Repossi has collaborated with the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation for its latest high jewellery collection. The capsule collection, composed of eight styles, is inspired by the jewellery that American photographer Mapplethorpe created at the beginning of his career from found objects, here rethought in precious metals.
Mapplethorpe’s early flirtations with jewellery design married an eclectic selection of materials, encompassing everything from the heavy chains he liked to wear to the long necklaces he created from items including dice and beads.
Gaia Repossi, creative director of the eponymous family company, has stayed faithful to this effortless aesthetic with a jewellery collection that reinterprets these casually found items in precious metals. The ‘Relic Claw’ necklace rethinks the crab claw that was the focal point of a Mapplethorpe necklace, here drawn in white gold and paired with pearls and gold beads. Other pieces reconsider the hardware Mapplethorpe liked to wear; a white gold chain studded with white and grey diamonds forms multiple loops around the neck. His photographs, too, are a source of inspiration for Repossi – his 1982 photograph of Lisa Lyon with the American flag wrapped around her arm becomes a yellow and black gold flag coiling around the finger.
Repossi was invited by the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation to create the pieces. ‘I was able to access Robert’s entire archive of jewellery and jewellery materials at the Getty Research Institute,’ she says. ‘This collection is a tribute to his ingenious aesthetic and the beautiful items he assembled.’
Both Mapplethorpe and Repossi sidestep traditional jewellery codes, creating pieces that are refreshingly imperfect. In this new jewellery, Repossi stays faithful to Mapplethorpe’s habit of using patinated gold rather than polished, while playing with volume and delighting in the contrast and juxtaposition of materials.
The first eight pieces of the collection have just launched at Dover Street Market New York, where they will remain before travelling to the Los Angeles branch in July, and to London in August, before arriving at the flagship Repossi store at Place Vendôme, Paris.
INFORMATION
-
Clocking on: the bedside analogue timepieces that won’t alarm your aestheticWe track down the only tick-tocks that matter, nine traditional alarm clocks that tell the time with minimum fuss and maximum visual impact
-
Architecture, sculpture and materials: female Lithuanian artists are celebrated in NîmesThe Carré d'Art in Nîmes, France, spotlights the work of Aleksandra Kasuba and Marija Olšauskaitė, as part of a nationwide celebration of Lithuanian culture
-
‘There is more work to be done in the garden’: Dries Van Noten on deciding to grow his burgeoning beauty lineFor Dries Van Noten, 2024 has been a landmark year. After stepping down from fashion in June, the designer speaks to Wallpaper* about a new focus on nurturing the brand’s beauty line and spending more time in his beloved garden
