Gaia Repossi, artistic director of the brand founded by her father (now owned by LVMH), has created a jewelry collection inspired by the world of Robert Mapplethorpe. It was with one of his works (Puerto Rico 1981) that she began her personal collection of photographs. Drawing on the archives of the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation and the Getty Research Institute, her pieces are based on those worn by the artist, such as the multi-chain diamond necklace. Others are interpretations of elements found in his photographs and collages. Among my favorites is the black and yellow gold ring, whose shape, which spans two fingers, is based on the American flag in which Lisa Lyon is wrapped in a 1982 photo. Not to mention the necklace adorned with a lobster claw (a recurring feature of Mapplethorpe’s work). In this type of “post-mortem collaboration”, it’s always intriguing to wonder what the original artist would have made of it all – given that he used to make jewelry for himself and his friends…
