Russian jewelry brand Impring has begun offering pendants featuring imprints of nipples, prompting a wave of reaction on social media. The company announced the product on its Instagram account, a platform owned by Meta, which has been labeled an extremist organization and banned in Russia.
Impring previously specialized in pendants that capture the paw prints and nose prints of pet dogs and cats. The brand has now expanded its range so jewelers can create a pendant based on the imprint of a nipple. The item costs nearly 13,000 rubles.
How the brand explained the idea
In its post, the brand said nipples differ from person to person, with each one having its own texture, and that like fingerprints, no two look exactly alike, which is why their pattern can be preserved in a piece of jewelry.
The pitch positions the pendants as a permanent, wearable keepsake of a physical trait unique to a loved one, in the same spirit as the pet-print pieces the brand already sells.
Mixed reaction online
The announcement divided opinion in the comments section. One user wrote they hoped mothers would not give the pendants to their sons as wedding presents, while another asked whether the product was aimed at overly attached mothers. Others were more positive, with one commenter saying the pendants were attractive and comparing them to little roses, and another writing that they liked the unusual look. A further comment noted that for every unconventional product, there will always be someone interested in buying it.
Similar stunt from Oysho
The debate echoes an earlier controversy involving Spanish fashion brand Oysho, which withdrew from the Russian market in March 2022 following the conflict in Ukraine. Oysho had previously released a jacket styled after a prison quilted jacket, a garment associated with Soviet and Russian penal colonies, which also caused a stir on social media.
