, Glass, Brass, Linen Sleeves, 24k Gold Gilded Compartment, Lock. Limited Production of 50. Handcrafted in NYC. Available for special order online and at S.O.S. FP in Japan.
"Lovers" scrimshaw necklace: vintage ivory piano key, gold rivets, sterling backing and adjustable chain with "praying hands" charm. Click Here to Purchase Online. Also available at Barneys New York/LA and Bblessing New York.
"Three Keys" necklace: sterling silver with "praying hands" charm. Click Here to Purchase Online. Also available at In God We Trust New York.
From zip-up cardigans to Ray-Ban aviators, these reimagined classics celebrate JFK Jr.'s enduring style. PLUS: Iconic archival photographs of the man himself
Photographs by Carter Smith
Ready for our country to change direction and return to a more optimistic era? Our fashion industry already has. The classic American clothing that JFK Jr. wore in his Cape Cod youth (corduroys, duffel coats, aviator shades) has been brilliantly reborn. Plus, iconic archival photographs of the man himself.
FEATURED:
"Mammoth Horn" carved fossilized woolly mammoth ivory on sterling chain. Buy it now at our official online shop.
"Mammoth Horn" carved fossilized woolly mammoth ivory on sterling chain. Buy it now at our official online shop.
Read full text at WMagazine.com
"...Though the cutesy factor looms large, for some of these labels there’s a genuine connection between name and creator. For artist–turned–objet designer Derrick R. Cruz, the circuitous path he took to return to his birthplace of Manhattan resulted in Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons, a cache of meticulously crafted wares with an old-world feel. Kicking off with animal-head stickpins and scrimshaw necklaces made from vintage ivory piano keys, Cruz has since conjured 24-karat gold-plate “jaws” that double as ashtrays and trinket holders, and straight-edge razors with handles carved from woolly mammoth tusks. Currently he’s curating “A New Hive,” a multimedia exhibit he hopes will draw attention to the plight of endangered honeybees.
With so much going on between the ears, it makes sense that Cruz would deep-six the notion of a run-of-the-mill moniker. Instead, he drew inspiration from Kafka Was the Rage: A Greenwich Village Memoir by Anatole Broyard. In the book, says Cruz, Broyard describes meeting people “who had either shunned family to come to New York City, or they had been shunned by family and fled to the city. He said that these are paradoxical black sheep or prodigal sons. And I thought, Well, this hasn’t changed.”Continue Reading...
"Lapel Locket" Sterling silver locket pin, linden wood "book box". Available at our Online Shop and at Oak NYC.
"Bighorn & Keys to the Gate" Carved and painted cold-cast porcelain, oxidized sterling hammered keys and chain, linden wood "book box". Available in our Online Shop and at Oak NYC.
There's a lot to be said for an old-school barbershop, where a shave was a shave, a trim was a trim, and no one dared offer you aromatherapy.
Welcome to F.S.C. Barber, a '20s-era barbershop from the Freemans folks and barbershop mastermind Sam Buffa, opening Thursday in the West Village.
Just leave your coat and man-purse in the wooden lockers at the back and find your way to one of the antique barber's chairs. The décor is more Art Deco than Colonial, but between the subway-tile walls and the slate hair sink, you won't feel too inappropriately modern. All the employees are trained in both barbering and hairstyling, so they're equally adept with scissors, clippers and a straight razor, but your options are refreshingly straightforward: a shave or a haircut or…both.
If you've been to the shop in the back of Freemans Sporting Club, you know what to expect, but this spot throws in a few curveballs, like custom-made ivory straight razors carved from 10,000-year-old mammoth tusk, courtesy of Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons. Another new trick—soon to expand to the sporting club—is the Hangover Remedy, a hot towel followed by enough scented washes to clear away every trace of last night's excesses.
Just don't call it a facial.
F.S.C. Barber, 5 Horatio St (at W. 4th and 8th Ave), 212-929-3917
"Black Hearted Son" and "Raging Sea" NecklacesScrimshaw on vintage ivory piano keys or woolly mammoth fossil ivory, 18k rose gold rivets, sterling chain, linden wood "book box". Available online, Barneys New York and S.O.S. FP Japan.
