PRECIOUS SOUVENIR: Audrey Hepburn may not have known how to say goodbye to Gregory Peck at the end of her “Roman Holiday,” but she certainly did it in style.
The necklace she wore as Crown Princess Ann in the final scene of the 1953 romantic comedy that enthroned the British actress as Hollywood royalty will be go under the hammer as part of an upcoming jewelry auction at Christie’s.
Made of two strands of round cultured pearls holding an 18-karat white gold motif outlined with 6 carats of diamonds and set with round and oval-shaped sapphire cabochons, the necklace is the work of Fürst, a noted Italian jeweler of the post-War period.
According to the auction house, pearl afficionado Hepburn chose the design out of a wide array brought by the jeweler on set in Rome. The necklace is estimated between 18,000 Swiss francs and 26,000 Swiss francs, or $21,000 to $29,000.
Known for unique designs that caught the eye of a well-heeled clientele and of Hollywood stars, the jeweler is today run by the third generation of the family, descended from Austro-Hungarian jeweler Moric Fürst, who moved to Turin in the 1850s and became a supplier to the court of Savoy.
Brussels-born Hepburn had arrived in the U.S. from London’s West End in 1951 to star in “Gigi” on Broadway, before being cast as Peck’s love interest in the film directed by William Wyler. It became her breakout role, netting her an Academy Award for Best Actress and catapulting her into stardom.
Other highlights among the 200-plus lots of the sale will include an Art Deco bracelet with charms including a mouse trap and race car; a coral, enamel and diamond brooch in the shape of a ladybug as well as a diamond, emerald and onyx “Panthère” brooch, both by Cartier; as well as a collection of gold nuggets from a private collection. Jewels by Van Cleef & Arpels, Graff and Boucheron will also be included.
Bidding for the “Jewels Online: The Geneva Edit” will start on the auction house’s website on Friday at 2 p.m. CET and close on Nov. 16. — LILY TEMPLETON
BABY BLISS: “When I joined Dior in October 2022, one of the projects I had in mind was revisiting Baby Dior,” Francis Kurkdjian, Dior’s perfume creation director, told WWD. “Christian Dior evoked his childhood many times as a very happy and joyful period of his life. The scent and the baby care line were discontinued, and I was eager to bring it back to life as a tribute.”
He met with Cordelia de Castellane, Baby Dior’s artistic director, who had the same desire.
“We immediately discussed about working together to build back this universe,” Kurkdjian said. “Baby Dior was born that day.”
Their dream became reality with a new scent, called Bonne Étoile, which launches with a bath line for babies starting Wednesday. The house calls the fragrance an “eau de senteur.” It contains notes of pear, eglantine and musk. There is no alcohol and 98 percent of the scent’s ingredients stem from natural origins.
Rounding out the line are bath products: La Mousse Très Fondante cleansing foam, Le Lait Très Tendre body lotion and L’Eau Très Fraîche liquid cleanser, each scented with Bonne Étoile and including Anjou mallow extract, a moisturizing ingredient grown in the Dior Gardens.
They come in a bottle covered with Dior’s signature toile de Jouy, in pastel colors, which show an imaginary garden in Granville — Dior’s childhood home in Normandy, France.
Product prices range from 85 euros for the 350-ml. body lotion to 255 euros for the 100-ml. scent.
Dior the designer evoked Granville in some early collections and clothes that he made for friends’ children.
Baby Dior, a clothing line of clothing and objects for children, was launched in 1967, then soon thereafter, in 1970, an eponymous eau de cologne was introduced. That was a lighter iteration of Edmond Roudnitska’s Eau Fraîche, and came in a set with shampoo, an oil and two talcum powders.
“In a poetic encounter between children’s fashion and fragrance, Baby Dior renews the challenge set by Christian Dior, to create the tender scent of childhood magic,” Dior said in a statement.
The Bonne Étoile collection also includes babywear and gift sets featuring the toile de Jouy pattern created by Castellane. The Mon Premier Bain set, for instance, holds a bottle of the cleansing foam as well as a terry hooded bath towel.
The products will launch at select Baby Dior and Parfums Christian Dior boutiques, as well as dior.com in Europe, the U.S. and Middle East, starting Wednesday.
Beginning in January, they will be available worldwide, save for China, which will begin selling the products in June 2024. — JENNIFER WEIL
LUXURY LIVING: Underscoring the fizzy market for branded residences, Karl Lagerfeld said it formed a partnership with upstart United Arab Emirates real estate company Taraf Holding to create luxury villas in Dubai.
