IMAGES Courtesy of APOC Store
Today, fashion, design and art platform APOC Store introduces its new Nail Art collection featuring 8 visionary interdisciplinary creatives, who have worked with the likes of Mugler, Mowalola and Hunter Schafer, and whose work spans from haunting, hyper-realistic teeth to ready-to-wear 3D printed accessories and sculptural avant-garde creations.
Nail art has long been celebrated as a form of self-expression and adornment, but in recent years its artistic practice has caught the attention of the fashion community. The artists featured among the collection have already worked for the likes of Mugler, Mowalola, Nike and Hunter Schafer, crafting trend-setting styles and revolutionising the landscape for nail artists. Moreover, the artists’ designs challenge conventional notions of beauty and identity, serving as symbols of resistance and empowerment.
APOC Store is devoted to curating and sourcing progressive and consciously created products from designers across the globe. Working closely and flexibly with designers, the team provides industry-leading support to emerging artists and offers tools to help them grow sustainably within their means.
Below, meet the designers launching nail sets and nail jewellery in the APOC Nail Art collection.
Texto Dallas
What first inspired you to work in nail artistry?
When I was with my brother in Vietnam 10 years ago we met a bunch of guys smoking cigarettes and laughing under a waterfall; one of them had one hand with long, pink cherry flower nails. A beautiful contrast between the very strong masculine attitude and that harmony struck me hardly. I started to do my nails, slowly learning and when COVID arrived I was ready to spend 2 months practicing and evolving my style.
How has your aesthetic/designs developed since you started?
Everything changed when I met Juan Alvear in Paris who just gave me a few technical tips, I guess he didn’t know how radical my style would become afterwards.
Do you have a favourite set of nails you’ve created?
My fav nail set is the Ethereal set I made for a French creature, I feel a deep storytelling crystallised inside of those almost moving nails, something that belongs to dreams and poetry.
Can you tell us more about your nail designs for the APOC NAILS collection?
As my creations are mostly unwearable and require too much time to sculpt; at some point, I was upset my work was only a fantasy so it took me a year to imagine a more wearable, affordable but style-unique nail shape, APOC contacted me at this moment so I saw a sign and shared with them a part of the collection.
What would you like to see more of in the future for nail art and nail artists?
I designed very unique shapes and I wish my work could corrupt the nail industry and bring more freedom; my honest dream would be to see rappers wearing nails or anybody beyond the fashion world.
RÄTHEL & WOLF
What first inspired you to work in nail artistry?
As jewellers, our crafting hands get very dirty and cut up from working with metal and tools. The first nail ring idea came up as an ad-hoc manicure solution to give our fingertips that instant shine and attention, without having to go through a long manicure procedure which will be ruined by the next working day again. It can be re-used forever and is a sustainable option for beautiful nails.
How has your aesthetic/designs developed since you started?
Our aesthetic has always been clean yet bold. We love drawing three-dimensional volumes fitted to the body, finding the gaps and shapes we can adorn. Our distal rings frame the fingertips, the body parts with our highest density of nerve endings, exploring the dialogue between sensuality and materiality. We balance sleek constructed shapes with the soft contours of the body.
Do you have a favourite design you’ve created?
We love how our distal rings have evolved over the years growing the collection. Still truly special to us and equally loved by our customers is the very first nail ring design we made back in 2016, called SIMONE. It just frames in such a nice and elevated way any type of nail, from the craziest nail art to just your natural nails, it works with all sorts of fashion styles, genders or nail shapes and just adds an extra spark to your fingertips.
Can you tell us more about your nail designs for the APOC NAILS collection?
For the special APOC NAILS collection we have launched a new range of square tip rings, a re-interpretation of our classic nail frames, a cyborg-esque surface ring to turn your fingers into actual metallic body extensions, next to a big sculptural statement nail ring which works well with other 3D nail art or just as a showpiece on its own. Our core collection of nail rings is also available in the APOC store.
What would you like to see more of in the future for nail art and nail artists?
We have collaborated with nail artists such as London’s nail master Sylvie McMillan as well as Berlin-based Ukrainian-born 666.nails and enjoy when the world of nail art and jewellery merge. The moment the lines blur of what is the body and what is extension really excites us. We always design straight on the body and really want our pieces to impact the way one feels and empower the wearer, so when they become part of the body and people don’t want to take them off anymore, like their own nails, we are like “yes, this is why we do what we do”. So we definitely feel like there is more room for cross-disciplinary projects and are excited to foster that spirit further!
Cyshimi by Viviane Lee Hsu
What first inspired you to work in nail artistry?
