New jewels by Fulco di Verdura presented in London.
Fulco di Verdura debuted at Masterpiece London with a collection that pits two works of the thirties of the Sicilian Duke: one was the Byzantine-inspired by Coco Chanel in Paris, and other his distinctly modern designs for the stars of cinema.
The Fulco di Verdura jewelry have been worn by the most famous actresses in Hollywood: Katherine Hepburn, Lana Turner, Lauren Bacall, Gene Tierney. And then from Windsor and the Agnelli family, the Ruspoli and Crespi. The Sicilian nobleman who emigrated to New York had among the customers also Astor, the Wanderbildt, the Rothschilds. To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the store on Fifth Avenue in New York, in 2014 Verdura presented The Power of Style: verdura to 75, a retrospective exhibition with over 150 jewelery created by master jeweler Duke Fulco di Verdura. His name has become famous thanks to his friendship with Coco Chanel, Diana Vreeland, Helena Rubinstein.
The story of Fulco di Verdura must to be told. Born in Palermo in 1898, was part of one of the oldest families of the Sicilian aristocracy, of Spanish origin. The name of the house was San Esteban y de La Cerda. And so Fulco Santostefano di Murata de La Cerda, who lived in Palermo Palazzo Verdura, after his father’s death he moved to France, to work for Coco Chanel. After the war he opened the famous store on Fifth Avenue.
Ward Landrigan then purchased the company in 1984, six years after the death of the duke.
