CJ Aslan Likes to Create Worlds
CJ Aslan Likes to Create Worlds
And the multitalented artist-designer is building a world all her own.
Originally published in our Spring 2024 Print Issue with layout design by Sharlene Deng
Interview by Sahir Ahmed + Photography by CJ Aslan
I met CJ Aslan unexpectedly, in passing at a magazine’s fashion week party on the second floor of the Bowery Hotel. Waiting for a friend to use the bathroom, I went outside to bum a cigarette and there she was — said cigarette in hand — sitting on a bench. We broke the ice with the typical New York just isn’t the same and fashion week just isn’t that fun and how we even ended up there (it’s what we ‘do’). I told her that I like to tell stories. She told me that she “likes to create worlds.” By that time my friend had returned from the bathroom, so CJ and I bid the typical farewell — exchanging phone numbers and “text me, let’s hang out.”
I ran into her again in LA a month later at the Fonda. She’d been busy since I had last seen her: working on the shoes for London-based fashion designer Luis De Javier’s Los Angeles fashion week debut, and launching her FW23 collection at H.Lorenzo.
ASLAN World first gained notoriety for its maximalist chain mail gloves. The brand also makes pierced chain mail bags, a chain mail tie, a pierced camo hat, hair clip rings, and the spiny TEETH FLATS. She often teams up with musicians: a 14k gold mask for Future, a custom glove for Maluma, and rings for Kali Uchis are just a few of her notable projects. ASLAN is CJ’s imagination made tangible, a designhead pastiche of references ranging from her “tomboyish” upbringing adrenaline chasing in all its forms — from chopping down trees and axing them clean to skiing, surfing and anything having to do with cars — to the music she listens to and the sensorial experiences she’s had.
Sometimes she’s chasing a feeling, but she’s always creating a world.
Sahir Ahmed — What have you been up to since Halloween when I last saw you?
CJ Aslan — So many things ... We had our launch event at H.Lorenzo. We’re also working on the new collection — about to go to Paris to do sales for Men’s Week. Honestly I can’t wait for you guys to see the new pieces.
That’s exciting. I’ve been dying to speak with you about ASLAN World, so I’m glad we get to do this. I remember when we met in New York, you referred to yourself as someone who builds worlds. I’m curious to hear more about what you mean by that.
For me, it’s so important to build a story, I feel like it makes it more interesting for the viewer and more sustainable. There’s so many reasons why I like working around a narrative, but when it comes to the brand, we’re navigating two worlds. The very niche art aesthetic that we’re super attached to and the rappers, musicians and more commercial clients we work with. I want to keep a beautiful and intentional balance between the two. I say yes and no very strongly, I’m clear in what I am and what I’m not. That decision process is really at my core and how I’ve been able to build the brand around me. I consider myself an artist before anything else. Aligning that with ASLAN’s trajectory is almost like working on a puzzle. It allows me to look at everything from a bird’s eye view to ask questions like,
What world does this idea exist in? What characters are in that world? Who is this for?
Then I’ll literally surround myself with that in my everyday life for however long I’m focusing on that body of work. When I’m over it, I’m over it and I’m kind of onto the next thing. I’ll probably go through lots of iterations of ASLAN World.
As an artist, do you feel as if you have to be stringent when it comes to execution?
I think that as long as whatever you do is intentional, it kind of doesn’t matter. If your intention as an artist is to be strict with yourself, then set boundaries and stick to them. If you say that you want no boundaries and prefer to exist in chaos while creating for x amount of time, then stick to that. The place you create from can be distant from where somebody else would consider the world that they can live and operate in. Be aware of your decisions and try to do whatever it is, consciously.
Have you always been so intentional? As a kid, did you always see a project through?
Yeah, I will always never not finish something, I feel like that’s genuinely a part of me. As I’ve gotten older though, I’ve found that as long as you’re learning something from your experiences and you can take something away, that’s also just as valuable.
You can find knowledge in any crevice, opportunity, miss, win, whatever.
It’s nice to find satisfaction in seeing something through even if it doesn’t come out how I originally wanted it to.
Do you think it’s possible for something that you create to ever be perfect?
That’s really hard. I mean, I think everything is imperfect, but that’s beautiful to me. Being able to say, Okay, I’m done with this, is a really important lesson to learn. It’s very human to look back at something and say, I wish I had done it this way, or, I wish that I could change that. I find it more valuable to just let things go and to stop when I know it’s time to stop.
ASLAN World feels almost dreamlike, so I wondered if your dreams show up in your creations or vice versa?
I swear to God… I have dreams of conversations that I have to have the next day. It’s so dark! I’ll literally have a dream about answering an email, and wake up the next day like, Oh, wait, that didn’t happen, but it’ll feel so real — it’s so bizarre. I think that when I’m asleep, my head is in chaos, definitely in work mode. I find that my creative dreams exist more in daydreams. I love to work at night, so when I’m awake, by myself, just thinking, and looking at nothing is when I find that all of my ideas actually come to me.
I was actually chatting with Josephine [Princess Gollum] the other day, who mentioned playing at your release at H.Lorenzo. She likened Los Angeles to a movie set where everyone’s playing a part. Do you agree?
I do… but I’m from New York, so for me, so true. It’s that whole bird’s eye view concept. I feel like I see it across the board. I always say that in LA you don’t actually meet someone until the third time you meet them, and I think that’s why some people say that they don’t like LA.
Do you like LA?