Golden Key Necklace: Solid 18k Rose Gold Key, 18 Inch Chain, Handcrafted "S" Hook Closure. Available online and at Barneys New York.
Old Soul Stickpin: Solid 18k Gold and Black Diamonds. Available online and at The Earnest Sewn Co..
Though he's known as the designer for Black Sheep and Prodigal Son, Derrick Cruz has another line to boast about: Dark Momentos. The accessories brand won a Gen Art award in 2007 and, most recently, landed on the heartthrobs of Gossip Girl. But wait, there's more! See Cruz is a honeybee fanatic. And tonight his curated installation, "A New Hive," opens at Earnest Sewn. We dragged Derrick away from his makeshift hive to talk about the genius of the black T-shirt, TV, and his sticky sweet accessories.
So your installation revolves entirely around the disappearance of honeybees. What’s with the bee fixation?
I was doing some research about bee mythology a few years back for some limited-edition necklaces I was creating for BBlessing. That was when I found out about colony collapse disorder (a recent phenomenon in which honeybees are abandoning their hives en masse) and became obsessed with the little critters. If bees disappear, we won't be able to eat. Every third bite of food we take is something that has been pollinated by bees. Your entire Happy Meal is gone. No more cream soda for you...
"Woolly Ring" Fossilized mammoth ivory inlay, sterling silver, 18k rose gold rivet, linden wood "book box". Available at our Online Shop and at In God We Trust NYC.
Old Soul Stickpin: Solid 18k Gold and Black Diamonds. Available online and at Barneys NYC.
Golden Cottonmouth Scarf and Bolo: 24k 2micron Gold Plated Bronze and Banner Cut Gauze Scarf with Silk Screened Logo.
Lovers Scrimshaw Necklace: Vintage ivory piano key, sterling silver, 18k rose gold. Available online and at Barneys NYC.
On the cover...
Black Bighorn Solid Sterling Necklace with Rosario Ball Chain and Praying Hands Charm. To purchase Click here for our Online Shop.
Inside...
Photographer - Andrew Tingle
Stylist - Jenessee Utley
For more on Sang Bleu visit http://www.sang-bleu.com
|V| PURPLE | BEAUTY | MEN'S NECKLACES
"The artist and jewelry designer Pamela Love styled this shoot of men's necklaces as if these amulets were visible bones laid on the skin. More feminine than the brawny decorations men wear to show their virility, these accessories suggest the fragility of masculinity."
Vava Ribeiro, photographer
Pamela Love, creative director
Keegan Singh, stylist
Allison Yip, styling assistant
"Lovers" scrimshaw necklace: vintage ivory piano key, gold rivets, sterling backing and adjustable chain with "praying hands" charm Click Here to Purchase Online. Also available at Barneys New York/LA and Earnest Sewn New York.
Excerpt:
Q: What is the symbolism in the specific animal imagery you choose for your jewelry?Read Full Interview at DontTalkToMeZine.com
A: Sheep, rams, whales, squid and children; followers turned fighters, unrelenting struggle at unseen depths and the offspring of such things. That about sums it up.
Excerpt:
"[Cruz] understands that men's accessories in particular are far more lucrative and relevant to casual menswear now than they were three or four years ago. But asked whether he'd thought about taking the brand to the mass-market level, he replies, "It would do away with everything this is about. Do I make more accessible jewelry, fine accessories or strictly New York-crafted objects? How do I make the growth match my philosophy? How do I keep my fingerprint on things? I don't know." He adds: "I just feel lucky to know that people connect with my work the way I wanted them to. I don't have a very strict definition of what that is. I just want them to get personal with the objects."
Silver Cottonmouth Bolo and Banner Cut Gauze Scarf in Black at THECAST store on Ludlow.
"Covered Woman" Scrimshaw on Oversized Black Ball Chain, Banner Cut Gauze Scarf Natural
Defining Men's Fashion
January 21, 2008
www.DNRNEWS.com
Article Exerpt:
It’s the kind of special product from clients like Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons that impresses visitors. Founded by Derrick Cruz in 2006, the company sells what it calls “Dark Mementos,” or handmade jewelry fashioned from vintage ivory, precious metals, engraved piano keys and woolly mammoth tusk in somewhat unusual forms like praying hands, ram’s skulls and sperm whales.Read Full Article at DNRNEWS.com
"I think it’s interesting that even large retailers like Bloomingdale’s and Barneys see the importance of having young designers and truly unique product in their stores to create the right environment,” notes Gingras. “I think this new generation of guys doesn’t want to wear the exact same thing as everyone else. They want to show themselves off as unique individuals in this world.”
