ABOUT 22
22 is a brand of unconventional accessories focusing on industrial jewelry, belts, bags and accessories in general among other unexpected objects.
22 is a project that wants to advocate for a new kind of femininity in accordance with our times: tough, raw, firm and bold. Refusing to reiterate an image of fragility and tenderness, 22 wants to affect our own projections of what feminine aesthetics can be, overcoming gender clichés and highlighting character instead. Re-appropriation and context is a key strategy for 22: the source materials that we use as a conceptual and physical base are always taken from a pre-existing environment and transfigured into a reinterpreted and unique piece. Our pieces promote a contemporary kind of unfinished, iconoclastic and subversive beauty.
Daily life, construction tools, discarded elements, and found objects are at the core of the design process. Sometimes, a pipe or a screw will be used directly as components in a necklace or an earring; other times a paper clip or a lunch box will be used as a reference for a mold that will be reproduced in metal as a wearable bag. For 22, embellished industrial equipment and raw material provide a gateway for a uni-sex target audience that seeks to assert their strong and fearless attitude through exuberance and contrast.
Mixing hoses, pliers, auto parts, or bottles with precious metals, 22 collections are grounded on the notion of the ready-made. Using objects with a practical and ordinary function for the opposite purpose, 22 becomes an unusual, nonsensical and daring take on urban ornamental fashion.
22 was created and developed by Natália de Assis, fashion designer, stylist and consultant. 22 is a resolute and rebellious number: the personal birth date, the Master Builder in numerology, the Fool or the crazy one in Tarot, and the article that allows criminal defense by insanity in Brazilian law. Natália is a Brazilian woman living in Paris since 2012, where she studied her MASTER at IFM with a scholarship after graduating in fashion design in Brazil and since then she has worked for brands such as Maison Margiela, Saint Laurent, Givenchy, Misbhv among others. She is the second of four sisters in a largely female-dominated household, where she grew up around freedom, strong ethics, eccentricity and chaos.
22 does not use any materials of animal origin and works under guidelines of sustainability and fair working conditions, using local resources and minimizing environmental impact. Our prototypes have been created with the help of both artisans who facilitate our detail oriented designs with one-of-a-kind techniques and finishes; and industrial experts who facilitate and advise on chemical and mechanical processes.
22's studio is based in Paris, the distribution/shipping is done from Spain, and it is 100% brazillian in its DNA.
Every time a product sells, 22 euros are donated to careful selected charities that supports feminist, queer, anti-racist and enviromental causes. The donation will take place annually, on August 22, Natália's birthday, and amounts will be shared on social media as well as with everyone who purchased throughout the year.
