About Alive
A small place
for what matters.
Alive is a bracelet brand with a Chinese sense of beauty. We take what we find in people's lives, in nature, stories, culture and materials, and through careful design, make what is worth keeping into pieces you can wear, touch and give.
We care how a piece is seen, touched and worn, and why it is worth keeping.
A piece may begin with understanding someone's situation, a story that stays with us, the feeling of a landscape, or simply the pull of a material. These ideas, the materials, the form and the wearing shape one another until the design is settled. We explain our choices, and leave you your own understanding.
How a piece begins
A question, a feeling, a material that catches the eye. A piece can begin in many places.
What matters to us is how it is made, how it feels to wear, and the room it leaves for your own story.
- 01
What draws our attention?
A material and how it feels on the body; nature; life and relationships; culture, art and thought.
- 02
What does it make us feel, or understand?
Feelings, relationships, and ways of seeing the world.
- 03
How can an object carry it?
Through material, form and touch, and the choices we can explain.
An example
The notes on No. 03 相思有寄From a Tang poem, to three choices on a strand, to you.We will
- Explain why a piece is made the way it is.
- Tell you what each material is, and how sure we are.
- Show who made what.
- Deliver what we say we will, and say plainly what we cannot.
- Leave the meaning to you.
We won't
- Promise luck, love, health, or any outcome.
- Call a modern idea an ancient tradition.
- Speak for “Chinese culture” in general.
- Decide for you what a piece must mean.
Where we are now
Early, and honest about it.
Now
First pieces in development. Samples are being finished and checked.
Next
Names, materials and sizes confirmed; notes written for each piece; a new Series from time to time.
Then
First release, starting with the United States.
Who we are
Three people. One runs the business, one designs the pieces and works with our makers, one looks after what we share and the people who write to us.
We work with bead makers and suppliers we have chosen, and we record who made which part.