Welcome to the GiltT rips podcast. I'm your host, Kendra Lockhart. As a goldsmith and
gemologist, I'll be speaking 24 carat on all things jewelry, metals, and gems. Join
me plus a few friends to demystify both materials and designs as your private jeweler. Let's
tune in on these topics and get golden. Today I discuss Elsa Peretti, Tiffany's first female
collaborative artist and top-selling designer of the company's history. Each year, 10% of
purchases are attributed to her artistry. Let's talk about the overview of her road to success
and revolution within the jewelry industry, her signature collections through the years,
and career achievements. Then we'll talk about Elsa's backstory and her most iconic piece
and how she ended up turning jewelry design, Tiffany's, women's adornments, and the use
of materials into a brand new direction. Attraction is instinctive, she claimed. Elsa
personified a self-possessed and highly observational drive regarding form and aesthetic. Before
her debut of Fine Accessories, she had been an art model for Salvador Dali, an architecture
aficionado in Barcelona, nature lover and intense observer during childhood in Italy,
and muse in New York to her fashion house of Halston. He had asked her to design a container
for his fragrance, quote, so recognizable, I don't want to put my name on it, end quote.
Elsa understood the assignment. While making accessories for a handful of fashion designers,
it was Giorgio de Sant'Angelo's show that featured her bottle necklace, which immediately
sold out. Back in her homeland, women wore fragrant gardenians in the evening. Elsa wanted
a way to preserve the floral beauty instead of it wilting throughout the night, thereby
combining an artful object into a wearable solution. In 1974, Tiffany and company would
offer her an exclusive contract for collaboration. And that collection would also sell out, beginning
to establish a mind that could generate originality, distinctiveness and timelessness. That, over
several decades in collections, would make her the legend that we know her as today.
Let's go into some of her collections. Open heart. This was designed and inspired after
a Henry Moore sculpture, where the negative space of her semi amorphous silhouette subtracted
the sophomoric meaning of a heart and matured it into its romantic implication. She said
it was ours to fill in. This would be her most famous series, floating on a silver chain
or suspended with silk. The bone collection would be an overlay on our own anatomy. And
this bracelet series was the perfect metallisizing of our own body. Elsa drew from the bone she
collected as a child and carried around in her pocket, creating back then a deep and
intimate study of our structure long before designing these pieces. The forbidden stays
with you forever, she said. The rattlesnake, scorpion and claw designs combined danger with
sexiness, in fluid form and full articulation for sensual movement. It seemed to be an odd
to memento mori, pieces that inspired carpe diem in our psyche, as we should be living
for the moment since tomorrow is never guaranteed. The mesh collection. Elsa had gone to Jaipur
and returned with the desire to make metal into fabric for it to flow and drape. This
would be a return to her roots in the movement of clothing. And she hadn't minded a dash
of controversy when she created an 18 karat bra, which was worn first on Halston's runway
in 1975. And again in 2019, modeled by Zoe Kravitz at an after Oscars party, cementing
the modernness of the creation. Diamonds by the yard. Before Elsa's interpretation, diamonds
had been designated for evening attire. She brought them into day and anchored it back
into her life in fashion with the by the yard modifier. The collections had no excess detail,
and she made them appropriate for any hour and all outfits. Certain single elements,
such as the bean, a totem to a seat of life, the teardrop, her need to face life sorrow
with grace, the alphabet collection, a clean, cursive initial series, all of these incorporated
aesthetic touch and tails into each item. Even her bangles were respectful of her time
in Asia and utilize Japanese lacquer. Saviana captured a remembered earring element of a
flamenco dancer and birthed a sophisticated merger of both metal and stone. She would
go so much further than just jewelry design. Elsa had a talent for tableware, and she would
start with the bone inspired candlesticks as a nod to the altars of the cathedrals from
her youth. The flatware and the sublime thumb prints bowls meant to be held and with a zen
imprint from the hand in a single fingers impression. The terracotta home goods elevated
earthiness dining would become an artful experience beyond the palette and into our other senses.
Her collections embraced a touch to the wearer, a feel of the components, no extraneous flourishing,
and an elegance and of course her natural love for the world we see with our eyes.
Now as far as Elsa's backstory, let's lead with her quote, I did something for fun and
it became successful. This was her formula for happiness. But her origin begins with her
birth in the artistic city of Florence, Italy. She was later raised in Rome. Despite her
mother's reprimands, Elsa kept human relics from a cathedral which would play into her
creative outlook. By age 18, she wrote her father a tense goodbye letter as she was off
to Barcelona, becoming a model, sitting for the artist Salvador Dali, and becoming embraced
by Spanish creative circles. She would adore the high culture of the architect Gaudi. Eventually,
Elsa's modeling agency would ultimately draw her to New York and its celebrityism, glamour,
and social scenes. As she established her brand, Elsa would visit as far as Hong Kong
to experience the artistic talent and techniques of foreign lands, from Asian symbolism to
Indian gems and tones. Her achievement highlights include several design awards through the decades,
a permanent collection in the British Museum, an honorary doctorate from the Fashion Institute
of Technology in New York. As she said, I go to Spain to think, I come to New York to act.
