All That Glitters
Conversation with Payal Shah of L’Dezen
In the last two decades, as technology has grown from being a vertical in itself to a horizontal across different spheres of life, it has gotten deeply integrated with the physical world (phygital). And we are now also seeing it in the world of web3 with phygital non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Last year, NFTs took the world by storm with Collins Dictionary even naming NFTs as their ‘Word of the Year.’ NFTs are basically created using the same type of programming as cryptocurrencies. The difference is that cryptocurrencies are fungible, meaning they can be traded for each other. But NFTs are digital tokens that are non-fungible, which means they are unique and cannot be replaced/interchanged for each other. And Phygital NFTs are just digital tokens that are backed by real-world assets such as art, collectibles and even sneakers.
I had the amazing opportunity to speak to Payal Shah, content creator and founder of L’Dezen, on her phygital NFT project. Payal started her career in architecture but very quickly found her calling in the jewellery industry. She founded her company L’Dezen just a year after graduating from university. Now 11 years later, her jewellery pieces are worn by some of the most famous people in the world including - Rihana, Mindy Kaling, Michelle Obama and Nick Jonas. And just this year, she also entered into the web3 space with the launch of her NFT earrings - Limitless earrings.
In this interview, she talks about her journey starting from her jewellery business to her entry into web3. She also discusses the highs and lows she went through while building L’Dezen, what she looks for when building a team and what she’s excited about working on next. In the last segment, she also briefly goes over her encounters with celebrities like Mindy Kaling and Kris Jenner.
So I’d love to start off with your journey, starting from jewellery to content creation to your entry into the web3 space.
I started my jewellery business in 2011, it was something I was doing part-time with my parents where I was just sorting diamonds and designing pieces for myself. I was actually working at an architecture firm full-time because that's what I had studied. But eventually I had a few pieces that I designed, and once I was at the Jewellery Expo in Hong Kong, where a Singapore company liked what they saw and they asked me to come on as a capsule designer.
So I did that, and they also let me be part of the team where I got to explore the sales aspect. We then went to Vegas, and launched the collection there. It did quite well and we got a great response. So I left my architecture firm and worked with them for a year before deciding that I was going to do this by myself. That's how I initially started - we did a ton of trade shows and wholesale, and then eventually when people started recognising the designs and the pieces, it started becoming a brand of its own because it had its own identity.
Then for content, it’s just something that I'm very fond of as a hobby. It's just a way for me to express myself when it comes to the other elements of my life. That's why I have a lot of fun with different kinds of content that I can create, whether it's inspirational, aspirational or just things that I love to do. And for web3, tech has been an intricate part of my growth personally and for my business. So naturally, when web3 or and NFTs came about, it was something that intrigued me early on. I understood how strong, important and powerful blockchain is, and I realised what an impact it could make to the luxury industry. And that's how web3 is integrated into the jewellery brand today.
It's such an incredible journey overall. Obviously, right now you work with some of the most famous people in the world but when you were starting out, did you picture that that's how big it was going to grow?
I was definitely a dreamer, but obviously back then I wasn't dreaming of this specifically. Since a young age, I’ve always lived by dreaming outside of your comfort zone and making sure that you're doing things outside of the box. I like pushing myself and surprising myself with my own limits. I’ve found that with an amazing team, lots of hard work, being open to meeting people and inviting yourself to things that are going to bring you knowledge, you automatically start meeting and seeing some amazing people in your life. Some things come to you as a shock and surprise, and some things come to you because you truly manifested it. But either way, you have to plant that seed, put in the work and make sure you're growing at every stage.
Yeah absolutely, and so far what do you think has been your biggest pinch-me moment?
I can't have one, I would be filled with bruises today if I had to pinch every moment that I could highlight in the last 11 years. There have been some highs and some lows with some moments that were just unimaginable, but some moments that were also very low. Not everyday is as glamorous as it comes out to be seen, there are days where literally nothing is working. There have been times where I was at the lowest point in my business but there were also times where I could not fathom how well it was doing. So it's definitely been a roller coaster ride and just coming out of those negative moments has definitely been a way to understand that there's always light at the end of the tunnel.
When you are going through these low moments, how do you overcome them?
I make sure that I spend more time problem solving as opposed to just being sad about it. It's important that when you come to a pitstop in your career, instead of thinking that it's working against you, just start viewing it as something that just might be working for you whether that means taking the route B or working around the problem. It's hard to keep a positive mindset but having an amazing team that's constantly positive and is as motivated as you encourages you to get out of the rut. Other than that, just practising gratitude and understanding that if you didn't go through the bad, you'd never understand the good is very helpful.
