Meet the latest addition to OC's jewelry cabinets: Repossi! The storied Paris-based jewelry house has been producing graphic gold creations since 1920, when current creative director Gaia Repossi's great-grandfather established the line in Turin. Taking up the family flame and feeding it with her own interests in everything from contemporary art to African tribes, Gaia creates pieces that combine heavy metal impact with breathtaking delicacy.
Last week, Gaia and I caught up to chat about her ongoing collaboration with Alexander Wang, where to find good croissants, and how the art enthusiast gets nerdy.
Shop all Repossi here.
Alice Newell-Hanson: Hi Gaia! Where are you right now?
Gaia Repossi: Hey there! I'm In our office in Paris. It's right in the center, on the Place Vendôme where all the jewelry is... so we can see Napoleon's column! And it's sunny out—which is unusual for Paris.
ANH: Same here! It must be around lunchtime. What are you getting?
GR: Ha ha. I usually go to the Japanese next door. My other favorite places are Yen and Kintuoraya. They are the cutest. Or sometimes I'll get a croissant for lunch.
ANH: Where's the best croissant in Paris?
GR: On Rue Vieille du Temple at Boulangerie Malineau, or at Flore.
ANH: What's your favorite Repossi piece to wear right now?
GR: The new earcuff—it's a multi-piercing earring with no piercing! It's on the cover of Self Service at the moment.
ANH: Cool! I think my absolute favorite is the silver Berbere ring.
GR: The idea came for those came from Berberian tattoos from the Touareg tribes. They have these black lines all over their fingers, so the collection was all in black first, then we declined it later in several golds and colors. The tribes live in the Moroccan desert mostly, in tents, and they have amazing blue eyes.
ANH: And what about the Alexander Wang pieces? How did you guys start working together?
GR: I met Alex at a friend's dinner and he saw the ring I was wearing. I guess it stuck in his mind because a few weeks later he was asking me to create a collection for his winter show.
ANH: What were his ideas about what the pieces should look like for Spring/Summer 2012?
GR: We used a pattern from the 50s. At first his ideas were about nose rings and punk references, then he settled on this idea of tailoring, combined with our house and heritage. But we still burned the gold to stay a bit punk!
ANH: I was just about to ask—how do you burn the gold?
GR: The rings are pure gold, so they were very expensive for a show and it was quite a bold move. But we just used flames in the atelier. It was really experimental; it almost felt like being in a sculpture atelier that could have been Calder's or Serra's.
ANH: Were you freaking out before you put the rings into the fire?!
GR: I have to say we were working with this very classic atelier and we were kind of laughing with the guy, because we couldn't imagine any other jewelry house doing that!
ANH: Do you ever consciously reference older styles of your father's or grandfather's? Or is it more about the guiding aesthetic?
Last week, Gaia and I caught up to chat about her ongoing collaboration with Alexander Wang, where to find good croissants, and how the art enthusiast gets nerdy.
Shop all Repossi here.
Alice Newell-Hanson: Hi Gaia! Where are you right now?
Gaia Repossi: Hey there! I'm In our office in Paris. It's right in the center, on the Place Vendôme where all the jewelry is... so we can see Napoleon's column! And it's sunny out—which is unusual for Paris.
ANH: Same here! It must be around lunchtime. What are you getting?
GR: Ha ha. I usually go to the Japanese next door. My other favorite places are Yen and Kintuoraya. They are the cutest. Or sometimes I'll get a croissant for lunch.
ANH: Where's the best croissant in Paris?
GR: On Rue Vieille du Temple at Boulangerie Malineau, or at Flore.
ANH: What's your favorite Repossi piece to wear right now?
GR: The new earcuff—it's a multi-piercing earring with no piercing! It's on the cover of Self Service at the moment.
ANH: Cool! I think my absolute favorite is the silver Berbere ring.
GR: The idea came for those came from Berberian tattoos from the Touareg tribes. They have these black lines all over their fingers, so the collection was all in black first, then we declined it later in several golds and colors. The tribes live in the Moroccan desert mostly, in tents, and they have amazing blue eyes.
ANH: And what about the Alexander Wang pieces? How did you guys start working together?
GR: I met Alex at a friend's dinner and he saw the ring I was wearing. I guess it stuck in his mind because a few weeks later he was asking me to create a collection for his winter show.
ANH: What were his ideas about what the pieces should look like for Spring/Summer 2012?
GR: We used a pattern from the 50s. At first his ideas were about nose rings and punk references, then he settled on this idea of tailoring, combined with our house and heritage. But we still burned the gold to stay a bit punk!
ANH: I was just about to ask—how do you burn the gold?
GR: The rings are pure gold, so they were very expensive for a show and it was quite a bold move. But we just used flames in the atelier. It was really experimental; it almost felt like being in a sculpture atelier that could have been Calder's or Serra's.
ANH: Were you freaking out before you put the rings into the fire?!
GR: I have to say we were working with this very classic atelier and we were kind of laughing with the guy, because we couldn't imagine any other jewelry house doing that!
ANH: Do you ever consciously reference older styles of your father's or grandfather's? Or is it more about the guiding aesthetic?