Han Cholo out of Echo Park, CA, and BijulesNYC out of Manhattan represent the latest West Coast/East Coast high-end streetwear accessory brands pushing various themes from the dark side. From Han Cholo, created by partners Guillaume Pajolec from France, a gemologist and expert in gold, diamonds, and silver, and Brandon Schoolhouse, a designer and DJ (and former DJ with the Beastie Boys), the Han Cholo line of heavy jewelry indicates humor as well as core street lifestyle. The name comes from Schoolhouse’s DJ name Han Cholo, which of course is inspired from the Star War character Han Solo, but with a Latino flair.

Now into their 3rd collection, Han Cholo features bolder pirate ship designs with intricate links representing the running rigging for sails, plus storm trooper head rings, blasters, toy soldier necklaces, breakdancin’ bracelets, and a mix of animals ranging from seahorses to linking moneys. Han Cholo is also known for their hefty belt buckle series including ghetto blasters, the LA fingers logo, spokes and wheels, and jackknives.

According to Guillaume in a live interview with Label Networks TV, Han Cholo continues to push trends in high-end streetwear accessories on a global level, including adding more gold and diamond-eyes to skulls which, based on demand, simply don’t seem to price themselves out of existence. Han Cholo pieces have been featured on Brad Pitt to Snoop Dogg, and in magazines such as Vapors, Paper, and Spin based on the brand’s strong crossover design appeal. While Han Cholo has 75 accounts, including international buyers, Han Cholo also has a unique retail landscape with their original store in Echo Park, and now a second store in nearby and similarly hip Los Feliz region of East Los Angeles.

On the East Coast streetwear accessory tip is Bijules NYC started by the artist herself. Bijules accessories are gold and styled to bring back that early ‘80’s vibe mixed with a more modern version of weapons of mass destruction. For example, thin bracelets and nameplates like New Yorker are not uncommon as well as disarming weaponry themes including the feminine-styled knuckle duster, pit bulls, M262 grenade launcher, icepick, handcuffs, and blowout comb necklaces, and the shot-through-the-heart with a rifle molded into an old-school gold heart.

Accessories have always been an important component of streetwear fashion, but the latest directions beyond bling and into a mix of retro with new-school designs, pirate and weaponry themes that match the mood of the country, and intricate artistry with gold and silver have elevated jewelry, as these brands illustrate, to a new level that mix humor, style, and apocalyptic meaning into high-end lifestyle fashion pieces.