Haute Talk with Brooklyn Deshea | Why Sustainable Jewelry Deserves More Attention

What if the future of fashion starts with reconnecting to the materials, makers, and stories behind what we wear?

In this episode of The Lexy Show, Lexy Silverstein sits down with Brooklyn Deshea, founder of Atma Prema, a sustainable fashion brand centered around mindful design, creativity, and intentional living. Brooklyn brings a unique perspective on fashion as a form of self-expression while exploring how clothing can be created with more care for people and the planet.

Lexy and Brooklyn discuss the journey behind Atma Prema, the importance of slowing down fashion, and how conscious designers can challenge traditional ideas of production and consumption. They explore the relationship between craftsmanship, sustainability, and personal style, along with the challenges of building a brand that prioritizes values over mass production. Brooklyn also shares insights into sourcing materials, creating meaningful pieces, and encouraging consumers to think more deeply about the clothing they bring into their lives. This conversation highlights how fashion can become a tool for connection, creativity, and positive change.

Follow Brooklyn Deshea and Atma Prema:
 📍 Instagram: @atmaprema
 🌎 Website: https://atmaprema.com

If you enjoyed this conversation, be sure to subscribe to The Lexy Show, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who's ready to make more mindful choices for themselves and the planet.

Transcript

Lex-Brooklyn Deshea

[00:00:00] Welcome to the.

Welcome to the Lexi Show, fashion that kids today where we expose fast fashion, celebrate the brands and products actually making a difference for our planet. I'm Lexi Silverstein. Today I am talking with Brooklyn Dassier, the founder and designer of Atma Prima, an ethically sourced jewelry brand. If you're new here, head to lexi silverstein.com for information on sustainable fashion and eco-conscious living.

And if you love what you hear, subscribe and share this episode. It helps more than you think. Brooklyn, welcome.

Let's start with the name at Prima. What does that mean and where did this name come from? Atma Prima actually means self-love and Sanskrit and, I was working in New York for a while. I just got burnt out. So me and my roommate at the time, we went to this two week yoga retreat in Thailand in the island Coon.

And everything just aligned so perfectly. Like this island is formed on top [00:01:00] of a giant quartz. So all along one of the beaches washed up there was just quartz all along the sand. And I started collecting the rose colored quartz.

And my dad gave me the idea to start a jewelry brand. 'cause he did a, he collected stones and gems as a hobby in like the seventies. And then I went on to Bali and started working with Bolonese Jewelers, and I was trying to think of a name and then. I was doing a little research and in yoga we use a lot of Sanskrit words for every pose.

And then I came across Atma and Atma means soul, and then prima means self. So it's like the love of the self. And that's the journey that I was on, like just remembering this love for myself and what really speaks to my soul. And that just like totally clicked and I was like, yes, this is it.

And especially just like the act of buying something for yourself that's meaningful, like buying a piece of jewelry and putting it on yourself, it's oh, like I love myself. [00:02:00] Like I'm gonna join myself with these things from the earth. And yeah, so that's why I chose that name. I love that and it's what we were just talking about with I have a million piercings and I'm like, I just love like being able to look at, I even saw recently, I think it was like someone was inspired by something else, but they had saw, they had seen some inspiration and then they wore with fashion show during New York Fashion Week, their whole ear was like painted with like gold flex and then they like.

Put like rhinestones and stuff on their ear. And I was like, that's, I see that one. It's just so interesting and so cool. And I just, what exactly what you're saying of just I just love even toe rings and like pinky rings and I like to look at, I'm not even wearing like half of the jewelry that I usually wear.

But I'm like, it's just it makes. It makes me, it's so fun. And then it like, makes me feel like you, what you're saying gets so adorned and when you buy a piece of jewelry, like for yourself it's for that feeling of doing something for yourself and adorning yourself and decorating yourself.

And I think that is so beautiful. Have you seen the the grills, the opal ones? [00:03:00] Oh, no. So FKA twigs. That's the first time I saw it. I love her. She, yeah, she had an opal grill, but just a few, like opal. I'm like, this is opal. It's like my favorite stone. It's my Bri. Yeah, so it just looks like a galaxy and then having all your tooth, I wanna do this.