I’ve always had a strong relationship with vanity since I was a teenager, from clothes, cosmetics and beauty YouTubers, all of which followed me along to construct my identity. Since that time, I started to grow my natural nails really long. I found it incredible how our body could grow something naturally so fantastic, and mainly, how I felt with them, more powerful and unique. I was also really drawn to how people would interact with me when they saw I had nails, I would start whole relationships from that.
Be their reaction positive or negative, that estrangement was the starting point for some people to question some things inside themselves. Nails carry a big baggage of identity, empowerment and social issues, which are subjects that were always present in my work. It also combines sculpting and painting techniques to fit and live with bodies, which, for me, turns them into a performative sculpture.
How has your aesthetic/designs developed since you started?
Currently, I dominate my techniques a lot more so I’m able to produce most of my ideas, so I feel like my nails have gotten more complex and more sculptural. At the same time, I’m inspired to explore more interesting simple designs that are plain but very unique. Besides nail art itself, I brought discussions on nails to contemporary and crypto art spaces too, exploring them beyond aesthetics.
Do you have a favourite set of nails you’ve created?
I’m obsessed with “Cross” nails, part of the APOC launch. It’s a simple design, duck nails with a strong cross in the middle of each one of them, it’s the one set I feel like using every day lately.
Can you tell us more about your nail designs for the APOC NAILS collection?
I wanted to bring nails that spoke to me, so I chose my favourite designs that could still be used easily by anyone who knows how to handle nails. Some of them are more graphic, others more sculptural and others focused on textures.
Raw Nails by Diana Raw
What first inspired you to work in nail artistry?
Well, I guess back on 2020 I got really tired and bored of plaid nails, so I’ve decided I wanted to have something special and that will describe me. I have always been inspired by human bodies, nature, animals, insects, shellfish and so on and I thought it would be a great idea to use them for nail art and I’ve tried this idea on myself. That was the beginning of the story. I decided to learn how to do nails myself.
How has your aesthetic/designs developed since you started?
Since the beginning I was doing „dirty core“ nails, but my first works were more abstract, you know. As for now, I see them as more elegant, but still dirty and I’m in love with such collaboration. I put my heart into each design I make, so as I change, the designs I make change too. Sometimes I want to create something that will look like real dirt or even puke, but on the next day, I feel like doing long claws using natural colours.
Do you have a favourite set of nails you’ve created?
I love each of my works, but for now, my favourite ones are either this set of teeth nails, this set of claws or this set I made recently.
Can you tell us more about your nail designs for the APOC NAILS collection?
For the APOC NAILS collection, I’ve done very different designs. I did dirty ones, neutral and the „lady nails“. Firstly, I wanted to show people that beauty can be different and we can get inspired by everything around us. For example, there are „true morels“ tips or even „teeth with gems“. Secondly, I know that many of us are afraid of something new and scared to differ, but false nails with crazy designs might help us to just realize how we want ourselves to look. It is always cool just to have fun experimenting with the way we look. Thirdly, I simply wanted to share my world, my vision, my soul and my heart with others.
What would you like to see more of in the future for nail art and nail artists?
In the future of nail art, I’d be happy to see people realise they can create art on nails and represent who they are with them just like we normally do with our clothes, hairstyles, tattoos etc. I wish all of us could move beyond the limitations in our heads and simply try to do what we want on the path to our own happiness and have fun.
SAMMY DOES
What first inspired you to work in nail artistry?
Well, it kind of just happened as a result of my unhealthy obsession with video games and anime. That stuff is always on my mind but it wasn’t until I was doom scrolling on TikTok and I saw a video of a cosplayer 3D printing nails from home and I thought to myself: I want a piece of that cake. I saw a way of solidifying my obsession with wearable pieces. So I bought a 3D printer and started designing!
How has your aesthetic/designs developed since you started?
Probably the biggest difference is the improvement of my technical skills in 3D. The way I approach the wearability of my designs, it takes me a handful of prototypes before I’m completely satisfied and produce the final product. These are things I didn’t give much thought back when I started.
Do you have a favourite set of nails you’ve created?
Oh geez, that’s a tough question… I guess it would have to be Clare. She’s the super-size chrome nail set from my collection. It’s a set I created that is inspired by Claymore, a group of female fighters who are half-human and half-monster. Clare is incredibly loyal and a very skilled fighter. She will go beyond her limit to protect her loved ones from all the dangers in the world. Someone to count on, for sure!
Can you tell us more about your nail designs for the APOC NAILS collection?
