Saint Laurent Fall 21: #YSL40

AVA wears DRESS by HELMUT LANG, JEWELRY by MARTINE ALI, ANTON wears SUIT by UNTITLED + CO, NECKLACE by MARTINE ALI 

In this exclusive, we invited Ava and Anton to show us what they’re all about. We gave them “spy” glasses to show us the ins and outs of their creative process from beginning to end and where their individual talents lie. They individually created custom “office” grillz– Ava’s hand-sculpted and Anton’s iced out rendition. From zooming by people in the diamond district on their motorcycle, to making molds, to 3D rendering our logo, you’ll get an insight to something that BITTER000000 does best.

From there we set the date to shoot the couple wearing their respective sets in an editorial shot by their friends, 91 Rules. Seeing everything come to life after their hard work and labor of love was incredible to see.

At the end of the day, there is truly nothing greater than being inspired by the people you get to work with, and having the chance to create with Ava and Anton has been one of the coolest opportunities. Not to mention an incredible team who put in so much effort to make this project come to life. Take a read through our conversation, a look at our editorial, and watch our video to hopefully inspire yourself and open up your imagination to create.

AVA wears DRESS by HELMUT LANG, EARRING by MARTINE ALI, ANTON wears JACKET by WILLY CHAVARRIA, SHIRT by STILL KELLY

How did you guys meet?

AVA– We were neighbors technically, but we met on Tinder and we started hanging out every day. How long was it until we were a couple?

ANTON– I didn't know. It happened pretty fast.

AVA– We tell people we were neighbors but we actually met on Tinder, but I think we met before that too because I knew his roommate and we had definitely seen each other. I used to work at clubs and stuff.

ANTON– She used to work at 444.

AVA– Yeah, I worked at 444 Club and his friends used to throw parties there a lot. So our paths have definitely crossed before then.

And what year was this?

ANTON– Oh my god. It's been three and a half years.

AVA– Yeah, 2021.

Oh, nice.

ANTON– Yeah, we were both unemployed, which was…

AVA– No we weren't.

ANTON– Well, you quit your job.

AVA– I quit my job a few weeks into meeting you.

ANTON– And I was just milking that covid money.

That Bitcoin money. I remember you told me.

ANTON– And the Bitcoin money.

Did you reinvest?

ANTON– No, I got out. I cannot, I don't think I can do it. It brings out the worst emotions in you ever. It's kind of like a casino, but then every day it gets old.

So what got you guys into making grillz?

ANTON– At some point Ava got a set for me for Valentine's Day. And I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. For a year and a half, I was talking about how I should start making them, and then at some point I just locked myself in this room and started making them. Ava was tattooing at that time I think too.

AVA– We had a studio.

ANTON– We had the studio before we knew what we were going to do with it.

So it was meant to be.

AVA– It was meant to be, yeah. I also didn't like tattooing, so I was like, "I'll do grillz instead." Way more fun.

ANTON– So within four months of me doing it and struggling with it, Ava joined the party.

How did you learn how to make them?

ANTON– Honestly, there used to be a community on Facebook answering grill makers' questions. Well, back in the day, I think the problem was a lot about fitting. I think that was the hardest part and I think everybody does it very differently. So it's a very personal thing figuring it out. I remember when I first started, half of my shit didn't fit and I would get pissed off.

So, it was trial and error in learning how to make them.

ANTON– It's a lot of trial and error and I dunno how I survived. I think I was committed enough to survive it, but it was a lot of trial and error and figuring it out because there is no system for it. Everybody does it very differently and those are kind of the secrets that people keep.

AVA– Well there are so many little tiny things that go into making grillz and everybody does it differently. Even Anton and I do things really differently. I mean part of that is because we have different styles or different things that we specialize in. I do more of the hand-carved pieces and he does things with stones or bigger pieces. So our techniques have developed separately. It's weird, but it's also nice because we can learn from each other a lot too because we do things differently. Or if for some reason something that I do isn't working or isn't fitting, then he can see it from a different perspective and help me with it. That happens a lot. We have to help each other a lot.

