Modern, casual, versatile, the house’s fine jewels have been reimagined by its new artistic director for watches and jewellery.
Designer logos don’t come much more recognisable than Louis Vuitton’s interlocking Ls and Vs, quatrefoils and four-petalled flowers.
Introduced and patented in 1896 by Georges Vuitton, son of Louis, as a way to prevent counterfeiters from ripping off the family’s trunk designs, the monogram has since become the house’s ID – and it’s on almost everything Louis Vuitton. As an exercise in branding, it’s a master stroke.
But like all successes, it has also created conundrums: How does one inject freshness into something everyone knows? How does one make people look at it with new eyes?
That’s why Francesca Amfitheatrof was brought in as Louis Vuitton’s jewellery and watches artistic director in April 2018 to do what no one has been able to do – bring a modern aesthetic with a casual sophistication while having an intuitive grasp of what consumers want and like now.
Aside from designing for Louis Vuitton, Francesca Amfitheatrof launched her own jewellery line, Thief and Heist, in March.
Amfitheatrof is not new to shaking things up at storied houses. She was Tiffany & Co.’s design director from 2013 to early 2018. Her first collection there, the clean-lined T, remains a bestseller.
The first thing she tackled at Louis Vuitton: the Blossom line, whose jewellery is based on the floral symbols of the LV monogram. Since its launch in 2016, it has gone through a few iterations. Now called B. Blossom, it has never looked better.
Based on the image of the confident woman who leaves her mark, Amfitheatrof designed the jewellery as emblems or talismans for their wearer. Cue dainty stamp-like rings and hefty signet rings with diamonds and coloured precious stones like white agate, malachite, pink opal and onyx; pretty charm bracelets and bold, studded bangles; earrings and necklaces long and short, delicate and weighty.
What seals the deal: the perfect balance of playfulness, attitude and relaxed elegance. And like all Amfitheatrof designs, B. Blossom will take off as the jewellery that speaks to different women, different ages and different styles. From $4,850. – GYH
