Van Cleef & Arpels unveil the Lucky Spring collection
Award-winning interior designers Kim Haddou and Florent Dufourcq tell us about the collaboration
“The Maison is very attached to creation and artistic transmission. We collaborate with artists who express a poetic vision of life, bringing their own sense of creativity,” says Van Cleef & Arpels’ CEO and global president Nicolas Bos, explaining the heritage brand’s embrace of creative partnerships. “We find it interesting to enrich our universe among various artistic fields such as design, architecture or photography.”
Timed with the unveiling of a new Lucky Spring jewellery collection, a recent class of creators Bos welcomed to the Van Cleef & Arpels fold include award-winning French interior designers Kim Haddou and Florent Dufourcq.
The duo set the jeweller’s ladybug-amidst-plum-blossoms collection of a necklace, three bracelets, a brooch and earrings, in frames of nostalgic floral garlands. “When we saw the ladybug, it was love at first sight! She instantly inspired us as a great symbol of lightness, of luck, of wandering and beauty,” they remember, before extolling the joys of springtime. “Paris is never more elegant than during springtime with all the flowers on trees, the birds and the sunlight coming back,” they say. “But to be honest, what we are craving for in spring is mostly ice cream in the Jardin du Palais Royal or on the Seine river banks.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
To celebrate the launch of Lucky Spring – and the first days of the collection’s namesake annual season – we exchanged emails with Haddou and Dufourcq about their team-up with Van Cleef & Arpels.
Tell us more about your work with Van Cleef & Arpels. How did your drawings take shape? What inspired their motifs?
“We discovered the new collection of Van Cleef & Arpels on a cold and rainy afternoon at the beginning of last winter in Paris. When we saw the ladybug, it was love at first sight! She instantly inspired us as a great symbol of lightness, of luck, of wandering and beauty. Spring is a new start and that is exactly what we needed at this time to escape the grey city. We started a kind of journey with the ladybug as the main companion and we imagined her world, her playground. We wanted her to be surrounded by beauty and that’s why we fantasise about a conversation with an evocative French garden. Something sophisticated and very natural at the same time. Peaceful but full of life. A little gem inside the city just as the ladybug is. Refined, full of colour, of poetry.”
When in your studio, where do you work from? What can you see from your nearest window?
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
“We are working from our studio in the centre of Paris. We can see a classic French Haussmanian building from our window. Paris is never more elegant than during springtime with all the flowers on trees, the birds and the sunlight coming back. This particular energy is always a really creative moment for us, with new inspirations, new wishes and new perspectives.”
-
Why Bhutan hopes tourists will put a smile back on its face
Under The Radar The 'kingdom of happiness' is facing economic problems and unprecedented emigration
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
7 beautiful towns to visit in Switzerland during the holidays
The Week Recommends Find bliss in these charming Swiss locales that blend the traditional with the modern
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Werewolf bill
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
Inside Chopard's hotel on Place Vendôme
The Blend Swiss jewellery maison Chopard unveils its new jewel, an ultra-exclusive Parisian hotel that elevates the art of hospitality
By Felix Bischof Published
-
Why more men are wearing jewellery
In Depth Pop culture is boosting interest in earrings and necklaces, alongside classic tie pins and lapel pins
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
Otiumberg: sustainable jewellery beyond the hype
Under the radar Launched by two sisters, this London-based brand has gone from strength to strength
By Alexandra Zagalsky Published
-
Essential jewellery pieces to wear this summer
The Week Recommends Add exuberant and playful items to your summer capsule wardrobe
By Alexandra Zagalsky Published
-
Edge of Ember: affordable fine jewellery for classicists
feature London-based brand has gone from strength to strength with its youthful and elegant designs
By Alexandra Zagalsky Published
-
Alexandre Arnault interview: The Landmark heralds a ‘new era’ for Tiffany & Co.
Under the Radar Arnault takes us on a tour of the luxury brand’s renovated flagship store in New York
By Felix Bischof Published
-
Monbouquette: clever convertible jewels
Under the Radar Meet the mother-and-daughter design duo who want fine jewellery to do more
By Alexandra Zagalsky Published
-
The many faces of Eddie Redmayne
feature Costume is just one of the ways the Oscar-winning actor gets into character
By Felix Bischof Published