The documentary "Halston" (2019) by Frédéric Tcheng features several people who knew the fashion design and includes an archival interview with Elsa Peretti, the Italian-born jewellery designer who first joined Halston as a model.
In the documentary Peretti is shown through archival footage as she talks about her relationship with Halston, her ups and downs at the studio and the way it was Halston who introduced her to Tiffany & Co.
Last week Peretti was celebrated in Italy with a special prize: the XII Florence Biennale assigned the "Leonardo da Vinci" awards for a career in design to Salvatore and Wanda Ferragamo for fashion, Elsa Peretti for jewellery and Paula Scher (from New York's Pentagram studio) for graphic arts.
Born in Florence in 1940 from a conservative family (her father was Ferdinando Peretti, founder of oil company Anonima Petroli Italiana - API), Peretti studied in Rome and in Switzerland.
She then went to Milan to study interior design and work for the architect Dado Torrigiani. In the early '60s she moved to Barcelona to work there as a model (she also posed for Salvador Dali) and ,in 1968, she relocated to New York.
Here she modelled for Halston, Oscar de la Renta and Giorgio di Sant’Angelo and, together with Karen Bjornson, Alva Chinn, Pat Cleveland, and Pat Ast, she became one of Halston's favourite models – the Halstonettes.
A regular of Studio 54, Peretti was portrayed in 1975 in an iconic photograph by Helmut Newton showing her in a bunny costume by Halston amongst the towering skyscrapers of New York.
By then Peretti had already started designing jewellery for Halston. She reiceived the Coty Award in Jewelry Design in 1971 and a boutique dedicated to her opened in Bloomingdale's.
In 1974, helped by Halston, for whom she designed also a globular botle for his first fragrance, she had also joined Tiffany & Co. as an independent designer, but by the end of the decade she became the firm's leading designer.
Peretti mainly used silver in her creations characterised by modern and timeles forms, elevating this material.
She created several iconic and minimalist pieces often inspired by the shapes of flora and fauna, such as her 1973-74 articulated snake necklace (her house in Sant Martí Vell in Catalonia, Spain, was a great inspiration in later years - her 2007 scorpion necklace was inspired by the scorpions she saw there). Her kidney bean, open heart, bottles and mesh designs are well-known around the world (Peretti also designed tableware for Tiffany).
The mesh was developed in collaboration with Prof. Samuel Beizer at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York; Beizer and Peretti acquired old machines from Whiting and Davis, a Massachusetts-based company that used to make mesh and studied how the mesh was machine-knitted like a stocking. Peretti created with the mesh a series of intriguing pieces, including a scarf necklace and a mesh gold bra or halter top.
The most famous design she created remains the "Bone Cuff", a fluid piece incorporating organic forms that pay homage to the human body.
In 2001, to celebrate Peretti's 25th anniversary with the company, Tiffany & Co. established the Elsa Peretti Professorship in Jewelry Design at the F.I.T., in memory of Samuel Beizer.
In 2012 the long-time relationship between the famous jewellery company (that had become the sole licensee for the intellectual property rights of the designer in 1974) and Peretti seemed to come to an end. The contract was instead extended for another 20 years.
This was a clever move for the company considering that Peretti's designs are timeless and always had an important role in Tiffany's net sales (after the new agreement Peretti received a one-time fee plus a basic annual royalty fee for use of Peretti Intellectual Property and 5 percent of net sales of Peretti jewellery).
As the years passed Peretti also provided support to cultural, scientific, humanitarian and educational initiatives through her Fondazione Nando ed Elsa Peretti, a foundation dedicated to her father.
Ten days ago Peretti visited the space dedicated to her jewellery at the Florence Biennale, leaving a note in which she stated: "Florence, 18-10-2019. I was born here on 1st May 1940; receiving this award is such an honour and a profound emotion."
From Florence and the rest of the world via Tiffany & Co, Peretti's creations may become even more iconic in future: LVMH has just revealed it has bid to buy Tiffany & Co. The LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton group, owned by Bernard Arnault, made indeed an unsolicited $14.5bn offer to the jeweller.
LVMH has been on the lookout for design companies that appeal to China's new wealthy consumers and Tiffany has noted a rise in Chinese customers. Besides, Tiffany would like to expand into watches and LVMH is also trying to increase its client base in the US, opening up to younger consumers (a luxury and expensive brand such as Bulgari, currently in LVMH's portfolio, doesn't appeal to younger generations, but Tiffany offers also a range of affordable items). Integrating the 182-year old Tiffany & Co. into its portfolio would be a successful acquisition for LVMH and it would also be the biggest so far. So, if the deal goes through, Peretti's iconic designs may find a new life and become even more known, maybe even appearing on some of the runways of fashion houses owned by the LVMH group.
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