Phoebe Bringers on Being a Former Jewelry Skeptic and Her Collaboration With Catbird

Phoebe Bridgers is a singer-songwriter and guitarist known for her introspective lyrics and eclectic musical style. She has gained popularity for her albums “Stranger in the Alps” and “Punisher.”

Regarding her former skepticism about jewelry, it's unclear what you are referring to, as I couldn't find any information about it. As for her collaboration with Catbird, it's a jewelry brand based in Brooklyn, New York. The exact details of the collaboration are not publicly available.

However, it's likely that Bridgers has partnered with Catbird to create a jewelry collection or to promote their products in some way. Catbird is known for its unique and intricate designs, and a collaboration with a popular musician like Bridgers could be an exciting opportunity for both parties. The impact and success of the collaboration would depend on various factors, such as the appeal of the products to Bridgers' fans, the marketing strategies used to promote the collection, and the overall response from the public.

Musician Phoebe Bridgers has a poetic way of describing her preferred kind of jewelry. “It has to disappear for me to like it,” she says. “It has to be just a part of you.” That rule certainly applies to the second installment of Bridgers’s collection with Catbird, which drops today on both the company’s and Bridgers’s websites.

Bridgers worked with the jewelry brand to make two small but impactful charms: a small moonstone charm with her lyric “I’d give you the moon,” scrawled in her own handwriting on the back, and a pearl spaceship with tractor beams made of teensy chains.

To describe Bridgers as a fan of the New York-based label would be an understatement. “I exclusively wear Catbird and have for years, because nobody makes jewelry small enough for my taste except for them,” she says of the brand’s dainty aesthetic.

“Since my first tour, I’ve been wearing this stuff, like the safety pin earring, and the tiniest, tiniest studs. An ex got me a little charm necklace that I wear all the time, and people are always giving me skeleton stuff. It’s amazing—it’s like having my own wedding registry.”

The brand’s founders, Rony Vardi and Leigh Batnick Plessner, figured out that Bridgers was a fan the old-fashioned way: by seeing her name on orders. Over the years, they’ve watched Bridgers’s career flourish and have developed a deeper relationship with her. The collaboration, which began with a friendship necklace back in December, evolved organically. “It was natural to start this conversation,” Vardi says. “We didn’t have to be like, ‘Hi, hello, we’re Catbird!’”

Before discovering Catbird, the artist behind Stranger in the Alps and Punisher explains she had a “fickle” relationship with accessories, and so when the possibility of collaborating came about, she wanted to create something made to last. “I’ve dressed the same and worn the same jewelry for so long now that I wish I could go back and tell my 15-year-old self, ‘Look, just do this,’” she says.

“I was so uncomfortable in my body as a teen, which I think is a universal experience. I didn’t know how to be. I wish 20-year-old me could tell 18-year-old me, ‘Look, just relax and wear this.’” The first friendship necklace was partially inspired by a similar style that Bridgers and her best friend bought from a quarter machine as teenagers, which she still owns. When reflecting on the sentimental value of that piece, Bridgers decided she wanted to create something equally precious with Catbird. “Making something that actually lasts and isn’t just rotting on myself is very special with me,” she adds.

While the collection’s layered meaning will resonate with fans of Bridgers and Catbird alike, they wanted to make sure the collection had a more tangible impact too. Each style is available in either entirely recycled 14-karat gold or recycled sterling silver, and Catbird has made a $25,000 donation to The National Center for Transgender Equality in honor of the charms.

“With such a historically gendered thing as jewelry, it felt special to be able to point to the stuff I care about and not participate in the archaic views around it,” Bridgers says. “Especially something that is so related to class. It’s cool to be using diamonds and pearls to pay for trans rights.”

To that end, she appreciates that the jewelry is designed to be worn by everyone. “It’s not exclusively feminine to me—it’s jewelry my brother would like,” she says, calling out one motif in particular, that she often draws when signing autographs: “It’s a weird spaceship, a tiny spaceship.” That’s something we can all get behind.