New York Post Page Six Magazine
December 22-30, 2007
http://www.pagesix.com
"Work" Scrimshaw, 18k Gold and Sterling Necklace.
View More Images
Buy Online
Flaunt Magazine
December 2007
by Elliott David
Sometimes blood is bad. Sometimes we squander that which we value most. Sometimes our penitence goes unforgiving and we must escape to cities that sometimes sleep. Artist Derrick R. Cruz expresses these macabre truths through Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons, his line of dark, Orphic jewelry and wearable artworks. Born in NYC, raised in Puerto Rico, it was Cruz's return to Gotham that inspired both his jewelry's aesthetic -- black snow, black harbors, beautiful brown-blue rust, tactile entropy -- and namesake: a city of diasporic artists, runaways, and re-starters who come to Manhattan alone, then bond with a band of bastards (see his collaborations with THECAST, John Bartlett, and Death and Company). Cruz personally engraves each pre-ban vintage, ivory piano key for his necklaces, precious metal for his stickpins, and hand-carved porcelain and fossilized mammoth tusks. After being in production for only one year, a Gen Art award in 2007 quickly confirmed him as our greatest contemporary American scrimshander.
NOTE: That's me hunched over an engraving in the middle photo. I'll be customizing scrimshaw engravings during the weekends down there.
Read article on Refinery29.com.
THECAST, 119 Ludlow Street, lower level (between Delancey and Rivington streets).
View the Nylon Magazine Wishlist Slide Show at NylonMag.com
1. Henrik Vibskov scarf!
2. Anna corinna mini city tote
3. Alexandre Herchcovitch multi-colored hoodie w/ metal pyramid studs.
4. Dr. Martens 14 Eye boots
5. Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons Necklace
6. Black Jeremy Scott sunglasses
7. Ksubi overalls
8. Black Wolford Tights
9. Kerastase Daily Oleo Relax Treatment Masque
10. Dior Show Mascara in Blackout
Please visit Worshipworthy.com
PIN ME Counterclockwise from left: Feather, fur and sterling silver pin, $430 at Gucci. Mister Mort fishing-lure charm pin, $45 at Jack Spade. Arms and Armory acrylic key pin, $90 at Screaming Mimi’s. Kazuko heart-shaped carnelian pin, $420; similar styles at Barneys New York. Bonbon Oiseau antique-linen flower on a sterling silver pin, $72 from bonbonoiseau.com. Mister Mort vintage-feather flower pin, $45 at Jack Spade. Mister Mort curled feather pin, $45 at Jack Spade. Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons 14-karat-gold Old Soul stickpin, $600 at An Earnest Cut & Sew and Online Here.
By KARIN NELSON
New York Times
Published: Thursday November 22, 2007
Read on www.NewYorktimes.com
APART from the great debate on the significance of sporting an American-flag pin (Barack Obama reportedly finds them phony; Rudolph Giuliani won’t leave home without one), lapel pins don’t get much attention. And unless it’s the Légion d’Honneur, they get even less respect.
On the runways, it’s a different story. This season, men’s wear has been treated to an artful array of lapel adornments, some rather handsome, others a bit ludicrous: Sonia Rykiel showed purple knit roses affixed to gray tweed overcoats; Gucci went sporty with feather boutonnieres; Louis Vuitton offered simple gold bouquet stickpins; and at Lanvin, there was a silk flower that, up close, looked more like an abstract carrot. The message from Europe: it’s time for men to consider pinning one on.
Timothy Elliott, the public relations manager of Barneys New York, has. He wears a small heart-shaped stone pin made by the jewelry designer Kazuko, who died in September. “I like the way it looks with tailored clothing,” he said. “And I’m a conservative straight man.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
“Men’s fashion has so many rules, which means creativity within constraints,” said Mordechai Rubenstein, who designs one-of-a-kind boutonnieres fashioned from fishing lures under the label Mister Mort. “I see the lapel thing as a nice evolution for men who pay a bit of attention to what they’re wearing.”
