Michèle Lamy is hardly ever without her rings; they are only removed when she sleeps or boxes – or does this interview. “I had to do something with glue … and I didn’t want them to be glued together,” she laughs within the quiet of her own home, “and then the time passed, and I forgot to put them back on!” Jewellery, for Lamy, is not idle adornment, but rather a part of her body and as textural and clangorous as her life.
It’s this singular vision of jewellery as human embodiment, and not accessory, that underpins HunRod, her jewellery collection designed with Loree Rodkin. Their recently released second line of “finger armour” – entitled HunRod Gold – with Carpenters Workshop Jewellery is crafted entirely from 18kt white and yellow gold with lab-grown diamonds. Exhibited in London alongside Rick Owens Furniture, the contained dialogue between her two projects (Lamy oversees the furniture line) subverts the daintiness associated with gold to emphasise that it can “be heavy and rough but, at the same time, sophisticated.”
From her house in Paris, Michèle Lamy joined us over FaceTime to answer 50 questions about the HunRod Gold collection presented at Carpenters Workshop Jewellery in London, the meaning of life, and why she could never quit smoking.
1. How are you feeling today? Oh, you know, I’m fine – well as fine as anyone can be these days.
2. What gets you out of bed in the morning? I’m trying to plan things. I’m going to do an event in Dubai pretty soon with the Carpenters Workshop Gallery. They also asked me to perform. I think this is a good time to be there.
3. Have you already visited Dubai? Yes, I go often. But I have not visited since Covid.
4. Where are you right now? I’m here at the Owens and Lamy house where the last men’s show took place.
5. Has the house returned to normal post-show? Yes, ‘normal’ is usually pretty empty, like now. Sometimes I do parties for 250 people, but for the show, the Fédération [Française de la Mode] has rules and, in a way, it was a little bit empty. But the feeling was great, and it was all very much a statement. We continue to do our business, but we don’t want to do so much of a splash.
6. What was the last party you threw at home? I had a big dinner in Paris to celebrate Anselm Kiefer after his big show for his aquarelles [watercolours].
7. What’s the story behind this house? All those years I was in LA, I was never thinking I’d go back to France. When French people were passing by, they would ask, “Well when are you going to be in Paris?“ I would say, “When I live at Place du Palais Bourbon.“ I could have said, “When I buy the Tour Eiffel,” but it was a little more charming to say Palais Bourbon.
8. Do you think there are ghosts of past lives in the house? When we got this building, it had not been ‘abandoned’ because there were certainly some real estate people working on it. But since [François] Mitterrand became president, nobody has lived there. This was the socialist party headquarters right before Mitterrand became president for the first time, so there are stories living within these walls.
9. What jewellery are you wearing now? Right now, all my rings are on the table. I had to do something with glue – a piece that is going to go on the wall – and I didn’t want them to be glued together. And then the time passed, and I forgot to put them back on. But I’m usually always wearing my HunRod rings. I think my fingers look better with them on.
10. What’s your earliest memory of jewellery? I was never attracted to jewellery but I remember a woman that was sort of related to the family that had a restaurant-bistro in Lyon, and she was covered with bracelets. And then I think jewellery came to me mainly the first time I went to North Africa.
11. Do you like a weightiness to your jewellery? Yes, everything we do anyway is heavy. But I don’t like those little things. I never understood why you would get a little piece of diamond on those things. To say what?
12. What do you like about the weightiness? The noise. When I have all my bracelets on, people know that I’m coming. For me, it’s part of the music of the way you walk.
13. If your house was on fire and you could only take one piece of jewellery, what would you take? Well, I hope that time will never come because I’ll have all my jewellery on me.
14. Can you describe the HunRod Gold collection? I like silver and bronze, and all the objects that we are working on are in bronze. But people were always asking for gold so, finally, I did something in gold. I already have gold in my teeth. It was very nice that Carpenters Workshop Jewellery worked with us. It’s like creating a little tribe with this jewellery.
15. What’s the story behind the Chinese zodiac within the HunRod Gold Collection? Since forever, I was always happy to know more about the Chinese zodiac. It’s 2,000 years old or so and the imagery is quite true, the animals. It’s like a game, you roll the dice – you can’t choose what year you’ll be born in. And people that are born 12 years after you are going to be the same zodiac. So, you are always continuing something.
What Chinese zodiac are you? “I am a monkey. I’m always swinging from branch to branch, that’s how I like to enjoy life. But I’m staying in my own tree, of course” – Michèle Lamy
16. What Chinese zodiac are you? I am a monkey. I’m always swinging from branch to branch, that’s how I like to enjoy life. But I’m staying in my own tree, of course.
17. What does a monkey signify? If you are a monkey, you are very clever, but you are a little mischievous. You are always doing things that are a little tricky.
18. What was the starting point of the collection? I met these women artists who were showing at a store next to Palais Bourbon on rue de Bourgogne – the artist Christiane Billet had some bronze, some silver. It gave me some ideas about metal on the fingers, and it started from there.
19. When did Loree Rodkin come on board? I tried some things in Paris but then Loree passed by, and I saw something in her eyes, which was the opposite of horror. I brought something and she brought something really cool. It was a way for us to stay in contact. We did something for Dover Street Market and now with Carpenters Workshop Jewellery, always using lab-grown diamonds.
20. How did you first meet Loree? I first met her in LA because she was a famous agent for actors like Robert Downey Jr. And then she started to make jewellery for fun, and I wanted it. After that, when I opened the restaurant, she was coming. And then when we moved to Paris, she kept coming to visit the store. I’d see her when I went to LA. And so we became friends.
