Since the early beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic we have become very familiar with the illustrations, models and representations of the Coronaviruses family.
The name, coined by David Tyrrell and June Almeida who first studied and observed human coronaviruses, refers to the electron microscopy apperance of the virions (the infective form of the virus).
The morphology of the virus observed with an electron microscope is particularly scary yet fascinating, showing a pleomorphic spherical configuration with surface spike glycoprotein that allows it to connect to ACE2 and enter the host cell (the name of this family of virus - from Latin corona, meaning "crown" or "wreath" - reflects this configuration).
Can you think about an accessory or a garment that calls to mind the structure of Coronavirus? Actually yes, there is indeed an experimental necklace by Lyda Coppola that reminds of the spike structural proteins anchored on the viral envelope.
Lyda Coppola was born in Venice in 1915 and after the Second World War she worked for a tailoring house in Milan, learning in her freetime how to make accessories from Czech jewelry designer and artist Ada Pollitzer. Lyda married Ferruccio Toppo in 1946 and, two years later, encouraged also by her brother Bruno, she founded the jewelry brand Coppola e Toppo.
Lyda wanted to reunite in the brand her maiden and married surnames, but she also found the sound they made peculiar, fun and unforgettable. Her hope was managing to provide a striking alternative to more traditional and ordinary gold, silver or pearl pieces and she actually managed to create colourful designs that mirrored the personality of the wearer.
Between the '50s and the '70s, Coppola e Toppo was the jewelry brand most fashion houses turned to. French maisons - from Lanvin and Piguet to Balmain, Balenciaga, Molyneux, Heim, Schiaparelli and Dior - were the first ones that started buying or commissioning pieces to Coppola e Toppo.
As the years passed many other designers collaborated with the atelier, including Biki, Emilio Pucci, Ken Scott, Capucci and Valentino.
Lyda designed indeed statement pieces, especially necklaces, in which she integrated semiprecious stones with crystals in bold and bright colours. These jewels represented an alternative to more classical pieces as they combined different materials and techniques borrowed from various Italian regions and towns (for example Murano glass and Torre del Greco corals), reinventing them and creating signature necklaces, earrings, bangles and brooches.
Lyda Coppola also created exclusive and experimental pieces for fashion photoshoots by Gian Paolo Barbieri: in these cases she would come up with designs that were not sold, but were made with extravagant or fragile materials, like the necklace in the picture accompanying this post. This necklace with strange spherical elements decorated with long spikes somehow reminds us of the structure of COVID-19 or of the images of the transmission electron micrograph of infectious bronchitis viruses. Yet this necklace doesn't actually have anything to do with fatal illnesses.
This piece, made for a 1966 shoot by Barbieri, was created employing potatoes covered in a UV reactive paint and was meant to hint at Space Age fashion and at mysterious and futuristic inspirations.
Pietro Paolo Longhitano and Moschino's previous Creative Director Rossella Jardini recently announced they will relaunch Coppola e Toppo and that they will be using Lyda's artisanal techniques to create new and innovative collections based on the most beautiful archival pieces.
Hopefully, they will not limit themselves to reproducing Lyda's wonderful works, but they will be inspired by her frame of mind to create a new asthetics and fantasy jewels that can truly add an edge to an outfit. In the meantime, those of us in lockdown, quarantine and self-isolation can maybe start creating their own fancy jwels from basic materials such as potatoes, as Lyda originally did in 1966.
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