I do like LA. Since I’ve moved here, I’ve met and worked with many amazing people, but I feel like it’s really up to the individual to intentionally curate their experience here. I think you can exist in happiness anywhere in the world as long as you have thick skin and are comfortable with yourself. But we are all human and sometimes in a room full of people it can still feel like you’re completely alone.
Yeah, I agree, but are you ever really alone if you’re with yourself? Do you feel as if this work connects you to your inner child?
I think so. There’s a beautiful lesson in being your own best company, because at the end of the day no one is in your head but you. I try to remember often to just exist in play. I do find that in the past couple months I’ve been connecting with my inner child more, almost as a practice of letting go and just existing — doing fun little activities.
Where do you find inspiration?
I honestly find that I pull a lot of inspiration from places that I’ve been – I’ll be somewhere and a smell, sound, or taste will remind me of a past experience. I become obsessed with reimagining it, which will kickstart the process of developing a world. I usually work in silence or have one song on repeat to score the mood for the day. Otherwise I’m always researching: films, documentaries, scores, video games.
What inspired you growing up?
I also grew up pretty tomboy-ish — skiing, surfing, chopping down trees — obsessed with anything having to do with adrenaline, so I’ve drawn a lot of inspiration from the clothing culture in that niche. We love an exaggerated silhouette.
How did you come up with the spiked ballet flats?
I was inspired by sea urchins, and this tree behind my house that has these crazy spikes to defend itself from birds and predators.
I’d never guess that.
I love that it makes people dig a little bit. At the end of the day,
I don’t feel that art is about you as the maker, it has to evoke something for the viewer, propose a question.
To me, the process is always more important than the finished piece. A lot of people say that ASLAN World is punk, or this, or that, and it’s not at all to me, and that’s fine. I just don’t see it as committed to any one identity.
It does tell a story though. Almost how I love seeing older people that are so intentional about what they wear, from the color of their scarf or socks to the material of their sweater or coat. It’s so obvious what it means to them as opposed to how easily younger generations cycle through trends now.
PURITY!
I love that there’s no rules to them. Our generation loves to say that there’s no rules, but God, there’s so many damn rules.
I don’t know what anyone’s talking about these days. I do love seeing true personal style though. I might think what someone’s wearing is absolutely hideous, but it’s not for anyone else: it’s just how the person wants to exist in the world and that’s great.
Do you feel like you have more of an advantage starting ASLAN World now than a time before social media?
It’s so cool that I can so easily find somebody on the internet that’s halfway across the world that I would want to collaborate with, which we could never have done before. I learned a lot through Instagram, but I also existed without it for such a long time, so it’s overwhelming to me that so much of this younger generation is just looking at their phones.
What did you have to figure out first?
Figuring out production was so difficult. I actually made all of the pieces from our first collection completely by hand by myself, crashing between two friends’ houses in LA, living out of a suitcase. How to scale a business where I could decrease labor time and actually make a profit was a new beast for me. I used to work in creative direction in the music industry doing live concerts, visual albums. Before that, I was a studio artist – I didn’t come from a fashion house or work in this industry “proper” before this. I taught myself as quickly as I could and started with no specific connections. I would walk around the jewelry district and buy the wholesaler gold catalogs — eavesdrop on inside gem deals on the first floor of Hill St with a notepad and pen.
What was the first thing you made?
It was actually a film that I wrote and directed during the pandemic. All of the costumes became the first collection.
So you didn’t even start out wanting to design wearables or jewelry? Funny how that happens.
I always knew that I wanted to take the things that were developing in my mind and produce them in real life, which is why I made the film. It continues to be the starting point for everything we’re working on now. That was chapter one. Now I’m looking at everything and it’s still just chapters of this film to me, trying to figure out where they’re going to go next.
How is it working with so many rappers and musicians as a female designer — it’s still such a male-dominated industry.
I’ve definitely found myself in spaces that were challenging to navigate, but it’s honestly been really cool. I definitely will shut down any environment I don’t feel is respectful. So with curation I find I’ve built such honest and beautiful work relationships, which is sick because that’s obviously not always how the world is to women at all. I also have been told by most people that they would never guess it was a woman behind the brand before meeting me or seeing a photo. They think I’m a dude because of the context of the brand and my email signature being “CJ”. I wasn’t face fronting until recently on social media in general. I’ll leave you also with that.
Do you feel invisible then, in a sense? As if your brand can speak for itself?
I wanted it to be just that at first. Really anonymous. No face and no home, which leaves room for the imagination. Like-minded artists are also important to me. I try to be intentional.
What artists have you worked with that you feel align most with the ASLAN World brand identity?
KORN & Playboi Carti.
How was breaking into the jewelry industry?
I had to learn to let go of all ego and match energy when entering specific rooms where people may try to diminish you.
Be patient, wait your turn, and leave the table shocked by the delivery of knowledge you left them with.
Yeah, leave them obsessed with the idea of working with you.
You have to knock on a lot of doors before someone answers. Even with the TEETH FLATS, no factory called me back. I remember finally one day I just showed up at a factory with a sample I made by hand, with no appointment, waited hours until they finished their actual scheduled meetings for the day and finessed some- one to give me some time to chat. First round they weren’t sold but I kept coming back, and eventually from not taking no for an answer, I swooned them over and we’re busting out some amazing shoes now.
What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learned?
Become a sponge, absorb and learn from everything, good or bad. Everything’s just a thing that’s happening to you right now.