There are people who mark the history of jewelry. One of these is Victoire de Castellane, creative director of Dior. Now a great book published by Rizzoli Usa (Dior Joaillerie: The A to Z of Victoire de Castellane, 349 pages, written together with Olivier Gabet, director of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris), retraces the steps of this champion of high jewelery , for 20 years at the top of the Parisian Maison.
The book is not structured in chapters, but follows an alphabetical order, like a real dictionary, in 158 entries. And, of course, the volume is illustrated with large photographs from her famous collections, such as Cher Dior, Secret Garden Versailles, Rose des Vents, to name a few. But the dictionary entries also include distinctive features of Victoire de Castellane’s compositional style, such as asymmetry, or the use of lacquer, which Dior’s creative director considers as the fourth color of gold. To finish with an unexpected dictionary entry: zigzag. It is the path of creative freedom that has guided, and will guide, Victoire’s work.
