Mardi Gras is a time of year that means a lot to Sydney jewellery designer Nikita Majajas, and her wife DJ Charlie Villas. “I first marched in the street parade many years ago and since then have done it nearly every year... It’s the best festival in the world, everyone should experience it at least once if they can," says Majajas.
Like the annual event, Majajas' jewellery label, Doodad and Fandango, is no stranger to bright colours and glittery embellishment. Having kitted out bold dressers like Miley Cyrus, Boy George and Tkay Maidza in her pieces, her designs are unabashedly fun, quirky and perfect to jazz up a low-key ensemble – or to add more pop to an already funky 'fit. Each Doodad piece is sustainably created and made to order, so there's less waste involved in each adornment produced. Now, she's bringing the joy of Mardi Gras to a new creation: bright, colourful sunglasses chains made of glittery hearts to channel the hype and colour of the annual event.
"My LGBTQIA+ community is so much more than just a yearly festival and parade," says Majajas. "[It's] a rich and diverse collection of people with unique stories to tell.”
You can grab the bedazzling chains at certain Sunglass Hut stores around the country for free – they'll offer the chains as a gift with purchase from February 19 to 22, or until stocks run out (as long as your purchase is over $350). Swing by the QVB, Bondi Junction, Sydney Flagship, Emporium, Chadstone, Bourke Street, Centrepoint Sydney, Myer Melbourne City, or Myer Sydney City for your gift. Plus, ten per cent of proceeds from the sale of each pair of frames will go towards charity Twenty10, which supports LGBTQIA+ youth through housing, mental health, counselling and social support.