Pickle and Suede: Sporty new line plays on jewelry brand’s versatility, flexes creative muscle

Nickel and Suede is hitting the court this summer, served co-founder Kilee Nickels.

Kilee Nickels, Nickel & Suede

The Liberty-based jewelry brand — which just celebrated its ninth birthday — has released a pickleball paddle in collaboration with Recess Pickleball, along with a line of “just the right” accessories to coordinate.

“It’s kind of our stamp of approval,” Nickels said. “We want to help introduce people to pickleball. It’s such a fun, accessible, easy sport. It’s one of the few sports that I actually will jump in and play. We don’t consider ourselves sports girls over here at Nickel and Suede, but pickleball, we can all get on board with.”

The courtside collection, she noted, reflects Nickel and Suede’s pivot away from being a company known solely for its big leather earrings — shifting instead to a comprehensive lifestyle brand of accessories.

Click here to read more about Nickel and Suede’s beginnings.

Nickel and Suede’s pickleball-inspired collection; photo by Paul Versluis

“It really was a fun place for us to flex our muscle,” Nickels said of the new, sports-infused line. “When we looked at our summer collection, we thought about what would be just the right thing — that’s what we’re focused on — and Pickleball came to mind through my product development team. They play a lot, so we thought pickleball would be a really fun lifestyle to look at.”

Pickleball paddles by Nickel and Suede; photo by Paul Versluis

No pickleball collection would be complete without a custom paddle, so Nickels reached out to Recess — a woman-owned company based in Austin, Texas, that has crafted designs for JCrew, Morgan Stanley, and Shake Shack. The paddle features a pink side with the Nickelmark pattern and a citron side with the company’s name. Working with Recess to design the paddle was a perfect fit, Nickels said.

“We wanted to do something that felt really on brand and had our logo and then we also wanted to do something that you would want to pick up and play with no matter what,” she added. “We love the colors pink and green, so we wanted to pick colors that really look cute on the court.”

On top of the paddle and pink balls, Nickels shared, the collection includes small, delicate earrings that can be worn during a game, including donut and leather petal hoops. All of the accessories in the collection are available online and at Nickel and Suede’s Plaza and Liberty locations.

Click here to shop the Nickel and Suede courtside collection.

“You wouldn’t wear a big earring on the court,” Nickels explained. “We designed earrings that were more of huggies and stacking and really colorful enamel so you could really put together a fun ear party to coordinate with all your courtsidewear.”

Donut hoop earring and freshwater beaded necklace by Nickel and Suede; photo by Paul Versluis

Petal hoop cupid earring by Nickel and Suede; photo by Paul Versluis

“This is the first time we’ve offered an interchangeable leather piece that slides onto a simple hoop,” she noted about the petal hoops. “They are super lightweight, super easy to change out, and a cool way to use leather.”

The courtside collection, according to Nickels, also includes beaded chokers and anklets — which she said mix well with a tennis skirt and sneakers — plus a minimergency pickleball kit, mineral powder sunscreen, a hat, and socks.

“We really tried to really think, ‘What’s everything you would need?’” she added.

But Nickel and Suede’s recent shift beyond jewelry doesn’t stop at the pickleball paddle. The company is also launching its first handbags, Nickels said, sourcing the same Italian leather that’s used for its earrings.

In the run up earlier this month to the company’s June 16 birthday, Nickel and Suede launched three handbags and then a leather belt bag and signature collection for the celebration.

Click here to shop Nickel and Suede’s collection of handbags and here for the signature collection.

“We’ve really been dipping our toes into handbags and just more like the meat and potatoes of a brand,” she said. “So it’s not just little jewelry, it’s more about lifestyle.”