Details about the project — Karl Lagerfeld’s third branded residential project and the first in the Middle East — are to be revealed in the coming months.
“We are not merely building villas; we are crafting unique lifestyle habitats,” according to Karl Lagerfeld, chief executive officer Pier Paolo Righi, who vowed to “bring Karl’s very unique idea of exclusive living to Dubai. By blending the artistry of design with the art of real estate, we look forward to offering an unparalleled experience.”
The fashion house, headquartered in Amsterdam and Paris, launched its first luxury residences in Marbella, Spain, in 2021, and recently revealed plans for branded residences in a hotel tower in Malaysia.
Lagerfeld, who died in 2019 after an unprecedented fashion career, dabbled in a range of interiors and hotel projects during his lifetime. Over the summer, a lavish 271-room luxury Karl Lagerfeld hotel opened in Macao that had been years in the making. It was entirely designed by the late German designer, who blended classic Chinese designs with contemporary Western aesthetics.
No stranger to the Middle East, Lagerfeld staged a cruise show for Chanel in 2014 on an island less than half-a-mile off the coast of Dubai.
Taraf, which launched earlier this year as a new company under Yas Holding, recently broke ground on a residential development on Palm Jumeirah dubbed Luce.
“We’re proud to announce this partnership with a globally recognized brand that will not only add incomparable value to Taraf’s next residential property, but also elevate what Taraf stands for in this competitive sector in the UAE,” commented Low Ping, group CEO of Yas Holding.
She noted that Karl Lagerfeld’s signature design touches would create “aesthetically distinctive and visually striking exclusive villas.” — MILES SOCHA
FAST ON SKIS: The love affair between fashion and the luxury automobile industry continues, as evidenced by the new collaboration between Head Sportswear and Porsche.
The capsule collection is centered around skiing, a hallmark of Head, and is inspired by the Porsche Dakar Rally sports car. In addition to two pairs of skis, the collaboration includes a ski jacket and pants as well as a midlayer. The jacket features a detachable hood, ventilations, waterproof zippers, adjustable sleeve cuffs and a detachable snow gaiter. It retails for $990.
The complementary pants also offer ventilation and waterproof zippers, a snow gaiter inside the leg, an adjustable waistband with bonded flaps and belt loops. They retail for $690.
The midlayer offers lightweight ripstop horizonal quilted with double topstitching and brushed power stretch for the back and sleeves. The shirt retails for $390.
The two have also partnered on a Radar visor helmet, carbon poles and a ski bag, all co-branded.
The collection will be available beginning Wednesday at Porsche Design Stores across the U.S. — JEAN E. PALMIERI
COLOR BURST: Roksanda Ilinčić has summoned the British high street and is injecting much needed color and optimism into it.
The Serbian-born designer has teamed with Jigsaw’s creative director Jo Sykes on a 27-piece capsule collection that uses all the colors of the rainbow, from fuchsia, lapis blue, midnight and marigold to teal.
“Combining my love of art, tactility, sculptural shapes and above all color with Jigsaw’s classic, playful and timeless designs has resulted in a collection that is both fun and elegant, practical and ethereal. I hope it will resonate with women of all ages,” Ilinčić said.
Many of the designs feature codes from Ilinčić’s ready-to-wear collections such as the exaggerated lengths, volumes and textures remixed with Jigsaw’s minimal workwear.
The collection drops in select stores and online beginning Tuesday with a limited run of 10 units for some items and prices starting at 70 pounds and going up to 2,000 pounds.
“With creativity, art and quality craftsmanship at its core, the partnership aligns perfectly with our dedication of supporting British arts and culture through the Jigsaw Foundation, which was launched earlier this year,” Sykes said.
Ilinčić’s arty collections are often worn by the likes of Vanessa Redgrave, Michelle Obama, Kate Middleton and other high-profile women, in Hollywood, royal and creative circles.
The designer is an ever-present guest at Frieze London. Last year, she staged her spring 2023 show at the Serpentine pavilion.
“The audience was much more art and creatives-related, which is incredible because it’s a big portion of my customers and usually they’re not able to come to the show, but now they’re all in town [for Frieze], so it’s lovely to be able to see them,” she told WWD at the time. — HIKMAT MOHAMMED
