June 24, 2021
Zac Posen Launches 'Genderless' Wedding Ring Collection
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Out fashion designer and cookbook author Zac Posen has shifted his gaze toward the wedding market, launching a new "non-gendered" wedding band and engagement ring collection in collaboration with Blue Nile.
"Designing for occasion jewelry – especially wedding - is always a welcome challenge for me because you're creating enduring pieces that people will hopefully wear every day for the rest of their lives," said Posen. "Engagement rings and wedding bands are one of the purest and oldest symbols of love and marriage that have crossed over traditions and withstood time. For this collection, it was important for me to create unique and ageless designs that also celebrate love, unity and marriage for all."
Blue Diamond, founded in 1999, only uses ethically sourced diamonds and supports the Kimberley Process, which tracks and certifies diamonds.
"More and more, we are seeing a growing demand for inclusive jewelry pieces that symbolize love and commitment in all forms," said Blue Nile's chief marketing officer Katie Zimmerman. "At Blue Nile, we look forward to providing customers with unique, yet timeless pieces that will forever connect them to these special memories celebrating love and unity – and we worked closely with Zac to achieve this with his new line. As a designer at the forefront of trends, we loved collaborating with Zac to deliver a fresh yet timeless line that we think customers will love."
It's been nearly 20 years since Posen burst onto the fashion scene, and more recently, saw his brand declare bankruptcy. The entrepreneur has previously pivoted to stay afloat, at one time creative director of Brooks Brothers, designing uniforms for Delta Air Lines, and even writing a cookbook.
Blue Nile's branding is one of the latest efforts to capitalize on shifting attitudes in fashion. EDGE recently reported about the fragrance industry's evolution toward gender-inclusive marketing.
"It was our mission to create a brand for those who loved fragrance but felt excluded from traditional fragrance," shares Snif co-founder Phil Riportella (he/him). "It's less about 'de-gendering' the actual ingredients that make up a fragrance and more about throwing away the rules of conventional fragrance that tell us what we should and should not be wearing." This is exemplified in the fragrances' branding – not only in the scents' gender-less names but also in their descriptors.
As for Posen's entry into the jewelry market, only time will tell if it will be a lasting marriage.