I, no, that is so cool. I have these gorgeous like opal. Earings. There was, I think like a brooch that my nanny, my dad's mother had, and at the time I wasn't really wearing broaches. And we took the opal from the brooch and turned it into a necklace and. Some earrings and I'm just like, I just, I love like what you, it's like a galaxy.

Like it's so opal is so gorgeous. I recently went, I'm, I feel like you've definitely probably gone to this, but if not, you totally should. In Orange County at the Fair Go Fairgrounds, there's like a gem show and they have so [00:04:00] many vendors and so I just went the other day. It happened a few weeks ago.

And then I don't know how often they do it. I don't know if it's like once a year or multiple times a year. I only knew because my mom's friend was like, already going and she was like, do you wanna come with me? And I was like, heck yeah, I do. I've been to the Tucson Gym Show. Okay. I think that is that not like the super famous one and it's like huge.

Yeah. That's cool. I wanna go. That's my next one. That was insane. Like my favorite place ever. 'cause just the whole town is just taken over by stones and gems. Like even all the like motel rooms, like people are like, smell outside the room. You're like, then this is crazy. Oh my gosh. Okay next goal. I'm gonna go there.

But I just love I really, my mom is like really interested in. Like rocks and stones and gemstones and all these things. And she like will always, she'll see something and she'll be like, oh my God, is this like blah, blah, blah, and that means blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

And I'm like, whoa. Like how do you just know these [00:05:00] things? And so I think it's so cool, especially not only are you able to wear this gorgeous piece, but then you're able to tell a story with it and be like, thanks. It's, this. Stone and that means this and that. I just, I think that's so beautiful.

But when you design something new, where does the inspiration like usually come from? Is it spiritual, symbolism, nature, personal experiences or something else? Yeah, I think it's a little like combination of all of it because since I was a child I've been like so obsessed with nature. Like I would just like, play in the woods, every day.

And I would climb trees and I would play in the lake and collect like shells and stones and stuff that I found and I can just sit outside and just watch nature and I'm like, this is so cool. So I don't feel like I need like mushrooms that much because I'm just like, oh my gosh. I can look at a flower and be like [00:06:00] wow.

So I'm, I am inspired by nature a lot. I just, I like. Even thinking of the golden ratio and looking at that all across nature. And it's just so fascinating to me. And then I think combined with the spiritual element, like even like ancient civilizations, this is such a, an ancient thing of like humans.

Wearing jewelry for different purposes, like for protection, for helped like through the afterlife, like the Egyptians. I went to, one of my favorite things I did in New York is they had this jewelry exhibition at the Met. And I don't go back and look at these photos because I'm just like, this is so cool.

They had like king tuts the beaded neck necklaces that he wore. Wow. And. It would, and like they had all these things about the spiritual aspect of jewelry and why they like wore certain stones and I'm just like, this is so cool, so fascinating. So yeah, for me it's like a combination [00:07:00] of just like I studying nature and the things in nature and then also the spiritual element of what is this gemstone like good for?

What kind of a healing property is it carrying? What's like the history of it? Like what other civilizations? So used like Stone and Jim before? Yeah, I think just all of it. I'm just like so fascinated. I love it From the earth over like millions of years. Yeah. Like amazing. No, exactly. It's so cool.

I'm sure there's like a bunch of places that have stuff like this, but. In Washington, DC there's, I think it's the Natural History Museum. I'm pretty sure that's where lemme double check the, and they have a whole section in Yeah. Na, national Museum of Natural History. Lived in next to DC my entire life.

I feel like I shouldn't have had to fact check that, but that's all right. But they have the Hope Diamond there. Yeah, I did see that. Yeah. Yeah, I saw that in high school. Okay. Yeah. This show choir, like competition in DC when we went there, I was gonna say, I was like, I feel like that was always so funny to me is people would go to DC for their like trips and stuff and I was like I like am from there.

