Simply Abu Dhabi XXXIV

1 2 4 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I T he House of Dior has always blurred the line between high art and high fashion. The works of the master himself, ChristianDior, have long been considered museum-worthy pieces, and indeed the sold- out ‘Dior: Designer of Dreams’ exhibit at the Victoria & Albert Museum has been London’s hottest cultural ticket. Fitting then, that its new high jewellery collection, ‘Dior Dior Dior’ was débuted at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, where the House unveiled treasures of virtuosity inspired by its tradition of haute couture. The head of Dior Joaillerie, Victoire de Castellane, has shaken up the conservative world of high jewellery in her 20-year tenure, with her signature bold colours and dramatic shapes. But for these exquisite newpieces, Ms. de Castellane has returned to the legacy of the Dior atelier for inspiration. As she so often does, Ms. de Castellane visited the Dior archives, and was struck by the treasure trove of lace that Monsieur Dior used to adorn his dresses – a signature of the House. Cutting bits of lace, placing them on the hand, and transforming them into colourful jewels became the idea behind this collection, which adapts lace’s weave, twisting and intertwining with arabesque patterns, and turns them into works of art at once delicate and bold. The resulting “lacework” unfurls freely, in the form of necklaces, rings, bracelets, and earrings. Swirls and spirals mingle, perfectly embracing the curved lines of a wrist or neck. “I wanted to capture the sensation of ethereal lightness and the haute couture signature of lace, which, like ribbons, silk, and draping, is essential to the Dior lexicon”, explains Ms. de Castellane. “It’s part of the heritage of Dior”. And so was born a virtuoso array of openwork necklaces, woven in yellow, rose, and white gold. Crafting them required a level of excellence and savoir-faire that mirrors haute couture in terms of its technical demands. It was an astonishing feat for the best jewellery ateliers in Paris, who tested their limits to realise these creations, by minutely working precious metals to the extreme, like silken threads of embroidery. The metal lace work illuminates the centre stones: emeralds, pink and blue sapphires, yellow diamonds, and orange-red garnets seem to have been stitched directly onto honeycombs of golden chiffon, while diamonds appear sculpted like sequins, enhancing the couture effect. The delicate underlying structure allows the gems to appear to hover on the skin, to remarkable effect. And, as always, there are unique ways of wearing them, one of Victoire de Castellane’s signatures that here proves particularly exhilarating, and decidedly modern. Double rings bridge two fingers; a palm bracelet retraces lifelines; earrings are asymmetrical and sumptuous; and “hand jewellery” links bracelets and rings together with white gold sprinkled with flowers and pink spinels. The scale, proportions, and colours are pure de Castellane – but there’s no doubt about the lineage of these astonishing pieces. They are pure Dior. H a u t e C o u t u r e M e e t s H i g h J e w e l l e r y