21. What is Loree’s Chinese zodiac? She is an Ox. When she wants to do something, she will find a way to do it.
22. And the jewellery will be presented in dialogue with Rick Owens Furniture at Carpenters Workshop Jewellery? I think so but Rick doesn’t think so. But I am in charge of all the furniture, which I love doing, and I’m doing this jewellery. I’m always doing so many different things, but they are not always coming from the same pot. But I hope people will see the jewellery and the furniture belonging together – everything is so heavy and rough but, at the same time, sophisticated.
23. Where does the nickname Hun come from? Because it’s a thing – everybody always says ‘honey’. So, people say ‘honey’ and then it’s also the Huns. I think with me it goes both ways because, you know the saying of [Atilla] The Hun? That ‘when they go through the grass, it’s not growing anymore.’
24. Are you superstitious? I don’t live through it, but I find it interesting to read. The more I go on, the more I think there is something in common. I am an Aquarius. I think there is something in that, but I won’t live through that or go see the people who tell me what the cards say etc. I like to look at tarot cards but it’s not that I need to read them.
25. Do you believe in life after death? No, I have no kind of religious belief. But I believe there is some kind of memory in genes. But to think that we are going to be in hell or heaven, or banging at whatever door, I don’t believe in that.
26. What is the meaning of life? It is difficult to answer that today. It’s difficult to wake up in the morning. To think that we are here in front of all these images, and we cannot do anything. I cannot even ask myself what is the meaning of life. Even if we try and our voice counts, and we try … I thought we would never, never live this. But in Paris, everywhere we turn right now, there are shields.
27. What gives you hope? Right now we are planning something for the art Biennale in Venice. The theme is ‘Foreigners Everywhere’. We are never invited but we always invite ourselves. And we will look at how there are no borders with our bodies.
28. What’s your biggest virtue? I’m not afraid to say what I think, and I’m trying to have a voice for what I think is right. And I don’t care if I get kicked out.
29. Where does this courage stem from? I was born because my parents met in the Resistance. My father was in the war zone, helping people pass; he was a mountain driver. My mother was bringing food to the Resistance because her parents had a restaurant in Lyon. So, since I was little, I was always surrounded by people that have been holding their voice.
30. What do people assume about you that might be incorrect? Because of the way that I look, when I take a cab in Paris, the driver often asks me to ‘pick a number’ for them. Especially when I go to the east side of Paris. When I go like more Avenue Montaigne, they always imagine that I’m some kind of Madame Irma or something, and they don’t want to make a mistake. But it’s funny. I think it’s mainly because of the teeth and all the bracelets that are making noise and I get in the car, and they think, “What is this one going to play?”
31. What’s your comfort food? Scrambled eggs.
32. With cream or milk? Cream, of course!
33. What would you cook for me if I came for dinner? Well, it wouldn’t be just you for dinner! I like to do dinners with lots of people. But it all depends, of course, on what the mood is. Maybe there will be vegetable soup, maybe there will be oysters. Some people want to eat a bit of meat so we will do it. And always some sea bass or fruits de mer.
34. What is your signature dish for dinner parties? What I like to do is have all of the vegetables in a sorbet. Instead of having puree, I like to have avocado sorbet, I like to have squash sorbet. Vegetable sorbet. It’s my signature.
35. Do you find cooking meditative? I don’t cook unless it’s scrambled eggs.
Do you have any romantic advice? “I like to be seduced by people ... Look for people who surprise you with an idea that you’ve never had. And it’s very good to go on a date with somebody that makes you want to jump on stage!” – Michèle Lamy
36. Who cooks for your dinner parties then? I always have ideas before of what I want to do and where it will come from, but I will have a chef cook. Because often I am already singing at the party, or I take a cigarette and then boom! Burnt!
37. What brand of cigarettes do you smoke? Dunhill International.
38. Why? Because they are long. I light more cigarettes than I smoke.
39. What do you like about smoking? I like the gesture. Sometimes when people are taking photos of me, I take a cigarette and it helps me be more natural. I think it came from Jean-Luc Godard because the people in his films are so chic with their cigarettes.
40. Would you ever stop smoking? No, because now everything in my life is related to cigarettes. For example, if I have to dye something or do something, I know the time with my cigarette. I think really if I were to stop smoking, I would not know what time of the day it is.
41. What’s your favourite word? Flabbergasted.
42. What’s your least favourite word? No.
43. Because you don’t like people saying no to you? Yes.
44. Do you have any romantic advice? I like to be seduced by people. It’s very easy with artists because they inspire with their music or whatever it is. Look for people who surprise you with an idea that you’ve never had. And it’s very good to go on a date with somebody that makes you want to jump on stage!
45. Jump on stage to perform music? Well, not necessarily you perform but music is very important to mark a time. This is the dating scene for me. To be in a place with a lot of people that are participating in something, with music, and you get seduced like that.
46. Do you like the sound of silence? I don’t always need music, I can be with silence but not absolute silence. For example, I love the desert but there is always noise in the sand, in the wind.
47. What are you going to do after this interview? I am going to see the Comme des Garçons store. You know I have one of the biggest collections of Comme des Garçons show pieces in the world?
48. And tonight? I am going to come home and have dinner with Rick and then tomorrow we are taking a train!
49. Where are you taking a train to? To go to Basel! Because it’s my real birthday. Not my fake birthday, which I celebrate on April 20.
50. What will you do in Basel? Well since I’ve been back in Paris, I always go to Art Basel with the furniture. But Rick never comes during the fair so now of course we choose to go there when there is nobody. I don’t know, it was his idea! We will see!
HunRod Gold is on show at Carpenters Workshop Jewellery in London until 26 April 2024.
