{"id":3695,"date":"2014-04-01T15:14:42","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T19:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/?p=3695"},"modified":"2014-04-01T15:16:04","modified_gmt":"2014-04-01T19:16:04","slug":"varon-the-jewelry-line-that-uses-history-to-blur-gender-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/varon-the-jewelry-line-that-uses-history-to-blur-gender-lines\/","title":{"rendered":"Varon: The Jewelry Line that uses history to blur gender lines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author | Oscar Lopez<\/p>\n

All images courtesy of Varon<\/em><\/p>\n

Aaron Changpo is an innovative Mexican designer breaking down gender barriers one glorious jewelry piece at a time. ‘Varon<\/a>‘ is his jewelry line which he began during his last year at college when he had \u201can urge to materialize and express all the ideas in my mind.\u201d This resulted in the creation of a fascinating jewelry line which is not only aesthetically beautiful, but more importantly questions the very idea of what jewelry can be.<\/p>\n

Changpo\u2019s design often center around a particular theme, yet linking them all is a sense of transcendence: \u201cI always find architecture, human culture and symbolism the most inspiring.\u201d Of particular significance to his design is traditional Mexican culture: \u201cMexico is a big influence in my work, the cultural heritage of Pre-Columbian Cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Varon<\/a>
Varon | Back to Black<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Yet by transcending time, Varon manages to transgress a more stalwart barrier still: gender. As Changpo points out, \u201cSince humans origins, jewelry has been a tool to embellish and stand out. Men of ancient cultures and tribes used jewelry and ornaments to make themselves stronger and more attractive. Nowadays jewelry is more related to women.\u201d Changpo is determined to change this trend: \u201cI want to help alter the gender do\u2019s and don\u2019ts and make it more equal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VARON<\/a>
VARON SS14 by MMX 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To do so, Changpo has created a number of beautiful pieces which cannot be easily grouped as either male or female. With strong geometric designs and smooth, sharp lines, his pieces are beautiful no matter the gender identity of the wearer. Rather than reinforcing any particular gender stereotype, his pieces serve to highlight the individual identity of the wearer. By altering the very concept of gendered jewelry, Changpo is questioning the norms and traditions that are implicit both in fashion and in the culture at large.<\/p>\n

\"VARON<\/a>
VARON SS14 by MMX 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This has been a deliberate choice for Changpo, and it is clear in not just his designs but also the advertising material that he uses to promote them which often feature androgynous models or videos with vague homoerotic undertones. The result is startling: \u201cI want to help transcend what one is supposed to use or wear according to your gender.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, however, Varon isn\u2019t just about making a statement. It\u2019s about being cool and comfortable in yourself, whoever that may be. For while Changpo believes in \u201cthe power of androgyny\u201d ultimately \u201cthe key is to find a balance with your style.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>
Two Hangs 18K Gold Vermeil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Tooth<\/a>
Tooth 18K Gold Vermeil <\/p>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"Spinal<\/a>
Spinal Column 18K Gold Vermeil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Skeleton<\/a>
Skeleton Bracelet VARON<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Fist<\/a>
Fist Sterling Silver<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author | Oscar Lopez All images courtesy of Varon Aaron Changpo is an innovative Mexican designer breaking down gender barriers one glorious jewelry piece at a time. ‘Varon‘ is his jewelry line which he began during his last year at college when he had \u201can urge to materialize and express all the ideas in my\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[733,129,731,252,51,177,730,732,64,81,729,514,135,189,134,38,728,320,727,726],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-3695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fashion","tag-aaron-changpo","tag-androgynous","tag-culture","tag-equality","tag-fashion-2","tag-gender","tag-gender-roles","tag-individuality","tag-jewelry","tag-lgbtq","tag-norms","tag-oscar-lopez","tag-posture","tag-posture-mag","tag-posture-magazine","tag-queer","tag-society","tag-style","tag-tradition","tag-varon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/VARON-SS14-by-MMX-5.png?fit=1176%2C794","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6QBV8-XB","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3695"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3710,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3695\/revisions\/3710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3695"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/posturemag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=3695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}