And, he said, women are hooked. “They keep stealing them off my desk.”
For You: Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons Jawbone Ashtray
Even if you smoke, you can probably find something better than cigarette ends to keep in this macabre, yet lavish, ashtray from New York's Derrick Cruz. The heavy metal tray, made from a mold of a woman's lower jaw, is covered in a thick layer of 24K gold with a black diamond inset in the middle. If you must use it as an ashtray, cigars go between the molars and everything else goes up front.
$3,250.00 available now at www.BlackSheepAndProdigalSons.com and on Black Monday at Barneys.com and at Earnest Sewn, NYC, (212) 242-3414.
First, Jessica Kagan Cushman inscribed mammoth tusk bangles with flip pop-culture phrases. Now, Derrick Cruz, the designer of Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons, takes scrimshaw a bit more seriously. His unisex necklaces originate in some spectral Edwardian parlor: they’re made from vintage piano keys, salvaged from instruments that preceded the ivory-trade ban (Mr. Cruz prefers 1920s Drachmann player pianos). The keys are set in sterling silver with gold rivets and etched with a needle, in the tradition popularized by 19th-century whalers. Look for the Moby Dick-inspired Lovers necklace (far left) embellished with a squid and a whale, and the Raging Sea necklace, on which a ship flounders in a tiny tempest.
Available at BBlessing in New York, (212) 378-8005.
ELLEN CARPENTER
Photo: Christopher Smith for The New York Times
See New York Times Pulse Slideshow
Congratulations to THECAST for their fashion feature in Rolling Stone Magazine's October issue. Ryan Turner (right) is wearing our "Black-Hearted Son" Scrimshaw and Silver necklace to compliment their fantastically designed and crafted menswear. Well done, gentlemen!
Pay close attention to the video above for a close-up of our "Old Soul" gold stick pin appearing throughout the "Poison Ivy" episode 3 of Gossip Girl. It's that object she picks up from the desk and stabs through her tie. Also in this episode is the "Bighorn & Keys to the Gate" necklace, worn by the rock-and-roll dad character from Williamsburg. We took the liberty of replacing the show soundtrack with "Manchild" by The Creatures.
Also Featured on InStyle.com
To purchase "Old Soul" visit our Online Shop. 
As seen on New York Post's Page 6 Magazine, Blake Lively sports a Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons' 18k Rose Gold "Old Soul" tie pin as Serena van der Woodsen in the CW TV show "Gossip Girl." This could get very interesting...
Available at Earnest Sewn or in our Online Shop.
THECAST Spring 2008
The first catwalk show for the brand, attended by a few of their
celebrity friends including Adam Brody and Terry Richardson, saw rough
and ready models traipse the catwalk in summer-weight wool and
seersucker suits, raw denim, lightweight leather pants and signature
vests.
A real attention to detail elevates the line above the standard
hipster fare, with white and black horn buttons, black ribbon notch
labels and a collection of handmade accessories in collaboration with
Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons.
Grammy award winning Puerto Rican artist, Draco Rosa, wears a Black Bighorn & Key necklace in his new video "Desnudo" supporting the album "El Teatro del Absurdo."
For more information on Draco visit www.phantomvox.com
Piano Keys don't typically evoke thoughts of delicate, hand-crafted necklaces laden with intricate sketches, but for jewelry designer Derrick Cruz, of Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons, vintage ivory piano keys proved the perfect canvas for his latest collection: a limited-edition line of necklaces made exclusively for BBlessing in New York. Cruz used the keys (all pre-ban and taken from defunct pianos, so no worries about the origins of your ornament) to develop a five-piece collection that truly tells a story:
<< View Designs >>
Dear Friends,
I am proud to announce the availability of "Bendicion," five limited edition handcrafted pieces exclusively designed for Bblessing in New York City.
