Most product collaborations combine brands from different categories. For example: “You don’t see On Running and Hoka collaborating,” said Anna Harman, co-founder and CEO of Studs. But on Tuesday, Studs introduced a 13-piece collection in partnership with the fine jewelry brand Stephanie Gottlieb. Prices range from $295-$650 per single earring, and most can be used for piercing, which is 5-year-old Studs’ bread and butter.
It was the Stephanie Gottlieb team that reached out to Studs to inquire about potentially working together. “One of our goals this year is to seek strategic opportunities to reach new audiences at a different price point,” said Stephanie Gottlieb, the brand’s namesake founder, designer and CEO. Studs’ median customer age is 27, and it targets Gen Zers and millennials. And, Gottlieb pointed out, her brand and Studs are both New York City-grown and -based and female-founded.
For Studs’ part, “We are interested in continuing to explore a higher-end price point and a higher-end customer,” Harman said. Studs’ core collection ranges from $18-$150 per single earring. In May, Studs opened Fancy Studs, a pop-up where it first dabbled with higher-price point jewelry. Those pieces were made using lab-grown gems, while Gottlieb only uses mined stones. The Fancy Studs collection ranged from $144-$400 per single earring.
Gottlieb said the Studs collaboration styles will only live on Studs’ e-commerce site, not her brand’s — and, therefore, there’s no risk of “cheapening” the brand. Stephanie Gottlieb earrings range in price from $180 for gold studs to nearly $59,000 for diamond hoops.
Given Studs’ popular concept of “earscaping,” or stacking earrings — usually dainty styles — to express one’s personal style, it made sense for Gottlieb to scale down versions of her brand’s iconic earring styles for the collab. “Because of how small they are, they fit [Studs’] price points,” Gottlieb said, adding, “This was a fun way to play with our signatures, color and playful designs, but do it in an intentional way.”
The sized-down earring styles include Gottlieb signatures like hearts, rainbows, and diamond duos and trios. “It really is a translation of the best of SG in a very Studs way,” Gottlieb said.
To promote the collection, Studs will host two dinners, one in New York, and one in Miami. It has invited influencers who are also friends of the brand to both. Attendees will receive gifting from the collection. In February, it will do the same in Dallas. In addition, the collab’s launch marked the first time Studs has invited top customers — of both brands — to get first dibs. They will also be given a “small discount” on piercings and purchases, Harman said.
This is not a limited-edition collection — and there could be more designs in the collaboration to come. As some pieces feature hearts, which Harman expects will sell particularly well around Valentine’s Day, Studs will reinvigorate its marketing around the collection timed to the holiday. “Our hope is that the collection is super successful and we can continue to iterate on it,” she said.
