Paris Haute Couture Week: High Fashion and Jewellery are Inseparable!

Displays of the newest high jewellery collections have, for a long time, been an inextricable part of Paris Haute Couture Week. However, since 2016, jewellery maisons have actively sought to work with famous couturiers to form collaborative displays which once again prove that Haute Couture and jewellery are intimately linked. At the beginning of July, I visited several fashion shows in the French capital, and I’d like to share my experiences with you in this article.

It’s impossible to argue with the fact that jewellery can beautifully complement an extravagant outfit, completing a look and drawing everyone’s attention. But to create a ‘full picture’, it’s not enough just to throw on a necklace: modern fashion dictates that jewellery should be carefully selected based on its style, colour and materials – and today there is a wealth of choice in fine jewellery. Now, to the catwalks!

David Morris – Ralph&Russo

The British designers Ralph&Russo have achieved a harmonious mixture of 47 looks comprising different colour combinations and fabric textures. White, grey and black outfits with carefully constructed silhouettes were effectively tempered with bright red, purple, yellow and orange dresses made of flowing materials. The refined palette of the looks was accentuated by the latest David Morris jewellery pieces in traditional fine jewellery designs: diamond earrings, stacked diamond bracelets, and a show-stopping Burmese ruby necklace. The bright outfits were made even more striking with elaborately designed jewels – like the opal and Paraiba tourmaline earrings, a ring with a 12.30 carat Padparadscha sapphire, and ‘Paradiso’ earrings made with blue sapphires and Paraiba tourmalines.

Faidee – Ulyana Sergeenko

The Russian haute couture designer and a Thai company specialising in fine jewellery made with Burmese rubies began their collaboration in July 2017. At first, they held an joint catwalk in Paris, then an exhibition in Monaco, and in July 2018 they returned to France’s capital with their own capsule collection, comprising 10 jewels which Ulyana Sergeenko herself helped to design. Limited edition long and stud earrings, brooches, and two types of South Sea pearl necklaces were created using ‘pigeon blood’ rubies sourced from the most highly esteemed mine for red corundum and diamonds. The coquettish feature of all these jewels – a removable bow – leant them a femininity and elegance that perfectly reflects the style of Ulyana Sergeenko’s work, and the catwalk looks she presented at Paris Haute Couture Week.

Boghossian – Stephane Roland

When sketching his looks, French fashion designer Stéphane Rolland favours a laconic and sophisticated style of haute couture. The Swiss jewellery maison Boghossian, meanwhile, is famous for its complex and intricate designs. Together, they make a superb match, and so for the second season in a row, the two companies have come up with some dazzling fashion looks – although this time I saw far fewer outfits paired with jewellery. In the Autumn/Winter collection, a floor-length beige dress was styled with a huge collar that was adorned with four rows of ‘Flame Diamond’ collection pieces, made with variously faceted colourless diamonds. The same kind of collar also adorned an extravagant black dress with a train, on top of which glittered a necklace made with large diamond briolettes. Another unforgettable look was the long sumptuous fire-coloured gown, to which the founder of the jewellery maison Albert Boghossian has added a lavishly colourful ‘Spiral Diamond’ necklace.

Chopard – Giambattista Valli

It could be said that the jewellery of Swiss-based company Chopard is already a regular on the runway: their pieces have already sparkled on the models of famous fashion houses such as Ralph&Russo and Guo Pei. This time it was Italian designer Giambattista Valli who couldn’t resist the beauty of Chopard’s fine jewellery artistry. He suggested to Chopard co-founder and artistic director Caroline Scheufele that the models showing his Autumn/Winter collection should also wear her latest fine jewellery pieces. For the catwalk show on 2nd July, models came were presented wearing a range of diamond and emerald necklaces made by the Swiss jewellery maison. The most jaw-dropping of these was compromised of 17 no-oil Colombian emeralds and flawless D colour diamonds.

The catwalk shows at Paris Haute Couture Week are genuinely unforgettable spectacles; the very best fashion and jewellery houses never cease to amaze us with their creativity, flights of fancy, and flare for producing beautifully styled haute joaillerie and haute couture presentations.