BBlessing is open seven days
Mon - Sat 1pm - 9pm
Sun 12pm - 8pm
No 181 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
T: 212 378 8005 F: 212 378 9528
info@bblessing.com
www.Bblessing.com
...No. 4
"Suggestion: Keep Patrick Robinson but back him up with a fashion roster that can’t be questioned. Here’s the all star line-up. Accessories: Fellow Puerto Rican Derrick R. Cruz of Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons. Womenswear: Project Runway’s Allison Kelly of Dahl and Abigale, Karen, and Ana Maria of AKA New York. Shoes: Jessie Loeffler Randall and Brian Murphy of Loeffler Randall. Menswear: Roy Caires and Tommy Cole of This Old Thing? cause what they do for reconstruction is just a tip of their fashionable iceberg..."
Read full article at www.fashionindie.com
Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons won the Gen Art Styles 2007 International Design Vision Award for Accessories!
Thank you all so much for your support, particularly to the hecklers in the nosebleed section at the Hammerstein during the awards ceremony!! Thanks little k, thanks family, thanks friends, thanks EOS, thanks Gen Art!
Sincerely,
Derrick R. Cruz
GEN-ART STYLES 2007-THE FINAL TALLY
posted 05.24
"...accessories Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons deservedly won even over strong contenders such as Yarborough and BYLU..."
Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons will be taking part of the inaugural installation of TNT Blu's Project Space entitled "SALTBOX." Items by BSPS will include: necklaces in pre-ban vintage ivory and silver as well as handcrafted leather slipcovers for Moleskine notebooks designed inspired by SALTBOX.
<< View Designs >>
SALTBOX
A Lifestyle Installation Curated by Ely Assaraf and Olympia Bermann
Summer 2007
Opening Reception Wednesday May 23, 7pm-10pm
Official Launch of the TNT Blu Project Space
SALTBOX EXCLUSIVES
Catherine Holstein
Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons
Earnest Sewn/Spotted Horse
Jonathan Wright and Co.
Kava Gorna Photography
Trove
Noah
Sea Bags
Special thanks to Carlos Quirarte and Brendon Babenzien
TNT Blu
Hazelton Lanes
55 Avenue Road, Toronto, Ontario
To purchase contact TNT Blu directly at 416-972-1593, or visit www.TNTTheNewTrend.com.
"An artist and graphic designer by profession, Derrick R. Cruz, founder of Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons left his roots in Puerto Rico when he was 17. Reaching manhood after he left his native land, Cruz’s work was influenced by the diaspora effect and how it spawns new mythologies.
As cultural alchemy, his jewelry combines seemingly disparate technologies, materials and archetypes to create new “objects for remembering.” To emphasize his narrative, each piece is meticulously handcrafted and delivered in handmade packaging.
Established in the summer of 2006, Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons are already being sold at Bblessing in New York, Scout in L.A., Base in Miami as well as stores in Australia, Japan and Canada, a sure sign of its unique artistry and commercial viability."
Unearthed: Mens' Jewelry by Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons
By Chako Suzuki
Published: April 04, 2007
Fashionlines.com/blog
When I was a little girl, I used to sneak in episodes of Friday the 13th: The Series. I imagined my mom's antique jade jewelry carrying decades old curses and that my dad's ancient Samurai armor guarding our front door would one day rip my head off in the night. Ah, kids and their imagination. It wasn't until I was introduced to Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons jewelry line that these memories of unholy jewelry and wicked relics bubbled up in my brain.
Reminiscent of something out of an HP Lovecraft novel, each unique piece created by Black Sheep and Prodigal Son's designer, Derrick Cruz, is carefully laid in a dusty, hollowed-out bible. You can almost smell the sea or the forest on them. Cruz's jewelry has weight and narrative; his pieces feel like they were exhumed from watery depths or passed down from weathered palm to weathered palm. The real question about these little treasures is—do they come from good or evil? I posed this and other questions to Mr. Cruz...Continue reading at fashionlines.com
The Pirates of Pendants
By BOB MORRIS
Published: March 11, 2007
The New York Times
Jump to Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons Mention
Devon Turnbull, a young designer who is part of a Manhattan fashion collective called Nom de Guerre, is not what you’d call a mama’s boy — but he does like wearing her pearls. A few years ago, when she gave them to him, he had all 109 restrung onto a gold-link chain that hangs below his waist, like something between a prayer shawl and an overextended rosary. He took up pearl wearing for complex spiritual reasons having to do with Transcendental Meditation and a system of Vedic astrology called Jyotish. “But I also just always liked pearls,” Turnbull says.