So then we would go to Canada. Oh, I never been to Canada. Canada. I never was able to go to any of the trips. So I think I went to Canada when I was like three years old or something and I don't remember it. But I've, I never was able to go on any of the trips, but I always just thought that, that was so funny.

'cause I was like, we're off to Canada and you guys are coming to where we live. I, that's so funny. But yeah, it has the Hope [00:08:00] Diamond, which is like crazy to see in person, but there's just also like the whole. Section there of like minerals and jewelry and it's so like I, I'm like, ooh, shiny.

Like I just stand there for hours and I'm like, wow. Like I believe the Hope Diamond has a curse. It. It does. I dunno if it's true or not. I heard it like probably back then, but like everyone who's ever owned that diamond, like something really bad happened to them. You know what? I wouldn't doubt that is something that I've also heard, but I can't remember.

But all I know that it's like the diamond necklace and the Titanic is based off of the homan. I always remember watching that movie and then being like, oh my God, I'm gonna go see it in real life. But yeah, I just love that museum 'cause I'm like, it was also in night at the museum too, the movie.

So I, I [00:09:00] just always liked that museum. But I definitely liked the jewelry section and I think it's like exactly what you're saying. You get to look at like the history of these things and what they need and their healing powers. And that's every time I go on like a trip, my mom I'll, I tend to have a nice ability to steal jewelry from my mother.

You have a mom has nice jewelry. Oh, she is has crazy jewelry. Like she like collects all these like turquoise is her favorite. So she is like the craziest turquoise collection. And I, there was something, every time she like puts on a new ring and I see it, I'm like, Ooh, can I try that on? And she's no, 'cause I know what you're gonna do.

You're gonna keep it on and then I'm not gonna have it. I'm like, what? Nothing. Little me. I would never do that. But she, every time I've gone on like a trip or something, she will let me take some bracelets or necklaces that like have certain. Safety and oh yeah, whatever. And I have a specific [00:10:00] necklace that my grandma she's passed away now, but my dad's mom got in Jerusalem.

She's a very devout Catholic, but it's a gold Saint Christopher necklace and St. Christopher factor of travel and Oh, okay. Yeah, I, every time I'm like traveling like on an airplane or like a long drive or anything, so yeah. I think it's so nice. Again, it just goes to that storytelling aspect of, and I think that when we tell a story about the items that we own and we feel connected to them, like we're gonna keep them for longer.

Which leads me into a lot of people to don't realize that the jewelry industry has some serious sustainability and ethical issues from mining practices to labor conditions. So what are some of the biggest. Problems that people should know about when it comes to traditional jewelry production? I think just the mass production.

And like lack of traceability. So there's a lot of jewelry [00:11:00] brands that get a lot of their stuff made in China and you don't really know who's making it. And it's just like they're having like. They're so quick making like new pieces come out like every day and you're like, oh my God.

Which is it's so easy to buy these things 'cause you're like, it's so fashionable but then it doesn't last, so yeah, I think of just like lack of traceability, the mass production and not knowing like where these pieces are coming from. Yeah, similar to the fashion industry. So how does Atma Prima, approach sourcing differently?

What steps do you take to make your materials and production, as ethical and responsible as possible? Yeah, so I'm like, I'm so hands on. Like it's just me and the jeweler really. It's just so I started in Bali, so I was working directly with Balinese Jewelers. And then I went to the Tucson Gym Fair, where I met the Opal dealers directly that are from Australia.

[00:12:00] They mine directly in Australia. I would love to go there one day and mine myself. That'd be great. That's a dream of mine. So I directly meet these sources myself and then I'm. Also just connected to one of the places I've worked with this manufacturer in Thailand, it's a woman owned they're sisters and a lot of women work there.

It's ethical, sustainable. They have all the certifications. So another thing to look for is the certifications like of sustainability and where these gyms are coming from. And and then when I left Bali and moved to LA I worked downtown LA directly with a manufacturer. Here it's all recycled gold.

So I, I. Know where everything's coming from. 'cause I'm very hands-on. And another manufacturer I recently started working with is in Jaipur, India, and Jaipur is known as like the jewelry, like a, the famous jewelry center in India. And I almost went there as well, but then the [00:13:00] air was too bad when I was in Delhi, so I.

