Pretty Little Thing “Full Speed Ahead” Collection — An Under-the-Sea Adventure
Every time I look at the playful pieces in Pretty Little Thing’s new Full Speed Ahead collection, I hear the hip-hop-flavored merengue beat of Proyecto Uno’s “El Tiburón” in my head, and my hips start to sway almost instinctively. In the ’90s-era party cut, the Proyecto Uno members recount their adventures at the nightclub, as they zoom in on the women they wish to approach, only to have a fast-working, slick-talking, smooth operator (who they refer to as a “tiburón” or shark) swoop in and steal the women from their sides. Why the correlation? Well, this one should be fairly obvious: just look at the Tiburón bracelets in the collection, each of which features three strands of braided leather, either in solid white or in two-toned woven combination like emerald green and black (as with the “Tiger” style, pictured last, after the jump) or bright yellow and lime (as with the “Lemon” piece pictured above, third from top). These tubular strands are then threaded through the hollow centers of a series of triangle-shaped, shiny black hematite beads that resemble shark fins. The Tiburón Bracelets ($109 at PLTnyc.com) have so much bite that they can’t stand a chance against any other suitor, much like the scenarios described in the Proyecto Uno song.
The collection, then, navigates through shark-infested seas, making its way to coral reefs and taking us on a guided underwater tour, where we can feast our eyes on dynamic colors ranging from the tangerine orange you’d find on a Yellow Striped Cardinalfish to the electrifying azure and turquoise shades of the water in the Great Barrier Reef and the vivid colors of the Yellow Tang fish found in the Pacific Ocean. The braided leather Viper Necklaces ($129 at PLTnyc.com), then, feel like a snapshot of one such aquatic foray thanks to the electrifying hue offerings, which include Electric (a neon orange), Aqua (pictured above, at top), and Yellow (pictured below, immediately after the jump). To add a splashy twist, designer Lirany Vasquez used chains of Swarovski crystals in contrasting colors and tied them around the braided leather strands at two opposing points.
And that’s not all. Even the collection’s earrings allude to aquatic adventures. The Dive Earrings ($75 at PLTnyc.com), for example (pictured above, second from top), feature four cascading black arrow shapes that resemble scuba flippers, with tiny round glass beads arranged in a line along the center of each upside-down “V” shape.
Check out more pieces below and shop the collection at PLTnyc.com. You’ll be sure to make a splash with any of these treasures!