Elsa's final opus would be restoring a medieval Spanish villa. She had the vision of its serving
generations of creators. At age 80, she would peacefully pass her sleep at this home in
Catalonia. And now, I'm going to review my iconic piece of her collection, The Bone Cuff.
This was an inspiration for a chapter in my career, and here is a summary I did for a
training just last month. Today's style spotlight begins behind the world's most branded signature
color, that of none other than Tiffany's, and with Elsa Peretti, the company's best collaborator.
Elsa's signature piece, The Bone Cuff, was launched in 1970. While it was the essence
of minimalism, fluidity, tactile quality, and sensuality, the bigger revolution was
that she made it in sterling. Silver had until then been considered a commoner medal or practice
material for goldsmiths. Celebrity Liza Minnelli famously said when approached to model the bracelet,
all I could think of was Albuquerque, until she saw it and made it her exclusive accessory.
Meanwhile, back at Tiffany's, the middle class was now purchasing luxury, finally bringing home
the symbol of style and sophistication. The world would witness this legendary design be worn by
decades of various nationalities and professions. Jewelry is not fashion was one of Elsa's strongest
beliefs, and this piece, The Bone Cuff, through the decades would garner awards, be seen on the
runway, launch the career of a costume designer for sex in the city, be worn at the Met Gala,
and for its 50th anniversary would appear in the Wonder Woman film sequel in 2020. I owe one of my
greatest goldsmithing achievements to this bracelet. In 2013, My Work with Bone and Silver
was juried into a national show featuring anatomical artists. So thank you, Ms. Peretti.
And what is Elsa's legacy? She restored a Spanish village with the goal of it becoming an artist
colony with her wealth, thanks to her 30 collections over the years and decades she had created for
Tiffany and Company. Her tourist stamina and longevity fueled a brilliant career by eliminating
excess and dignifying a metals resource. She wanted to give something to remember and manifested
unforgettableness. And that is my review of the career of Elsa Peretti and my favorite piece that
she's designed. And now let's discuss the Elsa effect, top five paradigm shifts in our industry
and adjacent businesses. The first hero, H.I.R.O., it was her professional photography collaboration.
Her ability to be both designer and creative director showed up because she'd been exposed
to so many artistic disciplines and she had interest in the media of other makers. Elsa was
able to bring a formidable eye to her collaborations. Mainly, this Japanese photographer Hiro, known
for surreal and unique juxtaposition of unexpected elements. His photographs are noted for their
elegance and clean appearance. He uses uncommon lighting and his hyper colorization is noteworthy
and instantly recognizable. My favorite product shots are the rattlesnake necklace on an actual
snake and a hand pulling a fish out of Elsa's crystal brandy snifter fishbowl design.
Number two, a new look arrives for department stores. Previously, silver would have been a
low entry level for purchasers in the usual suspects of major cities. You would not have
gone into a department store to find sterling and if you did, such as in Marshall Fields in Chicago
or Macy's in New York, you would have been led to the tableware or the bridal registry departments.
Now, the fine jewelry areas of places such as Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, Barney's, and more
would recognize future recognized and rising artists during the mid 80s to today working in silver.
Three, Elsa opened a door for other sculptor hyphenate jewelry designers to follow and they were men.
Robert Lee Morris would launch a sculpture to wear collection at a gallery in the 70s,
which attracted a celebrity following as well as him designing for many fashion houses.
David Ehrman's background was in large form metalwork and welding in his youth. His jewelry
collections are considered key in the American craft movement and consumers have been conditioned now
to see artists moving through different media within or preceding their jewelry careers.
Four, the career of Paloma Picasso and her collaboration with Tiffany's. Paloma is the daughter
of the renowned artist Picasso. She grew up sitting for her father's work. As an adult,
she was a costume designer in France and some of her rhinestone pieces happened to be well received.
This was enough encouragement for her to go and get formal training in the jewelry field.
A year later, she presented her fashion designer friend Yves Saint Laurent,
who immediately commissioned a piece for her collection at the time to be seen on the runway.
Paloma would land a job with a jewelry design house and then after that stint go on to work
with Tiffany's in 1980. Two of her designs are permanently in museums, one being the Smithsonian
and the second being the Field Museum of Natural Gems in Chicago. Her work is bold and strong,
more of an 80s woman than an else's 70s woman, but definitely an homage that matches from a female
creating for a modern female wearer. Fifth and last, the secondary market. With Elsa having
created over 30 collections for Tiffany's and still being their top selling artist to date,
there is a strong demand for her work, even pre-owned as a result of her having such a distinctive,
modern and sensual look and elements that complement a vast variety of styles and
occasions. We see a very strong sell-through on her sterling on digital platforms or e-commerce
opportunities such as The Real Real, which as of this episode is featuring over 150 items from
all different series and commanding anywhere over 50% and up to 80% of MSRP or what we know better
as retail pricing. If you found this interesting and wish to see behind the scenes or the mood
board of images or my talking points, please go ahead and visit the Patreon page and the link of
that will be listed in the show notes. It was a pleasure having you with me today, not only reviewing
jewelry's most successful designer who happens to be female and my favorite piece that she's done
for America's most iconic jeweler Tiffany and Company. Thank you for listening and learning with me.
I would love you to share this project with people finding rear beauty in today's world and throughout
our times. Until the next episode, keep your own stories sparkling.