Don't Let Disco Is a Handmade Jewelry Brand Built Around 'the Silent Language of Beads'

Designer Ashley Harris can still hear the jingling of her mother's most prized possessions: 22-karat yellow gold bangles.

"The sound of them was this almost meditative comfort," Harris tells Fashionista. "Like, 'Oh, my mom's near, I can find her. Things are going to be fine.' I always associate that little jingle of her bangles with that feeling of tranquility."

Harris' Aunt Ruth, a "really curvaceous woman with huge boobs," had her signature jewelry piece, too: "delicate little gold chains with this little diamond R" that would sit between her "bosom" as she rested holding "a scotch and a cigarette." All this is to say, Harris's fondness for jewelry, which would later inspire the 2019 launch of her own brand Don't Let Disco, traces back to these familial connections.

"Even as a small kid, I've just always really gravitated toward accessories. I really like the idea of how people love their things and how that love patinas that thing and that thing becomes so much a part of them," Harris says. "I would see it on my aunt, how she would have all of her necklaces mangled together, but they were artfully done... Or the way the sound of my mom's bracelets made that noise because of how she moved her arms. I love how that's so personalized, and jewelry is one of those things that allows that to happen."

Harris quickly developed an interest in jewelry making: In high school, she made necklaces and "little adornments" for her friends and family, a side hobby that felt like "second nature." While a student at Spelman College, she participated in the school's Market Fridays, selling jewelry she made in her free time to students and staff.

Still, this didn't materialize into a business until much later. She spent years working in the corporate world, holding various marketing and brand strategy positions at companies including The Daily Beast and Ogilvy.

It was when she landed a gig as the marketing director at Sotheby's, that the vision for Don't Let Disco became clearer. Surrounded daily by rare, high-brow artifacts, Harris came to appreciate the stories they told — and saw a parallel in jewelry.

"When things go to auction, the story that you're telling around it, especially from a marketing point of view, is the provenance of the piece that's being sold," she explains. "So who owned it? What's its history? How complicated is the history?... That education, the stories and the narratives are something that I really take away from [my time at Sotheby's], and being able to educate an audience or a group of clients on why those things are important."

How did that evolve into a business? Passion mixed with a touch of fate. "During my time at Sotheby's, I had this burning desire to create and didn't know how to scratch the itch," she says. Divinely timed, her grandmother came across a bracelet Harris made during college and sent it to her. "Something in me started ringing," Harris reflects. "She could not have sent me that bracelet at a better time."

This prompted her to dust off her old collection — an assortment of vintage beads and charms she compiled in her teenage years — and start beading once again. She sold pieces to her coworkers and at flea markets in Brooklyn, all while documenting her journey on Instagram. In 2020, Harris left the corporate world, and the following year she committed full-time to Don't Let Disco.

The brand name has a special meaning: It's a play on "don't let these go," with every piece symbolizing that even the smallest moments can hold the best memories.

"We're stringing up these moments of nostalgia because I think the best moments in life are these fleeting moments — the way someone smelled, the way someone made you feel, like a shooting star in the night sky," she says. "And maybe we're cheating a little bit by stringing them up, but the whole idea is that our pieces are supposed to remind you and make you feel something."

Beads remain Don't Let Disco's specialty, as they have "complex histories and stories behind them that provide value to them," Harris explains. "And I think that people love those stories. I almost call it the silent language of the beads."

That directly ties to the brand's ethos: "Our whole mission is to get people to understand that beaded jewelry can be fine and luxury pieces, too," she explains. "You don't have to just wear a whole bunch of chains because that's what you see everyone doing or that's what the magazines are telling you to do. But you can actually wear things with a whole lot more character that tell a more interesting story. I see what we do as art."

Influenced by her fine-art background, Harris says, "The creative process is more magic and less logic, and I feel oftentimes like I'm a painter." Sometimes she can look at her materials and ideate on the spot, while other times it can take weeks if not months for inspiration to strike. But once that vision does become clear, she "paints that [idea] and illustrates it with the beads."

The beads are sourced from all over the world. (The brand itself is based in Bedstuy, Brooklyn, with most of the pieces hand-strung locally in the studio.) She buys materials in small bulk from artisans based in Venice, Belarus, Detroit and beyond. Harris also buys and disassembles deadstock jewelry.

"Sometimes we'll have beads that are dried coconut or their shells," she says. "That's why a lot of our [necklaces, charms and bracelets] are one of one. When we create these collections, they're really quite limited, so we'll usually do a drop once a month." Production can take anywhere from "13 minutes to an hour" depending on the design intricacy. The unique sourcing also informs pricing. Items can range from $195 to a little less than $2,000 — it's all based on "the value of the materials and labor that goes into the piece," Harris emphasizes.

That appreciation for "detail and craftsmanship" is what Harris hopes for in a Don't Let Disco customer: "It's someone who likes to collect. It's someone who's brave in their fashion choices, who walks to the beat of their own drum."

Even with Don't Let Disco's unique positioning, Harris wanted to take the brand a step further — connecting it back to the familial roots that ignited her love for jewelry in the first place, via "beading bars": For one or two Sundays a month, Don't Let Disco holds multiple one-hour sessions allowing participants to connect while beading their own pieces. (Tickets are $115 for a bracelet and $140 for a necklace, with limited spots available.)

"Beading bars have evolved us into a real and tangible community," Harris says.

Another milestone that's helped grow the brand was winning the Inclusivity Award at the 2024 Fashion Trust Awards. Overnight, Don't Let Disco went from a small, if-you-know-you-know brand to one on the radar of top industry creatives and A-list celebrities.

Those achievements aren't to say Harris hasn't run into obstacles: Like any independent, small-batch brand, scaling has been a major challenge. However, she prioritizes craftsmanship, quality and handmade elements over any mass wholesale initiatives. (In addition to the brand's website, her pieces are currently available at independent boutiques like By George in Austin, Texas and McMullen in Oakland, Calif.)

"We're slowly growing and we recently got a wholesale order that was from a store that I really admire," she says. "You have to know that your path is your own path, and that success looks different for everyone."

In the future, Harris plans to focus on "building out the community more." Don't Let Disco recently launched a loyalty program for its top 25 clients who receive bespoke gifts and early access to drops. Eventually, this will lead to exclusive events.

"I think a lot of brands are really focused on getting celebrities into their pieces, but for us, we want to invest into who's investing in us," she says. "What people forget is you need to give people places and spaces to wear your pieces. And if you don't do that, what's the point in people having these pieces?"

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