Cut my trip short and laughed, so I have to go back to Jaipur. But yeah, for me, I'm just like very hands-on and so I know exactly where everything's coming from. I love that. I think that's just so important is if I can't ask you where you got something from any brand, which really often.

Is the case. Like they, they don't necessarily even know where their manufacturing or where the, the cotton for this, shirt that they ended up making for $2 is from, and any of the steps that took it to becoming that shirt and then getting, shipped to the person who bought it.

Or that jewelry piece, that necklace, that pair of shoes, whatever it is. And I think that's something that like. People I feel will always ask like, how do I really know if something's sustainable? There's so much out there. And I'm like, you know what? If someone is like [00:14:00] really dedicated to this, cause like they'll be putting it places.

Like you shouldn't have to go look for like the sustainability and do all this research and stuff. If it, if they care and it's at the root of. Why they're doing what they're doing it'll be apparent. And I think that it's just so amazing because when we ask for transparency, like we need to have that traceability.

And I just, I really do feel like a lot of, fashion and jewelry brands out there don't even necessarily know where they're getting the stuff from. And I think, I talk a lot about clothes and how we look at clothes. Yeah. Rethinking our clothes. But I think that's always something that I like to get into is okay, we're, clothes aren't the only thing making up this outfit.

It's my shoes, it's my jewelry. And I mean you can I'll go to a flea market and there's a billion vendors with like a. These horrible like [00:15:00] rings that are gonna like green after make my finger green after two, two minutes wearing it. And so you think about, the waste that, or we're talking a lot more about the waste that our clothes are causing, but I don't feel like we're talking about necessarily the waste that the jewelry we're buying is causing.

So I think supporting, brands and like yours and really. I always say this with before you buy something, but like before you buy clothes, like really investing in your jewelry and like thinking for a second and being like, am I going to keep this for a long period of time? Is it gonna turn green after I wear it once?

Like I. Again, my mom and I just like love jewelry. Like we're like big jewelry girls. We have our like huge rings. We have taken like jewelry making classes like we, what is that? Oh, we love it. I am the way I am because. Of my mother and she was just calling me [00:16:00] the other day where she was like, someone asked me if you get inspired by me or if I get inspired by you.

And she was like, I think it's a little bit of both. And I go, yeah, but my taste in jewelry is 100% just because. Of you. That's her. Yeah. I'm like, because I literally come to your house and I take your jewelry, so it's not even like I'm inspired by you. It's like I'm stealing from you. My background though, it's so I worked at a high fashion brand in New York and then I worked at a nonprofit that fought against tra human trafficking.

So I learned a lot about. Trafficking in the world, the USA not just sex trafficking, but LA labor also and how that works. So that's also why I'm like so aware of the traceability and what's going on, because I know what how people are locked into the labor work, and to pay off debt for the rest of their life and, yeah. Definitely don't, do not want any part of that. Yeah. And that's really [00:17:00] interesting. I think it's incredible how you've been able to take, previous experience that doesn't necessarily have to do with jewelry flat out, but, take it into what you're doing here.

And I'm just like, I always will be like, you can just tell when you speak to a person when they like really care about. All these different things, or if they're just doing it to just do it. And so I think that it's like incredible to, it's always incredible to meet and speak with people. Yeah. Another thing to watch out for recently I learned about is these AI websites popping up.

So when you Google Atma, now this Atma store comes up. And it's messing with my S-E-O-I-I-I. Found out because I started getting daily calls from customers not getting their jewelry. Oh no. And it was like the same specific jewelry piece. And I'm like, I don't sell this jewelry piece. [00:18:00] Like what?

Like a heart with like angel wings. That's $40. And so I finally talked to someone and it was like this older lady, she said she bought it off Facebook. So I started researching and I was like, oh, it's this atmosphere. And then I went. I've been doing all this research, like I found the domain they're using iOS, and iOS is the AI website builder.