So you also started this business when you were quite young but when you were building your team, what were the things that you were looking for?
Number 1 is loyalty, I think loyalty is the most incredible thing you can have from your team members. And then sharing the same vision, I think having a team that understands your vision, wants to work with you and wants to succeed collectively is super important. It's hard to motivate other people when it's initially your dream, but eventually if you can get a positive, easygoing working team together, you can really conquer a lot of things.
So diverging a bit and going a little bit deeper into the web3 and NFT space, what was the process like for you to come up with the earrings?
We're really bullish on blockchain and we like the idea that there's so much provenance that we can lock onto the blockchain, especially with luxury goods because they retain their value over the years. To have that recorded and, and eventually in a few years just knowing where the pieces are at, where they’re going and who they’re owned by, all of that is really exciting. So that was the one that was one of the main reasons we did asset-backed digital assets.
The idea was to make sure that it was almost like a digital warranty card or a proof-of-purchase. It gives it this authentication, especially when we live in a world where there's so many counterfeit products, that really demolish the original brand. So when we have something like blockchain that verifies the product, authenticates it and also gives the brand owner information on where their pieces are headed, is what excites me about the space.
And with those earrings, we did it for an auction and it was the first of its kind. We released the NFT and then whoever won the NFT could redeem the item in real life. And that was just a really exciting time to understand how people will adapt going forward to the way we consume and the way we buy. In some ways, it’s also great because you don't overproduce and the idea of overconsumption is also reduced. Personally, for me I think the world should truly head in that direction.
And I love the name as well - Limitless earrings, what was the thought behind the name?
Well, Limitless is what it is - there's limitless opportunities. And when you are part of the web, there's no limit to things. It's truly limitless what you can do with the right tech behind it. We wanted to make sure that it represented the fact that there's so many limitless opportunities and limitless positive attributes to having this kind of technology integrated with real life products. So there were many meanings - the overall idea was that there are limitless opportunities and there are limitless ways this could go.
What are you excited about working on next?
So we're gonna do this for some of our more high-end pieces that are one of a kind. You're going to be able to obtain a digital asset that's going to play as your proof-of-purchase and verification. That will also allow some perks like repairs and polishing. If you have the digital asset connected to your jewellery, there’s a lot more transparency about where your goods go, who your goods are purchased by and, and even if there's a secondary sale after that. So that idea of transparency is something that we're focusing on. Other than that, we're really trying to push our ecommerce as much as we can, and integrate as many amazing ways to obtain more customers.
For you personally, when you're designing these NFT's or even coming up with the concept, is it very different from designing jewellery pieces or it’s kind of a seamless integration in your head?
Honestly, they're very different things. Designing jewellery is more product which is so different from digital. They both need to be visually appealing though because at the end of the day, that's what gets people to buy the luxury idea. Jewellery is more functional, focused on how a person wears it, along with an element of comfort. But digital is digital, and it's very futuristic. So those are different ways to see it, but then both need to be desirable and have a form of almost scarcity around them.
For the last part, I just wanted to do a quick little dive into some of the celebrities that you worked with, who do you think was the most fun or if you have any interesting stories?
I don't actually work with a lot of them directly, we mostly work with the stylists who dress the celebrities. But exciting times are obviously when someone like Rihanna actually wants to purchase the items. She was loaned the pieces for styling, and then she didn't want to return these pieces so ended up buying them.
And then once I got an email from Mindy Kaling, I actually didn't believe that it was her because it was the most generic email address. I thought it was spam and then just so that she could prove to me that it wasn't, we started iMessaging. She then sent me her outfits and I couldn’t believe that was happening. Other than that, it's fun seeing some of your favourite artists that you love listening to or watching, whose style you admire wearing your jewellery. It’s definitely very motivational and it makes you feel like you're doing something right.
And the last question that I have is, is it also true that you had dinner with Kris Jenner during Paris Fashion Week?
So I went to a hotel where people go for dinner and drinks during fashion week. One of my best friends came to visit me and the both of us decided to have dinner at this place. And we were literally sitting next to the table where Kris Jenner and Olivier Rousteing were. And because it was such an intimate space, our tables almost touched so we ended up speaking and it kind of felt like we were having dinner together. It wasn't on purpose but it can be quite exciting when small unexpected moments happen like that.
