David & Martin Lift The Lid

I've been meaning to write this post for about a year now, ever since David & Martin contributed a piece of jewellery to the exhibition I organised at Colette. A long overdue hard drive tidy up session brought them to my attention once more and thank goodness.

Not only did the send a gorgeous thing, which I've posted about before on here but it's so lovely it deserves a second outing. They also sent me details of the inspiration behind the necklace. It's so interesting to have access to the ideas that go into creating a finished piece. Enjoy this...

Paris Is Burning. So Are My Feet.

I spent the weekend in Gay Paree walking the length and breadth of the city checking out the ss2011 jewellery collections at the many, many, MANY trade fairs and showrooms dotted round the beautiful French capital. Exhausting but enlightening, it was well worth the chiropodist bills I think I'm about to run up. More detail to follow as I'm able to piece it together, but for now here's a few atmos pix...

The Anne Demeulemeester showroom complete with miniature city window display. Check out the beads inside the rings.



The exhibits at Colette, including Swarovski pieces by Karl Lagerfeld (bangles etc) and Fendi (birdie bag), a necklace-like illustration by Basement Crew and a fairylight-embellished table and chair by someone whose name I forgot to note.





A real live model modelling socialite and accessory designer Yazbukey's ss2011 collection at the Colette Hermes collaboration launch party. Yaz herself was the epitome of laissez faire cool in a granny hairnet (to prevent her hair frizzing in the rain) and juicy fuchsia pink shorts.

The jewellery displays at concept store, Merci




The humble chub key gets a makeover at the Surface To Air party.

Delfina Delettrez

The Nowness website currently features a story about Delfina Delettrez which made me realise I've yet to run my own post on this Italian designer who features in my book.

If there's such a thing as fashion royalty, Delfina is it. Not only is she a 4th generation member of the Fendi dynasty (her mum, Silvia Venturini Fendi, is the brand's accessories director), her dad is the famed French jeweller, Bertrand Delettrez.

Delfina's new My World collection was inspired by the Mayan calendar. Check out the gold 'Hand' bracelet grabbing her wrist by clicking on the top snap.




Photos by Dan Tobin Smith, courtesy of Nowness

A few Delfina facts:

• Delfina decided she wanted to be a jeweller when she discovered a red sapphire among her father’s precious stones and he set it in a ring for her: ‘It was a simple ring but it was very significant to me,’ she says. ‘It was the first ring I ever had.’

• Drawn to all things otherworldly Delettrez channels a fascination with magic and mysticism into her work. Her collections are notable for their enameled and bejeweled frogs, skulls, crowns, flowers, fierce animals and poisonous insects.

• When Delfina launched her debut collection at Colette in 2007, she commissioned her friend, the actress Asia Argento, to write and direct a short film called Delfinasia. The movie featured a heavily pregnant Delettrez and her younger sister at La Canonica – the rural family home that inspires much of her work.

• In 2008 Delettrez opened her first boutique in Rome, in what had previously been an ancient pharmacy. When it came to the decor she plumped for absinthe green accents in order to give her shop the appearance of a witch's house, 'as a tribute to the herbs, tonics and poisons that were once sold there’.

• Her logo – a crescent moon and five stars forming a D – was originally designed by Karl Lagerfeld for her father in the 1980s.

• Delettrez's pieces are all handmade by artisans who use antique jewellery techniques and whose workshops can be found in the streets around her boutique.

Some bibelots from Delfina's previous collections...

Lovely Bones

Sadly I don't have a photo of David and Martin's Fauna Futura necklace in situ at Colette, but this is what the finished item looks like. Love It.

Photo: Martin Vallin

The Real Deal

At last - some pix from the exhibition at Colette. No mean feat given their 'Strictly No Photos' policy, so a million thanks to Sabrina Dehoff's other half, Till Helmbold, for sending me these. Click on them for more detail.
















Yoshiko's Bird Ring (below) came inside this dark metal egg...

Let's Colette A Day

The Selby has some friends round to play






Colette's jewellery corner with the Fashion Jewellery display on the right and the fab Scott Wilson in the background


Ever-ethereal, Diane Pernet makes an appearance


Dazed, Confused and Done In (that's my state of mind, not the three people in the photo...)


Thanks to the lovely Donna Watson for her bouncer-dodging undercover reportage and Karl Hab for the final shot

Sign Of The Times

Here's some pix from the signing itself. It's all a bit of a blur but it was great to finally meet some of the people I wrote about, and who I feel I know so well. You spend two years communicating with a person and imagining what they're like, then they show up looking totally different. Weird.






The Selby finally enters my lair!

Thanks to Karl Hab for the pix

Reality Bites

So on Friday, shortly after arriving in Paris, I hit Colette for an undercover reccy. I wanted to scout out the space and see what the jewellery exhibition looked like in real life.

On the way up to the 2nd floor I overheard a beautifully dressed, superbly camp American chap ask his friend: 'Did you see the costume jewellery upstairs? It's amaaaaaaaazing.'

I resisted the urge to correct him (the term costume jewellery's so last century) and settled instead for a smug inward grin.

If I'm totally honest, the display itself lacked a certain je ne sais quoi - the pieces were arranged in a row on a ledge – but if the throngs of people handling (and occasionally dropping) the jewellery were anything to go by, the merchandising wasn't putting them off.



Somehow, in all the commotion, I forgot to get a photo of the display. Until I track one down, here's a picture of the space with someone else's display in it. The ledge is visible at the back.

Downstairs, Todd Selby had set up home in the shop window. I went down, introduced myself and asked him to sign his book for me. It's gorgeous. I'm jealous.

Too much coffee, 4 neon green macaroons for lunch, and the anxiety of finally seeing the jewellery had left me twitchy and sweaty. I suspect Selby pegged me for an over eager fan. He looked nervous and grateful to have a pretty Japanese lady sandwiched between us.


Selby's Bedroom aka Colette's window




Selby's 'Front Door'