How Dior’s Victoire de Castellane’s gem of an idea began on a Post-it
Dior Joaillerie’s creative director, who marks her 20th year in role this year, has launched 99-piece Gem Dior ‘architectural’ collection, where crystal-like stones take centre stage
Victoire de Castellane’s new jewellery collection began on a Post-it.
“[A collection is born] always in the same way: I have the image of the finished jewel in my head, I make a quick sketch on a Post-it, I talk about it with my studio, who then draw the real dimensions of the jewel, often from various angles,” she says. “We then submit this design to the ateliers based in Paris.”
The designer launched her Gem Dior collection in Venice in June and this year also happens to mark the 20th anniversary of her role as Dior Joaillerie’s creative director.
In the beginning it was a man’s world, but women are the ones buying jewellery now and they know exactly what they want. They are true collectors
We meet in a lounge at the Aman Venice, where the Gem Dior collection is displayed to VIPs and media, watched attentively by remarkably attractive security personnel.
De Castellane breezes into the lounge with more grace than most of us could ever hope to achieve. Her effortless charm aside, she also has that subtle air of refinement that is not so much seen as it is felt. She is, after all, descended from aristocrats.
The House of Castellane, which dates back to the 9th century, is descended from the Counts of Provence.
The family tree reads like a who’s who of nobility and glitterati alike – from Victoire’s great-great-uncle Boniface (Boni) de Castellane, a notable dandy and husband of American railroad heiress Anna Gould, to her uncle Gilles Dufour, well known for his work for Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi and Chanel, not to mention her paternal grandmother Sylvia Rodriguez de Rivas, Countess de Castilleja de Guzman, later to be known as Sylvia Hennessy with her marriage into the Hennessy family.
Her uncle and grandmother were perhaps particularly influential when it came to her career path. The latter was the one who first got the designer interested in jewellery.
“[My grandmother] was a close friend of Barbara Hutton, the American millionairess married to Cary Grant, who wore emerald tiaras and lived in a palace in Tangiers. She lived in a totally eccentric world peopled with a mix of writers, Hollywood stars and fashion designers – including Christian Dior. This was the real jet set,” she says.
“She wasn’t a grandmother in the classic sense of the term. She was a bit like a Hollywood heroine. She would change [her jewels] up to three times a day [to match her outfits].”