Fashion Report from Paris: Gems from poetic gardens, wind and sea

Jewelry for the season follows the couture spirit that gently wafts through summer’s fashion of undulating chiffon caftans, frocks abloom with foliage, djellabas drenched with spices of the east, and goddess gowns bathed in ethereal light.  At the Eclat de Mode in Paris, Elizabeth Leriche and Vasken Yeghiayan created tableaus reflecting this spirit, presenting select creations from an international roster of jewelry designers.  Some key trends emerged, helping decode some very elegant and sophisticated ways of dressing and adornment.

Celestial Light

Let’s take our cue from the heavens and dress with freshness and lightness, hyper femininity and a romantic spirit.  Journey back to the birthplace of civilization where Greek designer Sophia Kokosalaki makes sheer, silk muslin gowns in white, the theme’s guiding color.  Materials like tulle, lace, mother of pearl and porcelain complement this look.  Jewelry comes in all shades of white, from opalescent moonstone to rock crystal and lustrous pearls. Frangos Nicolas has thick cuffs with intricately beaded rosettes interspersed with rows of pearls, silver pailettes and white lace.  A stunning opera length necklace of white globular beads has a giant cowrie shell in white porcelain.  Philippe Ferrandis uses antique finish silver with moonstone and milky crystals to create vintage style estate earrings and necklaces.  Sometimes, the monotony of white is given a shot of black, but in less jarring, iridescent tones like that of a blacklip shell pendant to accent a white shell bead necklace.

Nocturnal Breakout

Summer evenings go ’30s retro, mixing the feminine and the masculine, black with white.  Lanvin’s reinvented tuxedo with oversized bowtie is the perfect outfit for a nocturnal breakout.  Jet, metal and lace are the materials which can add another dimension to this look.  For jewelry, dress it up with a flower brooch, a large chain and pearl string, signet ring or a chain bracelet.  Van Der Straeten’s cuffs of folded ribbons and interlocking biomorphic shapes come in black, anodized silver.  Miss Grenadine has fun jet necklaces with black and white dress illustrations as accent.  Satellite has a futuristic edge using mirror discs with pearls and black satin ribbons for earrings and necklaces.

Poetic Garden

This season heralds the return of the print, from Liberty to giant flowers in a chic, ’50s style.  The poetic garden comes alive with bursts of fuchsia, pink, violet and poppy red.  British designer Giles Deacon exemplifies this look with his Midsummer nymphs in pink and lilac petals.  Complementing materials are ribbons, glass beads, enamel and lacquer.  Tatianna Arrigoni of Brazil has pendants and rings of flowers and insects with pave crystals in vibrant reds and violets.  Metal flowers are lacquered purple and mixed with silk-covered discs and blue pearlized beads for necklaces.  Delicate lariats come in the most fragile silk petals.  Francois Montague uses amethyst and lilac crystals for floral patterns on his colliers and earrings.  Playful fuchsia necklaces come in felt florettes and multiprint quilted flowers.   Lacquered filigree versions are studded with pink glass and crystal stones.  Erickson Beamon’s take is massive as always, with a Mad Hatter’s necklace populated by crystal-encrusted birds and dragonflies flying over a garden of enamel roses strung on gold ribonettes.

Tropical Forest

Enter a painting of Rousseau and get lost in a jungle with birds of paradise and graceful felines emerging from prehistoric flora.  The color to be enchanted with is green — fresh as bamboo and dazzling as emerald.  Camouflage is a pattern of choice, used deftly and layered beautifully by Jean-Paul Gaultier in his summer ensembles. Materials for the tropical forest look include feathers, aged metal, leather and python.  A feathered breastplate would be a fitting ornament, or maybe an “animal” cuff or brooch.  A pin with plumes in shades of emerald by French atelier Denaive has the versatility of a brooch but is sumptuous enough to act as a breastplate.  The colliers at Karnyx have velvet butterflies fluttering on feather tendrils that simulate a forest.  Copper and bronze are the metals that go well with this color scheme, encrusting glass leaf earrings and necklaces.  Aside from birds and insects, snakes are abundant in this tropical forest look.

South Seas

How can we survive the season without aquatic inspiration?  You just have to surrender to the lure of the south seas and play with transparency and fluidity.  In colors of lagoon and abyssal blue, don a siren dress with a daring neckline.  A Rodarte gown in organza with undulating airbrushed waves will do nicely.  Complement with plexi, glass and sequins.  Jewelry of handblown glass water droplets, plexi bracelets with fish and shell motifs set the mood. Zena Baroudi’s brooch simulates black coral with anodized silver set against translucent shell and studded with pearls.  Deluxe Accessories, which produces in Cebu, has ’60s sputnik gold earrings resembling underwater life.  They also remind you of the Lincoln Center chandeliers which descend during an opera performance of the Met.  For those so inclined, another option is skin jewelry of crystal sea creatures, sparkling against a golden tan.  There are even some with the tiniest shells as embellishment.

Wind Of The East

Ethnic, sun-drenched inspiration continues to fascinate, transporting us to the temples of India and the deserts of Rajasthan.   The colors are rich:  gold, sunny yellow and saffron.  Djellabas, sarouel trousers and turbans complete the silhouette that brings us closer to the East.  An Indian-inspired outfit in desert sunset colors from Hermes, perhaps?  Beaten and chased copper or gold, embroidered pearls, amber, wood and straw are materials of choice.  For jewelry, don a breastplate, layered strings and cuffs.  Rigaux has chunky crescent pendants in wood on lacquered metal and horn chains.  Satellite does jewelry fit for a maharani: intricate gold filigree medallions studded with jade and amber, festooned with fine gold chains. Max Debraine celebrates the Wind of the East by piling on the amber beads in a multitude of shapes and varying degrees of translucence for cuffs and necklaces while Poudou Poudou goes minimal with beads wrapped in matt yellow silk, almost sacred in their simplicity.