Bonjour!
With all eyes on Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, it’s the perfect time to feature the HFV French vintage costume jewellery range, dating from the 1970s to the 1990s. Designer names curated for this collection include Lanvin, Christian Dior, Karl Lagerfeld (during his time with Chanel), Antigona Paris and Givenchy.
Many credit the innovation of costume jewellery to Coco Chanel. However, it was during the 1900 Paris Exposition (a world fair celebrating 19th Century innovation and beyond), featuring a grand display of Art Nouveau jewels, that inspired French jewellery designers to create ‘imitation jewellery’ to reach a wider audience.
1900 Paris Exposition. Image ref, @pinterest.
This new interest from jewellers also coincided with the increasingly fashion-conscious European population, seeking convincing and cheaper substitutions for precious metals. For the first time, jewellers were experimenting in a way that would have been too risky with precious materials. What Coco Chanel is credited for, is taking the lead with fashion-led, semi-precious jewellery, that could sell at every price point.
Other notable French jewellers and fashion designers, who took up this trend and produced stunning pieces of costume jewellery include,
Christian Dior
Dior didn’t produce jewellery until the 1950s. Costume Jewellery was introduced after the enormous success of the Christian Dior ‘New Look’ collection in 1947. They outsourced their jewellery design and production to the German firm, Grosse from 1953. However, Mitchael Maer of England also designed a few collections, influenced by antique Victorian and Georgian styles, in the early 1950s. These pieces are extremely rare and valuable today. The look and feel of Dior jewellery has evolved considerably from the mid-century onwards.
Lagerfeld
German fashion designer, Karl Lagerfeld worked for various Parisian designers before joining Chanel in 1983. Encouraging society’s fascination with ‘designer labels’, Lagerfeld saw the ‘CC’ logo stamped on everything from belt buckles to earrings. The costume jewellery he created under his own name was bold and distinctive. These pieces are now extremely collectable.
Givenchy
The House of Givenchy was opened in Paris in 1952 and was influential throughout the 50s and 60s, for its simple, elegant style. French designer, Hubert de Givenchy was inspired by the sleek lines of the Art Deco period. During the 70s and 80s, Givenchy maintained its reputation for of elegant, streamlined design
Lanvin
The oldest of Paris fashion houses, Lanvin’s jewellery was designed to complement their collections of clothing. Always reflecting on the fashion house's founding principles of quality they also delivered a fearless take on design innovation.
French Plastic Jewellery is another area for vintage costume jewellery enthusiasts. Many unsigned, mass produced pieces of plastic jewellery were made in France throughout the 20th century. Material plastic types included, galalith (French bakelite), lucite, celluloid, resin and acrylic. Below is a lovely example of French resin and acrylic, hand carved bangles. Both with their original 'Made in France' stickers.
If you would like to view the entire HFV Vintage French Jewellery edit, click here.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me (Hester) via email at hester@curatedvintagejewellery.com