Dior Fine Jewelry: These jewels are jewelry dreams come true
In her 28 years as creative director of Dior jewelry, Victoire de Castellane has explored Christian Dior’s personal lexicon, transforming lace, ribbons, fabrics, pleats, drapes, silhouettes and other couture elements into jewelry. She has often picked up on the stylist’s preferences, such as architecture, the splendor of the 18th century French style and Versailles in particular. But Monsieur Dior’s passion for gardens preceded even her love of fashion and the decorative arts and she found its roots in her childhood home in Granville, Normandy. (Later, in the wake of her success, she flourished in her own homes at Milly-la-Forêt and at the Château de la Colle Noire in southern France). In 2023, the former gardens will return as the theme for Castellane’s largest jewelry exhibition to date: a total of 170 pieces, including three watches.
Dior High Jewelry blurs the lines between couture and high jewelry
On Saturday night on the shores of Lake Como, her floral themes fused with fashion in spectacular fashion, further blurring the lines between couture and fine jewelry. On the grand staircase of Villa Erba overlooking the water, the new Dior boss Delphine Arnault welcomed guests including Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh and her colleagues Elizabeth Debicki, Rosamund Pike, Anais Demoustier and Aseel Omran, ambassadors such as Beatrice Borromeo and Yuma Kim as well as dozens of VIP clients from all over the world.
“I believe that if Monsieur Dior were alive today, he would make your creations and be very proud of you,” said Arnault in his welcome speech before the sumptuous dinner, staged by Michelin-starred chef Enrico Bartolini. Dior Maison’s Cordelia de Castellane table settings have been themed for each living room in a stately home once owned by legendary director Luchino Visconti (Rococo rooms recently formed the backdrop for “Ocean’s Twelve”).
The jewels were presented in an extravagant fashion show
Like last year, a runway presentation followed featuring 41 looks and many of the whopping 300 creations from past and current collections, but this time the show included a new element. Instead of subtle blacks and nudes, there were what Monsieur Dior would have termed “ball gowns,” designed by Maria Grazia Chiuri, creative director of Dior’s women’s collections, with colorful embroideries by Lesage and the Chanakya School of Craft. This contrasted with minimalist, tailored white dresses embellished with diamond-encrusted chains and even belts.
“It’s incredible because I think I showed Maria Grazia my sketches once and then, two weeks ago, this amazing fashion show came out of the atelier,” Castellane told Vogue, “it’s all very easy, very precise and very simple.Highlights included the Milly mini necklace, a naive and figurative piece that was quickly dubbed by editors the “emoji necklace”, with gemstones representing rainbows, clouds, sun, trees, flowers and little lacquered bees set on a base of mother of pearl For Castellane , this jewel was an imaginary garden seen through the eyes of a child.
‘When I was growing up, my mother had a black satin evening bag that was a gift from Barbara Hutton, and it had Japanese garden scenes with speech bubbles on the frame and clasp, which fascinated me. I remember her saying at the time, ‘ I’ll do little scenes like that one day too,” he recalls. “I think as a designer it’s important to keep an element of childhood.”
Jewelery has a very special meaning at Dior
Other highlights included the Buisson Couture Emerald Necklace that opened the show: a significant piece in yellow and white gold set with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, tsavorites, pink sapphires, and spinels, backed by a nearly 17-carat emerald at its center. The emerald is detachable and can be worn separately on a simpler necklace. This piece, like the “Emoji” necklace and 80 percent of the Jardins de la Couture collection, sold out before Sunday noon and there are still four days of VIP events to go, according to Christian Dior Couture CEO Charles Delapalme. One client even bought a complete look straight off the runway: dress, jewelry, and all. Another was shocked that her favorite necklace had already been sold and ordered a similar one.
