Sometime last year, teeth evolved from boring old chompers to become canvasses for decoration — and K-pop might have just kick-started its revival. Men’s Folio meets Saemi of Saeminium, South Korea’s jewellery designer to the stars.
As novel as it may seem, dental jewellery is not foreign. The trend can be recounted four millenniums back, with the Mayans and Etruscans flexing decorations in the enamel of their incisors. Aeons later, inlaying such adornments in the mouth remains still as relevant today. Taeyong of NCT, for instance, had just announced his comeback with Shalala with a series of visual concept teasers to follow. It was stylistically avant-garde, to say the least. Aside from his parakeet green Chenpeng puffer ensemble and stacks of Chopova Lowena chains, the Neo-ness of it all culminated in what appeared to be adult braces — red and blue — that dressed his pearly whites. And then soon after came a tide of similarly-executed visuals, seen on the teeth of Jeno from NCT Dream for “ISTJ”, XG for their “Woke Up” teaser images and as the central motif of P1Harmony’s “Killin’ It” music video.
And the thanks may go to Saemi, a South Korean metalsmith who bears the responsibility for all the flashy grill designs seen time and again in K-pop. His beginnings in metal-making, by a stroke of luck (and perhaps genius), eventually evolved into his first product — a pair of eyeglasses, supported entirely by a soldered-on grills attachment. His designs come to life as if they are right out of a costuming playbook, which explains the numerous A-list appearances in his clientele; one could also call him the Ben Baller of K-pop.
K-hip-hop royalty Lee Hi and Mudd The Student and more mainstream acts like NCT, P1Harmony, Seventeen, STAYC, and Somi have all been listed as customers. But that is not to say that the Saeminium brand is only reserved for those with stage appearances in their schedules. “I think it can be for everyone and anyone. When I first started, I got my influence from the hip-hop industry. But I don’t even really like hip-hop!” he says about his creations. “If grills are typically scary and street, I want to go ‘brighter’, to juxtapose the ‘coldness’ of the accessory with a softer, prettier image.”
And brighter they are. His designs span what he terms “tribal”, constituting simple lines, clean blocks of metal and sharp edges; to “pretty”. Holographic-hued gems, cutesy shapes like hearts and stars, plus rainbow-hued enamel coatings all work in tandem to help separate the up-and-coming jewellery label from others in the market. But in no way should one box the jeweller into the scope of merely fashioning dental jewellery. Also in his repertoire are things like the eyeglasses and nail, ear and nose caps; each fabricated in a fashion that is a little out of the box, but never too intimidating to be styled.
Below, hear from the metalsmith and jewellery designer on his process and beginnings in the art form and on crafting for the stars.
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As a jewellery designer who makes jewellery for all kinds of body parts like ears, the nose, fingertips and of course, teeth; what makes you first think of designing outside of the standard necklace-ring-earring combination?
I majored in metal-smithing in school. So I got to thinking about how metal can be incorporated to suit the body. Like artwork for the body. I had a project on eyewear, and I thought of connecting the glasses with grills. That was the beginning of my grills journey.
How did you make your entrance to designing for K-pop?
Before, there used to be a select shop in Korea that was run by a really big commercial photographer. He had asked me to stock what I’d like, which happened to be my flame nail caps. And then a while later, he told me that many K-pop visual directors and stylists had been by to check out my designs. G-Dragon too! And then a while later I saw Yuta of NCT 127 in my designs, which was cool.
Is there a celebrity you’d love to dress?
Ariana Grande, Olivia Rodrigo, or Billie Eilish. I love their styles and because my designs are prettier at the moment, I think it would suit them well.
What do you get inspired by?
If I see something unique, I’ll try to incorporate it into whatever kind of accessory I can. Be it grills or other things. I was a metal design student and even then I took a long time to figure out what I liked. It was the same thing with grills. I’m not an expert when it comes to fashion, but I would love to explore.
Is there a body part you think is the most underrated to be accessorised?
Usually, if it’s underrated, there’s a reason for it. Take for example the nose, it’s quite hard for a piece of jewellery to rest nicely on it. But when an accessory is placed there, the effect is magnified. So now I’m trying to explore other ways to capture this “highlight” effect.
Would you say that you design for practicality then?
Not so much. I once made grills that had side mirrors branching out of them — something a motorcyclist could use on the go. But it wasn’t really usable — the mirrors had to be bigger and I would have to change their positioning. [Laughs] From my experience, people don’t really like maximalist things. With metal as a medium, the impact is already there, so instead of always trying to make a big statement, I try to push the design boundaries as much as possible while still maintaining the Saeminium DNA.
What has been your favourite creation so far?
I’m not sure, I’ve never had to think about it until now [laughs]. My favourite at the moment is the heart-shaped gem. I like the juxtaposition. I think if you put too many pretty things together, it looks too obvious. So I like to pair things that may not look like they’d go well together, and then make it go well together. But the nail caps made me well known, so maybe that [laughs]. I would like to go on the record to say I did the star grills first. It’s now quite popular internationally, but if you go on my page and check the timestamp, I did it first! [Laughs]
What is “Saeminium” as a brand to you?
I see myself as a jewellery designer. There are still a lot of things left to do in the accessory space and there is still room to expand. But after that, I want to go into clothing design, like Ambush maybe? I’d maybe like to design pants. [Laughs] I’m also trying to make more variations of things like the nail caps but there are some unseen considerations, like the comfort of a product. Because at the end of the day, it has to be worn. But to keep producing something so impactful… It’s hard to come by, I’ll say that. Even with my work with K-pop or magazine editorials, the concept is mostly left up to the stylists — if they want to commission a piece or take my ready-made products, etcetera.
Why do you think South Korea is at the forefront of all these innovative trends?
South Korean people are very sensitive to up-and-coming trends. But to me, the Western world is really where innovation is at. So I’m trying to be less trendy and instead aim for a balance between appealing to the mass market and developing a timeless style.
Is there a particular brand that you look up to?
Homer by Frank Ocean? It is interesting because even their packaging, which is part of the whole customer experience, is good. And they’ve been putting out good designs consistently. Which I admire. There are three parts to making a good brand, I believe. Knowing how to read trends, packaging a product well as a whole, and how well you can execute it. They all have to come together. The product itself cannot deviate too much from the trends, or from what consumers want. But in your branding, you can. In the accessories market, there are a lot of products that are futuristic in aesthetics. And I want to deviate from that.
You must be proud of how far you’ve come thus far!
No, no. [Laughs] I know myself well… I spend a lot of time trying to read up and to be ahead of the trends. But in other ways, I still have a lot to improve on. I think maybe I’m a designer first and a business owner second. So I think a lot about the pure product, but not so much on the marketing or branding front. But it’s difficult because Saeminium is just me at the moment. I’m looking for people to complement the gaps, but finding and recruiting these people are part of the business aspect, which is one of my gaps. And I’m picky. [Laughs]
If you could only wear a single set of grills for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I’d keep it simple. I’d do the tribal style or something minimal for everyday wear.
For more information on Saeminium, head to their Instagram page. Once you are done with this story, click here to catch up with our April 2024 issue.
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