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Why are luxury fashion brands delving into high jewellery? Coco Chanel disrupted Parisian jewellers with Bijoux de Diamants in 1932 – now, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Dior are launching collections too
STORYAnnie Brown
- Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel created her only high jewellery collection Bijoux de Diamants in 1932 and rattled the long-standing jewellers of Place Vendôme – but the French label made a return in 1993
- Other luxury fashion brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior, Prada, Gucci, Fendi and Hermès are also expanding into fine jewellery, utilising their maison’s unique heritage, aesthetics and design codes
In 1932, audacious French designer Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel scandalised the established jewellers of Place Vendôme in Paris with the launch of her one, and only, high jewellery collection, Bijoux de Diamants.
Indeed her imposition onto the terrain of the long-standing and noble jewellers of Place Vendôme inspired such ire that almost the entire collection was dismantled after viewings from the press and paying customers.
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Commissioned by the International Diamond Corporation (which controlled the De Beers diamond company) in an attempt to rustle up some sparkle when times were rather dire, Bijoux de Diamants was a swerve from Coco’s preferred costume jewellery, such as ropes of fake pearls that are now synonymous with the brand.
How things have changed
But 61 years later, Chanel returned to fine jewellery.
In 1993, the French luxury fashion house recreated sets of the jewellery they had designed in 1932. Under the creative directorship of Victoire de Castellane, Dior was the next house to add jewellery and since then maisons like Louis Vuitton – now overseen by Francesca Amfitheatrof – Fendi and Hermès have expanded into fine and high jewellery.
In 2019, Gucci opened a jewellery boutique on Place Vendôme. Other recent entrants into the category include Prada, which launched a fine jewellery collection crafted in ethical, sustainable gold with a David Sims-lensed campaign starring the likes of the US’ youth poet laureate Amanda Gorman. Then there’s Saint Laurent with its just launched haute joaillerie, the first collection by creative director Anthony Vaccarello, using precious materials to interpret the brand’s Cassandre monogram and Maillon chain motifs.