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The identify “Twelve” holds plenty of which means to Haley Peacock. She was born on the twelfth, her half birthday is 12/12, the home she grew up in was quantity 12, and she or he lived at quantity 12 once more when finding out overseas in Rome, the town the place she started to noticeably think about beginning a jewelry company. So when it got here time to call her jewelry company, it felt a bit like a no brainer.
“I see it as this number that connects me to everything,” Peacock says.
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The 25-year-old designer who studied on the School of Visual Arts based Twelve began in 2018 whereas she was finding out overseas in Rome. Prior to that, she had taken a number of fashion-related lessons in class, however her jewelry-making was typically restricted to any free time she had and the occasional college project. In Rome each Sunday, the road exterior Peacock’s condo hosted a flea market the place she might comb through large bins of charms, necklace clasps, and extra. She’d purchase a handful for one euro every and begin creating items for herself and her pals utilizing a pair of nail clippers as pliers.
Five years later, Peacock’s ditched the nail clippers and graduated from scouring flea market bins to sourcing sculptors like her good friend Korbyn Carleton to recreate her designs — though, she’ll nonetheless often scour for the distinctive classic pendant. These days, Twelve has moved from a glimmer of an concept in a Roman condo to a profitable on-line jewelry company promoting rings, earrings, and necklaces that exude a post-apocalyptic-meets-ethereal-Gothic aura that depends on considerably brutalist bone and enamel imagery. It boasts a considerable buyer base that features Halsey, Caroline Polachek, and Olivia Rodrigo.
[Photo by John Novotny]
Peacock lengthy aspired to be an artist and in highschool would loosely joke about changing into a jewelry designer — and although she doesn’t think about herself an particularly non secular individual, she does consider divine intervention, or at the very least destiny, performed a task within the genesis of Twelve.
While Peacock was raised Catholic, she describes her relationship with the faith as one thing that by no means fairly match. Her soul wasn’t stirred by the texts, teachings, and psalms like the remainder of her household, however what did transfer it was the sweeping grandiosity of the church buildings, the iconography, the artwork, and the eerie Gothicism attribute of Catholicism.
“It touched me in a weird way that I was confused about because I didn’t really identify with the religion itself that much,” Peacock says. “I think that always sort of fascinated me.”
That fascination confused and generally annoyed her. She knew Catholicism wasn’t one thing she outright associated to, however she felt compelled to discover it extra. As Peacock grew up, she started wanting into different avenues of spirituality — changing into more and more intrigued by occultism. Over time, her relationship with faith general developed into one thing completely private to her.
Like many different Gen Zers, it’s one thing she’s come to outline and follow on her personal phrases. It’s knowledgeable by a mixture of religious practices and distinctive encounters, and it affords her a information in life, particularly in the case of Twelve. Starting a enterprise can show an intimidating endeavor, however Peacock has discovered ample affirmation in her pursuits through numerous “surreal experiences” and coincidences — like when she was listening to Maggie Rogers whereas strolling within the woods when she was staying at her mum or dad’s home through the 2020 quarantine, solely to obtain a DM from the artist not too lengthy after.
[Photo by John Novotny]
“I went through so much of my life frustrated that I didn’t know what my purpose was — knowing that I had so much I could contribute as an artist, but not knowing how to do that,” Peacock says. “Once I found my purpose, and it clicked in this way that I really couldn’t describe, [it has] further connected me to a force outside of myself. Outside of what I can really even comprehend […] I feel like some force has got my back.”
That private relationship with spirituality is one thing Peacock strives to seize in her designs and the advertising for Twelve. Though she states her inspirations for the company come from quite a lot of sources, lots of the items purpose to seize among the components of Catholicism, occultism, and different types of worship which have impressed and resonated with her — crosses seem regularly in her collections, a timeless nod to Christianity, in addition to bones and enamel from occultism.
Peacock likens what she needs to perform with her jewelry to the work of revered British dressmaker, Vivienne Westwood. Westwood was the explanation Peacock began loving vogue within the first place, and her strategy is one thing Peacock seeks to emulate in her personal work.
“The way that she flawlessly intertwined her personal beliefs into what she made and who she was as a person is the goal and all I want to do,” Peacock says.
And it was necessary to Peacock that jewelry be the automobile for that. To some, jewelry would possibly really feel like an afterthought, however Peacock sees it as a lot extra. She began carrying a number of rings in highschool after folks would make enjoyable of her massive arms and she or he wished to cover them, whereas earrings have been used to distract folks from her face.
“I found so much comfort in [wearing jewelry] and that allowed me to feel a bit safer,” Peacock says. “That gave me the confidence to be stronger and really fall into this.”
[Photo by John Novotny]
But greater than her personal private reference to it, Peacock believes jewelry as an entire is “criminally misinterpreted” and seen as a luxurious good that’s unattainable to many. Peacock, alternatively, views jewelry as virtually sacred. Unlike an article of clothes, Peacock factors out which you could put on a bit of jewelry daily, passing it down from era to era. Whether it’s rosary beads or a household ring, to Peacock, jewelry is timeless — each figuratively and actually.
“Jewelry has been worn and has been sacred since the beginning of times,” Peacock says. “[It] is just so much more than just a material possession and it can have so many different meanings.”
In a method, she hopes her personal items maintain an analogous significance for folks. That perhaps, in carrying them, others may also begin down the trail of determining their place on the earth and their very own relationship with spirituality that she had.
“The first step to [finding your spirituality is] I really think you have to start with finding yourself. I think the easiest way to experiment with who you really are is freedom of expression,” Peacock says. “Creating statement pieces is my goal because it’s as simple as wearing a white T-shirt and jeans — but if you have a statement necklace on, it transforms the outfit.”
And it’s simply that little ounce of one thing distinct like a tooth necklace or a hoop made utilizing a lock that Peacock hopes might snowball right into a higher discovery for somebody.
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