If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, The Hollywood Reporter may receive an affiliate commission.
Highly appreciated for her roles in Insecure, Barbie AND American fictionActress, writer, and entrepreneur Issa Rae has officially ventured into jewelry design.
The multi-talented artist has collaborated with San Francisco-based fine jewelry brand Cast on a 22-piece collection that embodies the actress’s personal style and reflects her shared priorities with Cast: artistic design, quality, and versatility.
Rae also aligned herself with the company's sentiment about purchasing jewelry. “As a storyteller, the typical marketing around jewelry is that women are waiting to receive a gift. [it] from a man… and [Cast’s] “The whole ethos is about women being able to give themselves gifts,” she tells THR.
The Braeve Jewelry collection includes earrings, rings, necklaces and bracelets in 14K gold, sterling silver, black onyx and Cast-created diamonds, the company’s exclusive collection of lab-created diamonds. In her design process, the actress focused on the jewelry’s ability to transition from day to night, whether it’s elevating already elevated red carpet looks or making “the simplest outfit pop.”
“My personal style every day is very simple: jeans, T-shirts, Chucks, and that’s why this jewelry is my way of dressing; it’s how I show that I belong in certain rooms, it’s like my commitment to the office… I put my hair in a bun and I don’t wear makeup, but I put on jewelry and it’s like, ‘I tried,’” Rae says.
She then revealed, without hesitation, that her favorite piece from the collection is the Braeve Pendant Necklace for its uniqueness and undeniable versatility. The pendant offers three looks in one thanks to Cast's Signature Flip Innovation that alternates an all-gold side, an all-onyx side, and a half-gold, half-onyx option.
Issa Rae for Cast The Braeve Pendant Necklace
Rae jokes, “I use it as a mood ring, or a mood necklace, if nothing else, and I say if it's on the black side, 'don't mess with me,' if it's on the gold side, I'm approachable, and if it's in the middle, you know, I'm even.”
The Braeve Pendant Necklace, along with the rest of the capsule’s modern yet timeless pieces, are available for purchase beginning Tuesday, September 17 at castjewelry.com, with select styles available at nordstrom.com. Prices range from $250 to $5,900.
As for what else is in the works right now, Rae is currently in post-production on a buddy comedy she's producing with SZA and Keke Palmer. She's also writing a couple of TV shows “that [she’s] really, really excited” about a movie starring an actor she loves.
Discover more favorites from the Issa Rae for Cast collection below, and shop all 22 pieces at castjewelry.com.
Issa Rae Cast In The Humble Shine Studs
Issa Rae Cast The Humble Shine Pendant
Issa Rae for Cast The Armor Stack Ring
Issa Rae for Cast The Open Armor Stack Ring
Issa Rae Cast In The Braeve Huggie
Issa Rae Cast In The Bare Braeve Huggie
Shop the full collection at castjewelry.com.