Couture jewelry is making a comeback. Let’s take a look at the most surprising specimens on the Spring/Summer 2024 catwalks.

By Sandrine Merle.

 

 

1/ The high jewelry spirit of Balmain

For Spring/Summer 2024, Olivier Balmain showcases the rose (a beloved flower of Pierre Balmain) in a total look, thanks to opulent pearl embroideries and prints on the dresses adorned with fine ladies and the structured jackets with basques. It also blooms on the wide bracelets imbued with a high jewelry spirit. With added humor thanks to the colors! It seems like they were made using the same techniques. The fully diamond-set pink petals unfold on a rock crystal cuff cut at angles. On another, the rose multiplied on a trellis seems to be sculpted from coral. In reality, everything is made of resin and plexiglass, yet everything evokes the artistry of the jeweler, setter, and glyptic artist.

 

Balmain SS22 fashion show: It’s all about the links

 

2/ Crustacean passion at Schiaparelli

Extravagance and surrealism are the house’s leitmotivs. The question is, who will dare to wear these gigantic golden crabs and lobsters around their necks? The lobster, of course, refers to the one designed by Salvador Dalí in the 1930s for an Elsa Schiaparelli dress. Printed on white organza and worn by the Duchess of Windsor (the dress was part of her wedding trousseau), it caused a scandal. The plastron, whose eye medallions are linked by chains, is a more wearable option, as is the enormous silver square cuff.

 

3/ Jewelry clothes by Paco Rabanne

Goddess dresses, saris, gladiator belts, Templar headdresses and jewelry sparkle with gold and silver to the point where they merge and become one. The interweaving of references, combined and unified by cote de maille, sequins in various geometric shapes, spheres and other fringes ending in small balls.

 

4/ Wearable sculptures by Lynda Benglis for Loewe

For JW Anderson, American artist Lynda Benglis created sculptures in gilded or silvered bronze. Placed in the giant white cube hosting the show, they reflected light and prompted the eye to zoom in on the details of the Loewe silhouettes. Silhouettes adorned with these miniature sculptures: rings, bracelets, earrings in gold, silver, pleated aluminum, knotted, extruded. An extension of the artist’s work.

 

5/ The AI Pin by Coperni

Haute couture jewelry meets artificial intelligence. Coperni’s designers (Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant) unveiled the Ai Pin: this “projector brooch” the size of a thumb was developed by Humane, a startup founded by former Apple employees. It’s sort of digital personal assistant worn on the lapel, replicating the functionalities of a smartphone. Equipped with sensors, cameras, etc., this jewel is capable of projecting calls and applications onto your hand and even giving advice.

 

6/ Last but not least …

Golden butterflies alight on bustiers and pants of the same color at Blumarine. At the wrists of the Chloé girls, arum lilies sway on a simple metal thread. At Balenciaga, cascades of objects tumble from the handle of the bag: padlocks, keys, tags, pompoms, initials, etc. It’s impossible to mention all the haute couture jewelry as they are so prevalent in these S/S 2024 collections.

 

Banner image: Balmain