ANTON– At some point we were polishing each other's pieces. I remember I hated it because my pieces are waxed differently than Ava's.

AVA– He makes it a lot thicker than I do. And so he polished the shit out of them and he would polish through my pieces. It would drive me crazy because when I would polish them it would be fine because I have a much lighter touch. So we stopped doing that. [Laughs]

You guys were saying that you can bounce off of each other if someone needs help with something, and vice versa. What's something that you guys have taught each other?

ANTON– Well, I think I taught Ava the basics, but Ava is so much better now with high-end carving stuff to the point where I'm like…

AVA– Anton had no art background. He doesn't draw, he doesn't do anything sculptural, but he's very technical, so he learned all of the technical detail stuff and then a lot more of the fine-tuning design, balancing, proportion kind of things, are things that I've taught him.

Cool. And what's been your journey in this process of coming to New York and figuring out that this was the path that you wanted to take?

ANTON– I don't think it would ever happen in any other city, honestly. I think it's something about coming here and claiming your place in it.

AVA– The nice thing about doing grillz in New York is that it's not just a singular demographic. In tattooing, it's pretty much the same little scene of people, which gets really boring. It's very weirdly competitive in a very insular way. But grillz is a very wide array of types of people.

ANTON– Yes, it's a very diverse crowd that you get.

AVA– Which is cool. We have people come in with their parents who've always wanted grills. We've had 16-year-olds get 'em to wear to prom.

ANTON– You get DJs and cowboys. You meet very different people in this field, which I like.

And what's been the craziest set that you guys have made? Is there a favorite that you've done?

ANTON– Honestly, people ask me this all the time and I really don't know. I think it gets only crazier and crazier. I dunno what's crazy anymore. I look at my work from a year ago and I think it's childish.

AVA– Well, it's only been two years. Each month there's a different piece that we favor. Some of the pieces that I really like are the ones that have interchanging letters. I think those are cool. I like ones that have portraitures in them, like little enamel locket-type portraits. One of the recent ones we did was an all-black one that looked like the Japanese teeth blackening. I think that's a cool historical reference. I'm working on one right now that’s an Art Deco architectural piece, which I think is going to be really cool. But yeah, I think all the ones that are more references to art, historical, and architectural things are my favorite.

Sick. Yeah, it's kind of interesting how you can translate all of those things into grillz. There's just so much history behind all of it, so it's really interesting how you can mash up all different sectors of everything and combine it into something like teeth jewelry.

AVA– Yeah, for sure. It seems like it would be so limiting or just a very small amount of references that we could work from, but it's literally anything. We see things all the time and are like, "Oh, that would be sick as a grill."

ANTON wears JACKET by WILLY CHAVARRIA, WATCH c/o SOCIETY ARCHIVE, AVA wears DRESS by HELMUT LANG, EARRING by MARTINE ALI, BULLY wears NECKLACE by CHRIS HABANA 

So when you're going about your daily lives is that something that you constantly think about?

ANTON– Yeah, I think so. I started writing down stuff, which helped me a lot.

AVA– I think what's cool about grillz is it has a really long history in itself, but the history is pretty limited in terms of what you can do technically with design. Now there are more things like 3D modeling and people are open-minded about grillz as an art form. So there's a lot more that you see and you're like, "Oh, that specific texture would be really cool as a grill. Nobody's ever made that before, so that would be really fun." And I think coming into grillz, having no jewelry experience also kind of helps us with that perspective on it. We have to figure out everything from scratch anyway, so it might as well be something really difficult.

I think it's really interesting. You have such a unique perspective on what it is that it transforms it from just a simple cap or a window or something into a sculptural piece of art.

AVA– That's what we're trying to do.

Are there other things that you guys currently make or want to get into in the future?

AVA– We're starting to do nails.

ANTON– We have a lot of side projects going on.

AVA– Yeah, we're doing custom nail charms. We're collaborating with the nail tech and we're going to make a range of silver nails.

