On October 30, 2021 Lumina casually asked me if I had any collection planned for the upcoming month. When I said no, she said she had something in mind. Biggest first collaboration for Royalcottoncandy! She sent me a PDF with a collection proposal, most of the designs based on original Royalcottoncandy's designs. On the PDF Lumina added photos of my pieces with notes about the things she'd liked to change. I was amazed.
We started to discus about colors, materials, prices, etc. Everything behind every detail for it to be perfect. Charm shapes and colors, clasps and dividers; even pearl shapes, shades, and zises. On the first two weeks of November we visited many local bead stores from Bayamon, Caguas, and Cayey to compare prices and the quality of the materials. We wanted to give you the best and most affordable pieces. Shoutout to Bead Gallery in
Caguas for the best prices ever!
The theme and elements for this collaboration are stars and everything pink. Lumina said on an IG live that when she made the collection she thought about "Drag Queens and women, regular women. Her fans that like pink and stars." She told me she wanted to do collaborations with local artists and artisans to help with promotion and marketing. Everybody helping each other. I asked her "Why pink and
stars for the collection? What got you there?" To what she answered:
"I wanted this collection to have pink tones because aside of being my favorite color, I feel it is a color that complements really well the brand of Royalcottoncandy. This collaboration comes from an effort I am making to serve as a platform for Content Creators and local small businesses. I know I don't have a large following but I have always liked to share what
I have. Also, it is a type of marketing that if it's done and worked as a team it can be very positive to both ends. No doubt working with Royalcottoncandy was a very effective team work from both ends, including those people that involved themselves to help with the photoshoot. Everyone who participated in this project got something in return, from first experiences to content created with love for everyone's entertainment. And of
course, the very achievement of having given life to this collection that celebrates the star that everyone have inside".
When buying the materials we had to change some ideas from the original design proposal. Some of the details we wanted to bring together were almost imposible to come by because those exact materials were nowhere to be found. We had to improvise with what we had on hand. One of them was the clasp for the Stardom choker.
We also couldn't find the star jump-ring, but we did find a star clasp. Small details that matters. When we finally gathered all the materials needed, I started to work on all the pieces to get them ready as fast as I could. Along to that, I was also getting ready for November's Bazar Cuir; a pop up market for local queer artists and artisans to sell their work the last Saturday of every month coordinate by Lumina Rivera Rola. In which Lumina and I decided we were
going to drop the collaboration to see how people reacted to it.
Along the way on making the pieces we opted for changin the names. We wanted it to be an impact, a creative one. Pearl choker is now Reach For The Stars, Stardom choker is Ego, Lumipop is Sweet Diva, Constelation is Lumina's Feed Me Gems, and Shooting Star is Star Struck. The reason for the Feed Me Gems to stay with its original name is because it is an original design of mine and the only detail we changed was the gems, the design stayed the same.
Coming closer to the last step before the drop was the product photoshoot. I cleaned my photo box, got my star glitters ready and took those pictures. After some editing I sent them to Lumina, she said and quote "I adore, it looks like a Colourpop campaign!" It was my typical product shot but the lighting, the colors, and the editing made all the magic happen. After that it was Lumina's turn to shine.
Lumina gathered a super talented small group of beautiful queer people to model the collection. They were: Natalia @natnimakeup/natnibeauty, Julian @jvvlixn, Aaron @aaronbxnes, Marianil @marianilcaceres, makeup by Edd @eddxmua, and photos by Thaisasha @thaisash. I want to take the time to thank all of them for their help and support. This collaboration was Royalcottoncandy's highlight of the year in 2021 and a crucial key to its growth. Thanks to this collab, Royalcottoncandy reached 1K on Instagram. It might not seem a lot for many people but I am grateful for this achievement.
At the moment of writing this blog Lumina @lumina.rr made another collaboration with @grimorecreations, go find more on their accounts on Instagram. I invite you all to follow and support all these beautiful, creative, and empowering people on IG! I leave you with this gem of a photo.