A Logo Pendant For 1587 Co-Founders

This collaboration began at a pop-up.

I met Sam and Adam, the founders of 1587 Sneakers, in the kind of setting where brand worlds overlap naturally: clothes on racks, jewelry on tables, conversations happening between strangers who share a mission.

What drew me to 1587 was clear from the beginning. They weren’t just making sneakers. They were building a Korean American brand with a point of view, one rooted in story, visibility, and the refusal to be silenced. Their own language says it plainly: unapologetically Asian American.

Our first collaboration came through a custom T-shirt carrying the definition of NUNCHI / 눈치 — a word that has shaped not only this brand, but the way I move through design, identity, and community.

This pendant came after. As a thank you, I wanted to make something that translated their world into ours: the community of 1587, rendered in metal. The starting point was their Unapologetic Smiley T-shirt, a graphic that felt playful, direct, and unmistakably theirs. The final result was a symbol turned pendant, a more permanent brandmark. Sneakers and jewelry may sit in different categories, but they come from parallel craft cultures. Both are worn close, carrying identity and acting as armor. This piece sits at that intersection: Korean American storytelling and the quiet power of taking up space without asking permission.