Dans Les Rues is a brand with an original and innovative attitude founded by Martina Mancini and Giorgio Ciccone, two creative and complementary personalities. The brand tells a story of passion, generosity and sharing and represents a success that has been able to immediately win the admiration of the most important international celebrities.
How was Dans Les Rues born?
Giorgio: Dans Les Rues was born from the meeting between Martina and me, one year ago. Martina and I have two completely different backgrounds. I have always worked in the fashion industry, in particular in the digital field. I was one of the first digital editors in Italy, and I was in charge of creative and artistic direction, right up to the product. One of the most important collaborations I made lately was with Converse: I designed a shoe for them. But since I was a child, I have always had a strong passion for jewelry. Every year, for my birthday, my father gives me a jewel. And I am still deeply fond of the ring he gave me the day I was born.
Martina: I studied Architecture. Since I was a child, I have always been keen on the world of jewelry. During university, I decided to create something of my own, and I created my first small collection. But the time was not yet ripe, so I stopped and continued to deepen my studies on the field. I resumed the project after three years. As a matter of fact, Dans Les Rues already existed before Giorgio and I met, but it was still only a dream. Subsequently, from our meeting, the brand’s reality, its vision and its essence were born. I contacted Giorgio during the pandemic, because I was fascinated by his creativity, and a strong feeling was born between us. The pandemic situation united us and Dans Les Rues was born out of this meeting.
Giorgio: Yes, we discovered that we had a strong affinity. Moreover, our paths had led us to develop different and complementary skills. Martina, besides having strong skills in design thanks to her creativity, knew the dynamics of production very well and was very well qualified in the study of materials and the analysis of the object’s functionality. Thanks to my previous experiences, I had acquired strategic and creative branding skills. Combining these competencies, we created Dans Les Rues. We wanted to develop a product that would be strong and accessible to the market, and that would be placed in a new segment, somewhere between high jewelry and accessories. And we succeeded in creating a real trend.
What are your values?
Martina: Our values are, first of all, friendship, sharing and mutual support. And then, a fundamental value is quality, both of the product and the packaging.
What are the inspirations for your creations?
Giorgio: The inspirations for our jewelry come from our childhood memories, from the world of cartoons such as Polly Pocket or Sailor Moon, and from observing what surrounds us. For my 30th birthday, I asked my father to give me a heart-shaped piece of jewelry. And then I reflected and thought: “We’ll design it.” (this is how the first Dans Les Rues heart-shaped ring was born, which soon became one of the most iconic rings in the world).
What are the distinctive materials and processes of your jewelry?
Martina: Our products are made of silver and then bathed in gold. We use the galvanic cataphoresis technique and the lacquering technique, which lend the jewelry the bright, vibrant colors that characterise our brand. We also use the highest quality of zircons, the cubic zirconia.
Your creations have immediately won over the most important international celebrities.
Giorgio: In many years of working in this field, I think I have “sown” a lot of affection and I am happy to have received so much support when we launched Dans Les Rues. Many international celebrities gave us great visibility from the very beginning of the brand, and it happened spontaneously. Even today, many important names choose to wear Dans Les Rues and this is a great strength for us.
Is there a jewel you are particularly fond of?
Martina: I am particularly fond of the heart of the Heart Boom Boom collection. I call it my first love. I remember the moment we created it, it has great meaning for me. Also, I think it is very powerful from an aesthetic point of view.
Giorgio: The heart has a great emotional value for both of us. At the moment… I can’t tear myself away from the Upho earrings.
How do you imagine the target person of Dans Les Rues?
Martina: Dans Les Rues is aimed at a genderless audience who love to follow the trends of the moment and feel effortlessly cool and sexy. Our clients’ style is effortlessly chic. They love to enhance themselves with colorful jewelry with a strong personality. We love the fact that Dans Les Rues jewelry is worn by very young people, as well as mature people because in the end of the day, the characteristics of those who wear our jewelry are ageless.
What is your distribution strategy?
Giorgio: Online sales on our e-commerce are very important to us. In addition, we are creating a distribution network that identifies and enhances Dans Les Rues. We work with several multi-brand stores and department stores, which we select very carefully. As far as multi-brand stores are concerned, we do not distribute our products in traditional jewelry shops, unless they grant us a specific positioning, but we mainly select fashion shops that also deal with jewelry. We have developed a strategy whereby we provide each retailer in the same city with a different selection of products, based above all on the variety of colors. With the most important department stores, which are internationally known, we create exclusive ad hoc collections.
What do you wish for the future of Dans Les Rues?
Giorgio: Our wish is that Dans Les Rues will continue to grow in the future following the same values that led us to its establishment. We would like to be more and more active in the fashion world, combining the world of jewelry with the world of fashion. One of our dreams is to increasingly expand the project to other product categories and open our mono-brand stores.
