Humour and high heels channel inner chic. I realise this when meeting Victoire de Castellane, Dior’s fine jewellery designer. We’re at the Gagosian Gallery, previewing her Fleurs d’excès exhibition – a triumph of embellished objets d’art that double
Humour and high heels channel inner chic. I realise this when meeting Victoire de Castellane, Dior’s fine jewellery designer. We’re at the Gagosian Gallery, previewing her Fleurs d’excès exhibition – a triumph of embellished objets d’art that double up as jewels. As usual I wear sensible frock and flats and the va va voom Victoire sports Alaïa and a pair of teetering wonders. Naturally, I am awed by her talent. But if I can be 'Sally Superficial' for a moment, I catch sight of her shapely calves and inwardly decide, “She’s so Parisian coquette and I’m so not!”
My attention swiftly returns to Victoire’s chef d’oeuvres – fantastical flowers with fake Latin names like Extasium Ethero Coïtus. A visual feast, it’s hard not to be swept up by the vivid imagination and exquisite craft of the ‘made in Paris’ pieces, inspired by René Lalique, the Brothers Grimm and Niki de Saint Phalle. Two lacquered rings appear flower-like in a jade vase; a poppy-shaped silver necklace is spread out on a mini-tomb of cloudy crystal. “The idea is to live with jewellery,” Victoire says, “as opposed to locking it up in the safe.”
Suddenly, I remember seeing her for the first time. Paris is all about memories. It was 1989 and we were both at the Chanel studio. Victoire was the mischievous minx dreaming up in-demand costume jewellery while I was an assistant whose range of tasks included designing fabrics, colour coordinating the camellias and being Naomi Campbell’s bodyguard for an afternoon. Even then, it was Victoire’s spirited walk that grabbed my attention. Tippy toed delicate but laced with defiance. Allowing her to leave Chanel, start Dior’s haute joaillerie division and create Fleurs d’Excès for Gagosian.
Victoire de Castellane's Fleurs D'excès is at the Gagosian Gallery until 22 March.
Natasha Fraser-Cavassoni is a Paris-based British journalist who covers fashion and lifestyle as well as being the author of Sam Spiegel - The Biography of A Hollywood Legend, Understanding Chic, an essay from the Paris Was Ours anthology and soon-to-be released Chanel book, for Assouline's fashion series.
Robert Beck is former New Yorker currently based in Paris. Also known as C.J. Rabbitt, he is the author and illustrator of several children's books, including The Tale of Rabbitt in Paradis, Un Lapin à Paris and the soon-to-be-published A Bunny in the Ballet.
