Posted by ian jones in New men’s collection arriving Autumn 2009.
Weighty silver dog tags with apollo lunar texture.
Chunky oxidised chains
Military pendants with classic armaments from the twentieth century.
Sci-fi cartoon weapons with cosmic rays to bring out your inner superhero
[...] Link > Azendi Men’s Collection 2009 [...]
With real soldiers coming back dead from Afghanistan on a daily basis, do you really think its really appropriate to be making jewellery out of the kind of things they may be found wearing? I think this is kinda sick myself and you should be ashamed. I hope the press get hold of this!
Mark – its really not intended to show any disrespect to our soldiers in Afghanistan. If you search google for ‘dog tag jewellery’ you get 1.5 million results which will show dog tags by Gucci, D&G, Armani, Diesel, Ben Sherman and Vivienne Westwood. Whilst I would never argue that its right just because lots of other brands have done it, I do think it counters your implication that it is newsworthy.
I think the designer was reflecting on the constant state of war that has been going on in some part of the world since the start of history. This explains the Sun Yu quotation, the CND symbol and the ironic title ‘Boys will be boys’.
I love these pieces. I’ve sent you an email.
I also disagree with Mark’s point. The dog tags do not show any disrespect to our boys serving their country. Quite the opposite, I believe they honour them.
I own a few pairs of dog tags, as they are a staple piece in every man’s style and accessories range and the design from Azendi is second to none.
I’ve not seen any dog tag jewellery with “bullet damage included” anywhere else. Thats saying its cool to get shot up which I can assure you its not. What state do you imagine a bloke would be in if his tags had bullet damage? If you think thats respectful to lads dealing with that kind of thing for real I’d say you’ve either not thought it through, or you think armed conflict and injury is a fashion statement. Patrick, I don’t know if you’ve evr been in the forces mate but I can assure you, you wouldn’t think they were a style staple if you had to pull them off your mate after he’s had “bullet damage included”. Sorry these are just sick!
Mark, I think you’ve taken it all the wrong way. The collection isn’t glorifying war at all, it’s meant to be a fun collection which draws influence from the games we all played as children. It’s about people wanting to be kids again, as reflected in the cowboy guns and comic book references like Kapow. I actually know the designer and a couple of the ideas came from a superheroes party we had, where people were dressed as their favourite childhood heroes – I don’t think we were glorifying war then. Everyone played cowboys and indians as children and that’s what the collection is about – boys will be boys.
It’s apparent that you’ve got some very strong feelings about war, as have all of us, but the jewellery isn’t meant to be offensive at all. The dog tags actually carry a really strong message about humanity and the fact that you have to know who you are before you can accomplish anything, otherwise you will succumb in every battle.
I’d like to hope you can now take the jewellery in the spirit that it’s meant in and appreciate the fact that it wasn’t inspired by war or armed combat, but from the innocence of children.
Hi there,
Just wondering when the ‘ka-pow’ piece will be available to buy and how much it will be? Also do you ship to New Zealand?
Thanks
I have to say i see where Mark is coming from, that it is slightly insensitive for the ’shot up’ dog tag to be a fashion statement, but to each his own and its a free country so wear what you want. I have known a few soldiers and i think that it would be offensive to them in light of loosing friends and brothers in battle. I couldn’t imagine the flash backs that would trigger.
The other ones are SUPER cool tho and i would definitely buy the ‘ka-pow’ one for myself.
Removed the reference to ‘bullet damaged’ – in the description of the dog tags in light of comments.
Kathy,
Thanks for the interest
We do ship to New Zealand. The Ka Pow piece will be around £65 when we have it this autumn.