On arm, from left: chain-link and id bracelets from Dean Harris, Gucci, Baroni Designs, David Yurman, Hermès, Tiffany & Company and Baroni Designs. Around neck, from top: John Hardy necklace. Dior Homme by Hedi Slimane teddybear pendant and chain. Maison Martin Margiela line 11 large-link chain. David Yurman dog-tag necklace. Tenthousandthings yellowgold chain. Yves Saint Laurent silver shell necklace. Gucci silver cord necklace with ebony rings. D&G anchor pendant and chain. Cartier gold chain. Louis Vuitton crest Pendant and chain. Garrard Gold wing pendant and chain. Stuart England Napoleon coin pendant and chain. Giles & Brother by Philip CCrangi safety-pin pendant and chain. Rogues Gallery propeller pendant and chain. Hanes tank. On arm, from left: chain-link and id bracelets from Dean Harris, Gucci, Baroni Designs, David Yurman, Hermès, Tiffany & Company and Baroni Designs. Around neck, from top: John Hardy necklace. Dior Homme by Hedi Slimane teddybear pendant and chain. Maison Martin Margiela line 11 large-link chain. David Yurman dog-tag necklace. Tenthousandthings yellowgold chain. Yves Saint Laurent silver shell necklace. Gucci silver cord necklace with ebony rings. D&G anchor pendant and chain. Cartier gold chain. Louis Vuitton crest Pendant and chain. Garrard Gold wing pendant and chain. Stuart England Napoleon coin pendant and chain. Giles & Brother by Philip CCrangi safety-pin pendant and chain. Rogues Gallery propeller pendant and chain. Hanes tank.
At first his friends told him: “Oh, come on, you’re a straight guy. You can’t go out wearing pearls like that.” His simple response, “Why not?”
It would be hard to argue with that in this Beckhamesque moment of masculine adornment. Ever since the bling bang, a “why not?” kind of attitude has prevailed. All kinds of men — from the designers Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce to the tennis player Marat Safin — feel comfortable flaunting jewelry.
Perhaps it’s because the look has morphed into something much gentler than gangsta style, including an eclectic mix of tarnished pendants, historical icons, ethnic beads, Brazilian wish bracelets, red kabbalah strings, crystals, bones, rubber, leather, onyx and odd semiprecious stones — in other words, anything and everything. One label, Rust, makes leather necklaces with silver charms inspired by Neolithic tools. Another, Black Sheep and Prodigal Sons, has scrimshaw on vintage ivory piano keys as pendants and beast heads on men’s stickpins. Gia Unearthen fuses stones like blue tourmaline and clear quartz with discarded bullet casings. And in Paris, while Ann Demeulemeester was sending male models in pearls down her runway, René Talmon l’Armée was selling black Tahitian pearls for men, attached to silver skulls on rough-hewn silver chains.
“It’s all about originality and handcrafting,” says Evan Yurman, 25, who designs men’s jewelry for his father, David Yurman. A few years ago, the only men’s jewelry the company offered were classic gift pieces. Now the line has expanded to include leather bracelets, black onyx dog tags and rugged box-chain necklaces with crosses and Stars of David. “I like things that make you think about culture and history,” says Yurman, who freely mixes religious iconography around his own neck.
Mary Jo Pane is into the religious, too. She started Miracle Icons six years ago as a way of tapping into her Catholicism and what she calls the culture of spiritual evolution. “It began as a woman’s business, but now it’s 75 percent men,” Pane says of her line of vintage pendants and charms that hang three to an oxidized silver chain. Her clients include Johnny Depp, Jake Gyllenhaal and Matthew McConaughey. “It’s not about shiny things,” Pane adds. “It’s about wearing things that are personal.”
Italo Zucchelli, the creative director of men’s wear at Calvin Klein, who often wears a ring inscribed with poetry and a crystal on his neck from an important old friend, says, “It’s about wearing something with meaning.” But then, doesn’t every piece of jewelry — from yellow rubber and red string bracelets to gaudy signet rings inherited from illustrious ancestors — have a story?
