Victoire de Castellane has been creating jewelry for Dior for over twenty years. An aristocrat from an ancient French family became the first designer of the Dior jewelry line and introduced a trend for multi-color jewelry.
All the jewelry that Victoire makes can not only be worn and admired, but also exhibited in museums. Very young, she came to Chanel and worked there, next to the great Karl Lagerfeld. She remembers this as the happy years of her life.
Victoire knew Karl Lagerfeld since childhood. Her uncle Gilles Dufour worked with him at Fendi. She came to Chanel not under the patronage of Karl, just one of Victoire’s friends invited her to practice there. After the internship, Carl left her at the House and commissioned the costume jewelry. She worked there for almost 14 years.
Then Victoire moved to Dior, where Bernard Arnault invited her. Then the jewelry business of the brand was just beginning, and what it would be like in the future – everything depended on Victoire. Initially, she was given complete freedom for creativity, and Victoire became an independent designer. And freedom for an artist is of great importance, because without it, nothing special may come out. Masterpieces are born only in freedom.
Victoire has a lot of antiques, old things inherited. Her favorite stone is opal, which sparkles with all the colors of the rainbow. But in general, in every stone she tries to discern the beauty, character, unusual shape, color, charm. But opal remains the most beloved today. For example, the Dior el dʹ Opales collection is a brilliant ode to this mysterious stone.
When asked if it’s boring to work with the same stone for so long, she replies, “… each piece is unique – even in terms of color: there are blue, yellow, black, blue stones … Opal is a stunning landscape … As if you are looking from heaven into the ocean, in which you want to plunge headlong. …and scary and curious at the same time.”
