Instagram, the Meta-owned photo and video platform, is launching Instagram Rings, a new program meant to celebrate the creativity of its more than three billion monthly active users.
But of those three billion users, only 25 will receive Rings, with the honourees getting both a physical ring designed by the acclaimed English fashion designer Grace Wales Bonner, as well as a unique digital golden ring for their Instagram profile and stories.
“We felt that it was time to have an award that recognizes people who take these creative chances on our platform,” says Eva Chen, the head of fashion partnerships at Instagram, who helped conceptualize the awards program. “These people are cultural catalysts, and they’re sparking conversations, and by doing that, they encourage people to express themselves as well.
Chen, Wales Bonner and Instagram head Adam Mosseri will be among the judges for Rings, joined by experts like director Spike Lee, rugby star Ilona Maher, makeup artist Pat McGrath, designer Marc Jacobs, actress Yara Shahidi, the artist KAWS and others.
Chen says that the judges worked with Instagram’s own creator teams to winnow down the list from billions to millions to thousands to hundreds, before they settled on their 25 winners.
“Instagram is a community of three billion people, and those three billion people probably reflect a billion different interests, so the criteria was really tough,” Chen says. “I’m saying this as a judge, seeing the huge list of nominees, and being able to cull it down just to 25, it was a challenge, and I know that, like the other judges, it was too many great people to choose from. But really, we were looking for people who take creative chances and who are always pushing the envelope and thinking about new ways to talk to their audience.”
The winners will span content topics and categories, from fashion or makeup to sports and entertainment, allowing for a wide array of honourees across interest groups, reflecting the larger Instagram community.
The most intriguing part of the Instagram Rings program is what the 25 winners will receive. They will get the physical ring in a presentation box, which Chen, Mosseri and Wales Bonner developed, but they will also get something even more unusual: Customization for their Instagram profiles.
If you use Instagram you know that the ring around your stories is typically an orange-red-pink gradient (or green if it is to your close friends), but Rings winners will see their stories surrounded by a unique golden ring. They will also get the ability to customize the background colour of their Instagram profile, an ability that will be unique to them, and their content will be featured in their own spotlight and feed within the app. (THR)