This collection is a cumulation of monster lore, my Yu-Gi-Oh card collection and being a bit of a geek in general. Yu-Gi-Oh monsters have a certain transformative power about them which I tried to capture with these designs. For some reason, I never worked with colour before so I decided to throw in a few dashes of hot pink and blood red, strictly for dramatic purposes, of course.
What would you like to see more of in the future for nail art and nail artists?
Upgradeable cyborg nails! Kind of like the sci-fi fantasy where humans would start getting mechanical body parts installed. Nail salons would turn into body shops and nail artists into mechanics. Imagine just walking into a shop and upgrading to extendable metal finger parts, how cool would that be? Although maybe that’s a bit too far into the future haha.
Hot Nails
What first inspired you to work in nail artistry?
I don’t think I can pin it down to one thing. I’ve always admired long nails, always got my nails done when I needed to feel extra powerful, always loved working with tiny details and hated working for other people. It felt like I’d been circling it for a really long time.
How has your aesthetic/designs developed since you started?
In the beginning, I was blasting through concepts because I was so excited and just wanted to try everything immediately. I’ve always valued a cohesive aesthetic and my early work did not have that at all. Now I’m more into mining a single concept or object to use over multiple sets and linking them to other concepts I’ve worked with to create more of an ongoing narrative.
Do you have a favourite set of nails you’ve created?
To distract myself from a break-up one summer I painted a set of 10 nails, each replicating a different pink cell phone that had been produced between 2003 and 2013. It’s probably the most intricate that I have ever done and the only set I keep on my studio wall.
Can you tell us more about your nail designs for the APOC NAILS collection?
I aimed to create wearable versions of some of my more popular original pieces. Most pieces are expired by old technology like mid-aughts cell phones and feature real phone buttons and circuit board components but are fully encapsulated so the nails are suitable for everyday use.
What would you like to see more of in the future for nail art and nail artists?
Extremely boring answer, but education and better quality products. I see artistry every day that blows my mind, but a lot of misinformation and poor handling of products and can lead to lifelong allergies.
Doux Nails
What first inspired you to work in nail artistry?
My fascination with creative expression led me to nail artistry. I was captivated by the opportunity to create endless nail art without ever growing tired of it. Seeing how nail art can empower and boost confidence further strengthened my passion for this profession.
How has your aesthetic/designs developed since you started?
Since I started, my aesthetic and designs have evolved significantly. I’ve experimented with different styles and techniques to truly find my signature. This evolution has allowed me to create more complex and sophisticated designs. Overall, I would say that my aesthetic has become more refined and consistent.
Do you have a favourite set of nails you’ve created?
Yes, I think my favourite set is the “Cyborg,” the one in full silver with a combination of blue blobs on top.
Can you tell us more about your nail designs for the APOC NAILS collection?
For the APOC NAILS collection, I decided to work with a predominant colour for each set, incorporating texture, various reflections through chromes, and different techniques.
What would you like to see more of in the future for nail art and nail artists?
I would like to see more collaborations between nail artists and visual artists, for example, linking nail art with contemporary art. Additionally, I would like the nail art industry to continue promoting diversity and inclusivity by highlighting a diverse range of styles and talents.
WHYNOEN
What first inspired you to work in nail artistry?
My main inspiration comes from the possibilities of merging organic forms with advanced technologies, pushing the boundaries of design and self-expression. My goal is to explore new frontiers digitally and create transformative experiences through my art.
How has your aesthetic/designs developed since you started?
I have an architectural background, and while working as an architect, I often focused on creating more structured forms. However, when I started to learn more about 3D sculpting, I discovered a passion for depicting organic shapes, and my style changed.
Do you have a favourite set of nails you’ve created?
I’m definitely in love with these nails that will be launched in the APOC NAILS collection.
Can you tell us more about your nail designs for the APOC NAILS collection?
The nail designs were inspired by the beauty of nature. I wanted to merge cutting-edge technology with the elegance of natural elements. I took inspiration from forms found in the natural world and sculpted them using ZBrush software. The designs were 3D-printed using eco-resin. This process involved multiple iterations and tests to ensure the final result met my vision. I wanted to create intricate and organic shapes that could be appreciated as wearable art.
What would you like to see more of in the future for nail art and nail artists?
In the future, I would like to see more innovation, sustainability, collaboration between artists, and a focus on inclusivity and representation within the nail art industry. Also, I believe that the integration of virtual reality (VR) and the Metaverse in beauty and fashion will open up endless possibilities for new experiences.
View the collection exclusively available apoc-store.com from 13th February.
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