And iOS has terrible reviews also, so I, I've tried to reach out to them. I've been like reporting them because this no one's getting their jewelry from this company. It's like completely ai. They've been ripping off other websites and they have 10 to 20 different Facebook accounts. And everyone has comments from people saying they never got the jewelry.

This is a scam. This is a scam. And I'm like, oh my God. Oh my gosh, no. It's like a nightmare I've been dealing with. So now I'm like, I have to figure out how to, 'cause I've been reporting them anywhere, everywhere, but nothing has happened yet. So that's another thing to look out for is AI websites. Yeah. Such a timely topic [00:19:00] because truly like AI is really taking over and if we wanna talk about AI sustainability water usage, like not AI and the planet, not friends. But I think that's, I saw a commercial yesterday, I think it was for a Jeep Cherokee, and it was fully just ai. And mind you, it was like, bad. So I'm just like, what are we, if you're gonna use ai, like at least make it good. Like at least have a reason that you can get away with.

Ad like it was so good. We just had to do it because this is just embarrassing. And it was like they were interviewing. Quotation marks. They were interviewing animals and the animals were talking about like Jeep Cherokees, and I was just like, this is so ridiculous like that. This is the world in which we live in that a big enough brand as Jeep who has the money to be, like paying for individuals to create good ads, great [00:20:00] marketing.

Is doing this, like it's costing them as much money as well. Yeah. Like it's just, it was so bad. Like I just was like, I can't even believe that got approved through an entire list of people on their. On their team. Okay. It's gonna be interesting the next few years, honestly, because Yeah, I really don't know which way it's gonna go.

'cause I do believe like humans like want to see other like human works. Yeah. So I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. On that note is there a specific piece or collection from Atmo Prima that has a really meaningful story behind it or that really connects with you specifically? I love this question.

Yes I do. It's the sapphire heirloom ring. So my dad, as I mentioned earlier. He was basically a hippie when he was younger. He was very into meditation, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, kinesiology. Like [00:21:00] he was very ahead of his time and he made this like oat sausage brand before it like was a thing like, ooh.

Like a hell nut, but yeah, he was cool. But he collected stones and gems and he collected these dark blue sapphires in the seventies and he passed them onto me. So since I'm like into jewelry now, and he also had this book on the healing properties of gemstones, by the way, which I didn't appreciate until later.

But that's always how it goes. So I have these dark blue sapphires, and I waited until I felt like more settled into like my jewelry career to make some pieces and they're marquee shaped and instead of like north to south I turned it. So it's like more contemporary, modern, east to west like signe ring.

Yeah, it just means a lot to me. 'cause now I can show him like, this is what I made. Like people love it, I've sold a few and it's just [00:22:00] very meaningful. Yeah. Oh, I love that. I think jewelry is always something that I feel like is, passed down through generations. Like I. I remember with my dad's mom, we, I don't like, really remember if there was an occasion or if she was just feeling fabulous and decided to buy like a really expensive, crazy ring.

But it's, it was this gorgeous ring that I like, helped her pick out. I don't even know. It was like a, I don't even know what the stems, what the gems were. But we like still have the ring. I don't have it yet. My parents are like, you're not getting that until you're like 50.

And I'm like, okay. But I just think like there are pieces that I always remember, like my mom wearing or even my dad wearing, or my nanny wearing and my grandma wearing and now I have those pieces and I'll keep them forever and pass them down. And I think that's something that I always try to remind people when it comes to, again, like [00:23:00] clothing, like buy, invest in good quality things and you'll be able to pass it down, right?

Yeah. And so I think that I hone, I feel like it's probably. Jewelry is like somewhat even more prac like that's a practice already, like at least it is in my like life where I've always just, my. Grandma was a, my nanny was as fabulous as my mother is. And so I have a very fortunate the jewelry.

Jewelry is something even like better to collect than clothes. Yeah. Because it's gold, it's precious metal, gold and silver. And thinking of like the rising gold and silver prices. And how like money is so dependent. On that. It's if you have a lot of gold, you know you're set. Yes.