Pre-Diddy, women had the accessories that did most of the talking. Men who wanted to impress were stuck with Rolex watches and Tiffany cuff links. Then, suddenly, every male with authority issues (in other words, most) was piercing and tattooing, showing a primordial and tribal male urge for meaningful adornment. Ironically, though, it’s women who remain skeptical about men in jewelry. They think it shows an untrustworthy amount of vanity. Women, not men, they insist, are supposed to do all the jingling and jangling.
“It really depends on the man,” says Donna Karan. “If it’s in character, jewelry can look great. But if a guy doesn’t know how to wear it, it can look pretty stupid.” Indeed, Details magazine recently stuck it to Colin Farrell, Wilmer Valderrama and Jeremy Piven, among others, suggesting that they shift focus from accessorizing to acting.
Still, Kassandra Lao, a young designer who’s been living with Devon Turnbull for several years, has never had a problem with pearls. “It’s who he is,” she said the other night while they were shopping together in a Whole Foods in Midtown Manhattan. He does, she added somewhat sheepishly, wear them inside his shirt.
As they walked the aisles, a sweet young couple in love, there was a gentle clinking beneath Turnbull’s parka. “What kind of vegetables do you want for dinner?” he asked. “Butternut squash or carrots?”
How about those pearl onions?
BSPS is now available at Santa Monica Museum of Art's multifunctional shop/storage/installation wing named "GRACIE". This new addition was designed by architect Allan Wexler.
Clubchair.com's Nancy Pyrtek included BSPS in her Holiday Gifting shortlist. Thank you.
Thanks again to Sara McCormack of Ghostown Press for styling the LIPS JEANS lookbook with BSPS. The images turned out fantastically. The golden Ghostown couch and enchanted forest mural saved the day one last time. Rest in peace, Ghostown. Welcome to Earth Ghostown Press!
Clubchair.com
Tuesday, November 7, 2006
GIFTING
by Nancy Pyrtek
October 30th was TIM QUINN’s birthday; so I can now let you in on the hush-hush secret of what I gave him. My search for the perfect present to give to one of America’s most stylish men ever, took three months and endless returns. You have to understand his closet is so fantastic that even the ladies in his life raid it -especially for those one of a kind Armani couture cashmere sweaters. So clothing is out.
Next, Tim's makes his home in Florida, though he travels roughly 10 months a year, acquiring art and collectables from around the world. A few years back I lucky enough to begin an annual holiday tradition of giving him elegant silver shells by RUZZETTI AND GOW. So it is always his birthday that causes me to loose sleep.
I decided this year I wanted to embrace his autumnal birthright of a New England haunting and childhood memories. It had to be spiritual - a memento that would mark his time. A talisman to evoke memories of the past since Tim loves all object that have seen the passage of time and stood a place in the heart.
By good fortune, I was able to find the jewelry designer Derrick Cruz. The artistic pieces he creates are sold by his company, BLACK SHEEP AND PRODIGAL SONS. In his most recent collection the ‘Dark Memento’; I found the perfect fit with a late October birthday. Cruz said it best, "the ‘Dark Memento collection’ is born from the events in our lives deserving of a place in our memory."
After a series of emails Derrick got to work on handcrafting the BLACK BIGHORN PENDANT, with a secret inscription to be discovered by Tim.
All Derrick’s jewelry arrives in a small weathered “BIBLE BOX.” Upon opening the hollowed out book each piece lays behind a black fabric curtain. The presentation box is as much apart of the mythology of the collection as is the jewelry.
Tim loved it and it did in fact it did bring to mind memories of his childhood rummaging through ancestral attics. Confession, I loved the pendant so much I bought one for myself. This one, called “BIGHORN AND KEYS TO THE GATE.”
Nancy Pyrtek
Welcome All!
This is Derrick Cruz of Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons (BSPS). I am very excited by the response to my new line of handcrafted concept jewelry.
I will be using this blog to post sources of inspiration, press, progress reports and news relating to BSPS.
A special thanks to:
Jahn, Jessica, Carlos and Scott of Earnest Sewn
Sarah McCormack of Ghostown Press
Eric Davis of Active Endeavors
Tyler of Nom de Guerre
Khanh Le of Style.com
Bill Luza of Objet Design
Brendan Donelly of Old Soul
Kind Regards,
Derrick R. Cruz
========
Now, a whale.