ANTON– I'm doing another collaboration with my friend for cowboy boots metal heel and toe caps.

Cool. And what made you want to start making those?

ANTON– I dunno, my friend had this idea, but it kind of throws me off so much because of the medium. We work with teeth so it's tiny and it was really bugging me because now it's a whole heel. The sense of scale is so messed up to the point where like, "Oh wow, so this is how you see things when you make normal jewelry." It's just bigger and you don't care that much about details. It just completely opened my mind.

Interesting. And speaking about scale... Would you guys rather make grillz for a giant or for a little ant person?

ANTON– I mean definitely a little person just because we can. [Laughs]

AVA– We can make them little shields of armor.

ANTON– Ava is also obsessed with little things, so she would definitely choose a little ant person.

AVA– Yeah, I like miniature things. I think that's also what's fun about grillz is everything's so tiny. All my tools are tiny.

Who would be your dream person to make a set for?

AVA– It changes all the time. I came up with someone really good the other day. Let me try to think.

ANTON– I would say if I could make a set for Michelè Lamy it would be my final act.

Bow out and be done with it.

ANTON– Who else would be fun? I mean it would be fun to make them for A$AP Rocky or Tyler the Creator.

AVA– Well they have grillz! Try to think of somebody who you would never expect to have them.

ANTON– But they don't have our grillz…

AVA– I know. I would rather it be someone who you would never expect to wear grillz. Like maybe Betty White, but she died, so who else? Like Steve Buscemi, maybe, he has crazy teeth. I think it would also have to be someone who has really naturally interesting teeth. Like Patricia Arquette has really beautiful teeth. They have kind of slants to 'em. I'm really nerdy about teeth occlusions and different formations of teeth. So someone like Patricia Arquette would be cool because her teeth are so iconic.

Wait side note I also didn't realize that you were in Sean Baker's Anora.

ANTON– Yeah, surprisingly. [Laugh] I dunno, I got there super randomly.

Do you want to do more acting?

ANTON– If it calls for me. I think it's definitely harder than it looks. I'm not sure if I have the right personality to do it. I'm like a hermit and I like to tinker in the studio, but if they want me I'll do it again.

AVA– I think there's a lot of waiting and Anton doesn't like waiting.

So you're going to stay in your artist lane in crafting and creating with your hands. But I mean it was probably a fun experience, right?

ANTON– Yeah, it was fun. It was my first acting job ever.

AVA– I was in the background in one scene.

ANTON– It's a great movie, Sean was really easy to work with.

AVA– It's like the best movie he could have ever been in. He was surrounded by friends and playing a character that's literally just him.

If you guys were in a movie together, what would it be about?

ANTON– I like fantasy. You know what I want to do? I was talking about it…

AVA– It would be some high fantasy movie where he's an orc.

ANTON– Okay, so if I could land this movie, Anora, I could use all this finesse and get a role in Lord of the Rings as an extra that gets killed.

AVA– You can get killed by me, I'll be the knight.

ANTON– These are my acting aspirations.

AVA– Another funny thing with grillz, it's not even really funny, it's kind of sad, but everybody thinks that it's just Anton who does it or they think that we're one dude and so people will come to the house and they'll be like, “Whoa, who are you?”

ANTON– Yeah, I feel like there's a lot of sexism in this scene.

AVA– There's a lot of sexism in the jewelry industry and grillz especially.

ANTON– I mean jewelry in general, but I think grillz is bad.

That's really interesting. I feel like in terms of jewelry, especially in New York, I have a lot of women jewelry-making friends, but when it comes to grillz specifically...

AVA– And it's also interesting because we really have way more female clients too. We have way more girls, also a lot of queer clients because we're in Bushwick, but it's just the demographic.

ANTON– I think it's the style.

AVA– You think it's more feminine?

ANTON– I don't think it's more feminine.

AVA– I think it's because we don't post so much classic stuff. The classic stuff is more masculine. I think the perspective is definitely that men are the ones with grillz, which is weird because it's a very delicate art form.