Hannah Martin‘s first concert happened before she was born. Her mother was pregnant when she saw the Rolling Stones, and that night started a lifelong love of rock, punk and everything in between, the same spirit behind the joan jett jewellery collection.
Martin’s jewellery and personal style have long carried a rebellious streak. In 2021, that streak led her to Joan Jett. Both were staying at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in Los Angeles, and they shared one connection: the stylist Maryam Malakpour.
An icebreaker in Los Angeles
Malakpour had a meeting with Jett and asked whether she could take some jewellery over. Martin was working in her hotel room when the call came. Malakpour asked whether she could come over and pierce Jett’s ear.
Martin considered the piercers she knew in Los Angeles. Then she decided to do it herself. “It was the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll icebreaker,” she says.
Five years later, the friendship has lasted. The pair have now made a 14-piece joan jett jewellery collection of punk-inspired pieces. It marks 45 years since Jett and the Blackhearts released the album I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.
A brief that rules out cliché
Jett was the muse, but Martin set one firm rule: no copies. Jett had grown tired of safety-pin designs, so the collection could not lean on them. Martin wanted the joan jett jewellery collection to stand on its own as a piece of design.
Martin’s method starts with the iconography and symbolism in a look. She then asks how to acknowledge that imagery while adding elegance and luxury, without losing the edge. She says she has no interest in punk jewellery for its own sake, since plenty of designers already make it.
Fine jewellery can carry this kind of edge too, as seen in Solange Azagury-Partridge’s rock crystal collection glowing as solid light for a more refined take.
Among the pieces in the joan jett jewellery collection is the Backstage Always Lanyard with Lighter.
Authenticity over costume
For Jett, authenticity mattered most. “Nothing too over the top or that felt like a costume,” she says. “I wanted things I’d actually wear, that felt comfortable.”
The range includes the Blackheart Cuff and the Blackheart Ball.
Martin points to the moodboard behind her, which pairs a photograph of Jett with references to the sculptor Constantin Brâncuși. “It all needed to mix,” she says.
The heart of the joan jett jewellery collection
The core of the collection is a pacifier necklace. Jett wore an original version in the 1980s. Martin reworked it into a sculptural stack of orbs inspired by Brâncuși. The orbs hang from leather and silver-link lanyards that can be worn around the neck or wrapped around the wrist.
Jett laughs about the original. “The original pacifier necklace was eaten by my dog, so I’m happy to have it back, but in a completely different way,” she says. “I love that those influences are still part of my style all these years later.”
Band history in metal and enamel
The Blackhearts, the band Jett has fronted for more than four decades, provide another source. Martin merges two of her signature teardrop motifs into a heart with an edge. Spiky black diamonds, set in reverse, punctuate it.
The safety pin, one of punk’s most enduring symbols, becomes a long, curving silver line. A concert badge becomes an enamel pin, hand-painted with the words “Bad Reputation.” The phrase nods to one of Jett’s best-known hits.
The result makes a strong case for grown-up punk. These pieces sit as comfortably beside fine jewellery as they do beside a leather jacket.
Sculptural metalwork offers a similar balance of form and attitude, and Oskar Zięta’s RONDO Mirror Metal Wall Sculpture shows how far that idea can travel beyond the body.
What punk means now
Martin sees punk as a mindset first. “For me, punk’s an attitude. It’s more than a musical movement,” she says. “There are political beliefs linked to it, but it’s also a DIY feeling of, ‘Let’s fucking do this. Let’s experience life. Make it happen.'”
That attitude shows up in different ways. Some are quiet and some are bold. Many of Martin’s most loyal clients are women she calls her “Mayfair Ladies.” Most would not describe themselves as punk, yet they keep returning to her work.
Martin hears a consistent response from customers. “People use the word ‘powerful’ or ’empowered’, or say there’s a sensuality to it,” she says. “It wakes something up that feels good. There are a lot of pieces that have got a little element of being rebellious, but they also work with your Cartier and everything else.”
Jett’s view of rebellion is just as flexible. “To me, rebellion has always been about being yourself and not letting other people tell you what you can or can’t do,” she says. She recalls early years when many people did not think girls belonged in rock ‘n’ roll. “I wasn’t interested in following anybody else’s rules. I don’t think that’s really changed.”
For Martin, the project also taught a lesson about creative integrity. Jett has fronted a rock band in a male-dominated industry while keeping a clear sense of self.
“The thing that comes through strongest is the authenticity she’s managed to hold on to throughout her entire career,” Martin says. “To still come through to this stage in her career and her life and not seem jaded by it, and to still have the same authenticity, that’s so refreshing.”
The joan jett jewellery collection comprises 14 transformable necklaces and earrings, rings, cuffs, belts and pins. Prices run from £300 to £20,280. Buyers can purchase the pieces at Maxfield LA and DSMNY, or directly from Martin’s own website.
Martin’s takeaway from working with Jett is simple. Jett has stayed honest, good at her craft and loyal to her beliefs for more than four decades. In a trend-driven market, that kind of consistency is the real rebellion.
H/T wallpaper.com
Frequently asked questions
How did Hannah Martin first meet Joan Jett?
Both were staying at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in Los Angeles and shared a connection through stylist Maryam Malakpour. In 2021, Malakpour asked Martin to pierce Jett’s ear, and Martin decided to do it herself.
What is the main piece in the Joan Jett jewellery collection?
The core of the collection is a pacifier necklace, which Martin reworked from an original Jett wore in the 1980s. It became a sculptural stack of orbs inspired by Constantin Brâncuși that hang from leather and silver-link lanyards.
How many pieces are in the Joan Jett jewellery collection?
The collection has 14 punk-inspired pieces. It marks 45 years since Jett and the Blackhearts released the album I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.
What design rule did Martin set for the Joan Jett collection?
Martin set one firm rule: no copies. Because Jett had grown tired of safety-pin designs, the collection could not rely on them and had to stand on its own as a piece of design.
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