All it took was a tweet from a friend raving about an up and coming jewelry line for me to get interested in Honey B. Gold. I checked the link and was immediately in awe over the collection.
I created a mental note of the pieces that I would soon be adding to my personal collection. With a line such as this, I just couldn’t keep it a secret to myself.
Honey B. Gold was created by designer Natalia (pictured above rocking her pieces).

Honey B. Gold consists of pieces that speak volumes to women with slogans such as “Trust No Man”, “Fuck Him”, “Sex Love Money”. Those particular sayings can be seen in the “Love Don’t Live Here” collection, which Natalia explains was inspired by a direct perspective of a tainted heart.
The line is full of both bold and eye catching statement pieces. There is without doubt that women can relate to the messages in the collection so why not let your jewelry speak for you?

Check out what Natalia had to share on the line’s history, inspirations and about the woman she designs for below:

Noel of Str8NYC: Tell me a bit about yourself and how you developed the line:

Natalia[Honey B. Gold]: My name is Natalia Durazo owner and designer for Honey B Gold Jewelry. Honey B was born in ’09 but the concept was lingering years before. Being
heavily influenced by music particularly 80′s and early 90′s Hip Hop I’ve
always had an affinity for HUGE Gaudy jewelry ala Ghostface Killah and
Slick Rick. Problem was being that it wasn’t necessarily “in style” dope
pieces were rare and hard to come by. That’s when I decided I’d create my
own. I started out handpainting on a few existing pieces I already owned,
people started asking me if I could make them custom pieces, and the rest
is pretty much history.

Noel of Str8NYC: Who is the Honey B Gold woman? Can you define the ideal woman that you have in mind when designing?

Natalia: The Honey B Gold woman literally has thousands of personalities and
styles. I don’t necessarily design for a specific type of woman; I design
more for an attitude. I try to envision my pieces on all different types
of females. I admire and find muses in the Grace Jones, Kelis, Linday
Lohan, Amy Winehouse, to the regular everyday chicks. I’m extremely drawn
to girls who don’t give a shit what society says and just do whatever the
fuck they want (as long as it’s not degrading then the concept gets all
messed up lol)

Noel of Str8NYC: While reading your ‘About Me’ section, I couldn’t help but notice that you mentioned that you’ve been drawn to art, music and fashion, can you name a few of your favorite artists and designers?

Natalia: A lot of my inspiration comes to me randomly to be honest. I don’t
necessarily look for it (I usually find myself with designers block when
it’s not organic) I pick up inspiration or ideas from movies, music, maybe
a word someone used in a conversation. It’s kind of crazy actually lol I
almost feel like the ideas aren’t mine, I’m just used as some sort of a
portal if that makes any sense. That’s mainly why my collections are all
over the place, a lot of random ideas that I try to piece together in a
puzzle. Although, I’m proud to also say LIFE is an inspiration in itself,
as if it isn’t obvious my latest collection “Love don’t live here” came
directly from the perspective of a tainted heart.

Noel of Str8NYC: Where do you pull inspiration from for the collection?

Natalia: I hope to one day become a well-known accessories brand much like the
companies and designers I look up to. I LOVE Melody Ehsani’s work, I think
she’s a complete genius and understands composition very well. I admire
all the strong brands with bold messages. Dime Piece clothing is also so
on point with their designs it’s impossible not to love their pieces!
All in all I’m excited to have the opportunity to start creating a tiny
niche in this world. I’m grateful for the ability to put myself and ideas
into tangible objects that are represented by all the fly bitches around
the world.

Words by Lucas Alvarado Farrar

Last night the STR8NYC team headed down to the final showing of the Rocawear Style Suite for a preview of the new store soon to open in SoHo.  As part of an initiative to “re-imagine the brand” Rocawear hosted a three day event at their new retail location to give folks a chance to catch a glimpse of where Rocawear is headed. The denims, tees, belts and wovens were selling fast off the shelves as the new summer line was premiered to an exclusive group of hip hop heads, fashionistas, artists and bloggers. Check out the scene below:

Between glasses of champagne and trips to the fitting room, the crowd chatted about the everything from Kendrick’s anticipated Section 80 and the NYPD raid at Tammany Hall on Tuesday to how they were gonna sport their new Rocawear. I particularly enjoyed the mini burgers floating around the room and running into my apparent look alike, Double O (of Kidz in the Hall). Shout out to the store decorators for the Glenn Ligon book chilling on one of the tables in the back (pictured above) – he is one of my favorite artists and is directly responsible for inspiring one of my photos.

There were tailors on call to custom fit all clothing

Be sure to check out the new store at 201 Mulberry Street

Follow: @LexAve & @FarFetchedFuture

Photography by Far Fetched Future

…and here’s a message from Donatella Versace herself.