LUXE TREND 37
HAUTE COUTURE - IN THE ERA OF DISRUPTION
In between displays of fashion disfigurement by Demna Gvasalia at Balenciaga’s men’s show, and Viktor & Rolf’s Action Dolls Haute Couture show, Guo Pei presented her latest Couture collection with pieces from Chopard's High Jewelry collection. It was a fitting partnership to begin the week of Haute Joaillerie in Paris, a series of events that coincide with Haute Couture for a one-two punch into the heart of luxury.
Guo Pei is a Chinese designer known for creating high fantasy Haute Couture. Chopard’s latest High Jewelry collection entitled Silk Road included carved jade and emerald pieces that blended Eastern and Western aesthetics. Emeralds served as the highlight in Chopard’s daring exploration of color stones. Extravagant color combinations are one of the central themes of this year’s High Jewelry lineup.
At Cartier, the Resonances collection was a deep dive into the company’s archives, especially to legendary Tutti Frutti pieces of carved stones. Cartier’s new collection is inspired by the Indian tradition of carving stones in varying motifs. The collection includes new materials, like Sugilite, a purple stone of magical color depth. Daring color is also front page story at Cartier as shown in the combinations on the Eclosion bracelet (below) made of carved rubies, tourmalines, moonstones, onyx, and diamonds.
Like Cartier, Chanel is another house that is happy to reference its past in creating modern jewelry pieces. Inspired by the Flying Cloud, the yacht that belonged to the Duke of Westminster, one of Chanel’s famous lovers, the pieces are nautical in inspiration. The collection went slightly overboard with its use of diamonds, especially in a platinum bracelet of a nautical “tattoo” and a rope necklace meant to be draped casually around a lucky neck.
In the Fantasy area, the collection that captured the trend brilliantly was Boucheron’s Hiver Impérial which sought to reproduce a magical Russian Winter. Boucheron has had a long history of supplying precious jewelry to Indian Maharajas and Russian Grand Duchesses. This Imperial Winter is a fairy tale made of pearls, diamonds, and icy rock crystal. The collection culminated in the Baikal collier of multiple ropes of pearls with an aquamarine center that would have Princess Youssoupov fighting over it with Grand Duchess Alexandra.
Piaget and Bulgari employed color and inventive gem-cutting for their respective collections. Piaget was inspired by the Sun for its Sunlight Journey, a collection meant to evoke the light on the Amalfi Coast. Utilizing stones in gradations of colors from yellow to deep red, Piaget's journey follows the sun from sunrise to sunset, culminating in a necklace of yellow sapphires with a brilliant red dangling spinel.
Festa by Bulgari is also inspired by Italy, especially by the culture’s love of celebrating life. Introduced in Venice, the pieces of Bulgari’s latest collection are uber-bold and super-saturated, with color combinations that seem retouched with Photoshop’s enhancing tools. For Piaget and Bulgari life is a luxurious celebration.
