Coco's crown jewels
IF YOU thought owning a couture Chanel suit was the ultimate status symbol, here's another goal to aspire to. The chic French fashion house has just launched a collection of precious jewellery that is set to rival the creations of more established joailleries.
And if initial reaction is anything to go by, a piece of Chanel 'bijoux' will be as much a 'must-have' among wealthy brand-name lovers as a Louis Vuitton bag, Hermes scarf or Rolex watch. 'The new collection is the talk of Paris at the moment,' said ClaireChassard of Chanel, during one of the several one-on-one introductions to the haute joaillerie line that she has given daily for the past two months.
The line has just been officially unveiled at the Chanel boutiques in Paris' exclusive Place Vendome and Avenue Montaigne, and will move to Japan, the US and the rest of the Far East gradually over the next two years. It is all hand-made in a workshop alongside the haute couture atelier.
The collection was the brainchild of Jacques Helleu, creator of the hugely successful Chanel watch line in 1987. He wanted to produce a range of expensive jewellery based on a line designed by Coco Chanel herself in the early 1930s; the original pieces were not for sale, but made only to exhibit to her friends and journalists. What happened to them remains a mystery.
A guided tour of the exhibition is like taking a quantum-leap into another era: attendants in striped silk waistcoats tip-toe through the rarefied atmosphere of the late Coco Chanel's apartment in Rue Cambon, serving feather-light macaroons on silver traysto well-heeled private clients. Soulful jazz plays softly in the background, subdued lights highlight the magnificent sculptures on which the jewellery is displayed. This is no ordinary exhibition, but then, this is no ordinary jewellery.
Helleu hired architect Thierry Despont, the man responsible for restoring the Statue of Liberty, to create an innovative background. He used white plaster faces in an assortment of forms and sizes for an effect that is as effective as it is eerie.
But the 'bijoux' is still the star of the show. Creative, wearable, unique and so exquisitely crafted that knock-offs will probably appear in other jewellery shop windows in no time.