That's literally what my mom always says. She's girl, you have so much turquoise. You're like, set for life because she collects so much of it. And I'm like, okay, good to know. Thank you. And this is where me and my brother differ is he is like, why don't you sell it and get more money from it?

And I'm like, no. [00:24:00] Like I wanna wear it. So you think about the money spent on fast fashion jewelry, it's it's not gonna last. You're gonna keep having just like clothes, you're gonna keep having to buy. Why not just spend that money on a piece that you'll have forever? Yeah. When I went to the Gem Fest in Orange County, I got just a bunch of standalone gemstones that I.

I've taken two, two ring making classes and I wanna take more. I just don't have any space to have a whole ring making thing in my one bedroom apartment. But that's the goal, is to take like the things that I got and turn them into jewelry. And I think that again, it's just I'd rather spend the money doing that.

Something I can take the time to learn how to do. It's fun. And then I have this piece, and then I can be like, oh, I made that. Which is like similar to, if I'm wearing a brand like at Maima and someone asks me a [00:25:00] question about it, I'll be able to go into this whole story of this is why the name is this, and this is how she started and this is what she supports.

And that's why I just think it's so important to do your research and invest in quality rather than, yeah. Buying so much of this like stuff that is not even gonna be in your closet in two days. But on that note, what are some red flags that you think that people should look out for when trying to avoid?

Probably like unethical brands. I would say lack of traceability and mass production. If you don't know where the pieces are coming from and, they're just like putting out so much cheap jewelry then, that's a pretty red flag. Yeah. Yeah, just really low prices. I tend to stay away from like gold plated brass, just 'cause that, is probably the cheapest kind of jewelry.

And yeah, just like any hidden business info. You don't really know who the [00:26:00] owners are, you can't find anything about them. It's an AI website. Yeah, that, those are the main things. And what would you say are maybe some green flags or some signs that, a jewelry brand is actually doing things right.

Who's running it. Like something about their history. They have the traceability. They talk about where the gemstones come from. There's clear branding and value. In-house local production is always a great thing as well. Yeah, I think just like knowing where your pieces are coming from and knowing the values of this company and who is actually running it.

Yeah, completely. And as a founder and designer what have been, some things that you have found, maybe most surprising or. Hard or you know what, how have you maybe gotten over those challenges when building out a conscious brand in a fashion space that's not always necessarily conscious?

Yeah, I've [00:27:00] definitely gone back and forth a little bit. Oh, should I like go into cheaper jewelry, like I've looked into stainless steel. 'Cause some jewelry brands are operating just on that. 'cause gold and silver prices are so high and stainless steel you can like it, it doesn't tarnish.

And you can have a gold plated with another thing over it where it doesn't tarnish at all. You can wear it in the water. So I've been playing with some of those, but then I just keep going back to oh, I just love the real materials from the earth, and I think also when you stay rooted in like your authenticity and like what you stand for, you attract the right people who care about that.

So I think just learning through these humps and challenges is just like. Staying rooted in who I am and what my brand is and it'll attract the right people, and it has been. So it's been great. Yay. Great. Thank you so much. [00:28:00] Where can people find you on social media or anywhere else?

Yeah, so I'm on social media Instagram at Map prima jewelry and Facebook at Map Prima. My website's at map prima jewelry.com. Perfect. Thank you so much. Everyone, go get your lovely jewelry from Atman Prima. I have mine and I'm obsessed with them and thank you so much again.

That's it for this big episode of the Lexi Show Fashion. That gives a damn big thanks to Brooklyn for showing us how jewelry can be both beautiful and meaningful when it's created with intention and respect for people on the planet, whether it's fashion or everyday products. This is how sustainability should work.

If this conversation resonated with you, subscribe so you don't miss an episode. Leave a review and share this with someone who needs to hear it. Head to lexi silvers sign.com for more content on sustainable style and conscious consumption. And follow me on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube at Lexi Silvers sign.

That's LEXY silver like the color, [00:29:00] S-T-E-I-N. Remember to live a good life and look fucking good doing it and demand better from brands in your closet and everywhere else. See you next week.