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Phantom Paco Rabanne
With the Bee Bottle, the young designer has cast a bridge between past and future; between East and West. An artistic encounter between two worlds. For Guerlain, Begüm Khan has created a work of art all in gold-plated bronze and encrusted with pavé gemstones; an encounter between East and West, as told by the designer:
“Since embarking on this collaboration, I have been constantly amazed by the synergies between myself, a young Turkish designer, and the centuries-old house of Guerlain.”
Jewellery designer Begüm Kiroglu grew up in a family of Ottoman art collectors. Inspired by the East and by the opulence of Istanbul, she decided to create jewellery brand in 2012. With an abundantly whimsical imagination, she designs works of art that reinterpret nature, flora and fauna, forming a rich compendium of beasts and floral symbols.
The theme of the bee is very dear to Guerlain, as a source of inspiration, a decorative motif and the hallmark of an ecological commitment. . A source of inspiration for Begüm Khan: ‘Bees have always intrigued me: they are a common sight, buzzing all around us, and yet their beauty is often overlooked. They are fragile yet strong, and there is something inspiring in this dichotomy. Bees are also synonymous with Guerlain, so they were a natural choice for our collaboration.” says the artist.
Begüm Khan chose to create a jewel comprising elements that resonate with the West and the world of Guerlain. In the fantastical design, an imperial bee, the Guerlain symbol, escapes from its fanciful and luxurious universe to land for a fleeting moment on the bottle, fringed by four majestic flowers. Each piece is handmade by Turkish craftsmen in a historic workshop near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, through a labour of love that imbues every bottle with its own personality and soul.
Crafted in Istanbul workshop, the bronze-set decorative adornment is plated with 24-karat gold and paved with approximately 6,500 coloured gems. One by one, each stone is added by hand. Once placed on the bottle, the precious motif blots out the cartouche. This inimitable, meticulous feat of metalwork takes over fifty hours to complete.
The exclusives fragrance that comes with the creation, Le Songe de la Reine, brings us before the gateway into the East. This Eau de Parfum opens on a fresh and vibrant mix of mandarin and bergamot, revealing the freshness and the delight of fig notes in its heart, set upon a woody base of sandalwood and cedar notes. “This is a fragrance full of contrasts, wherein the woody notes, in their strength and sensuality, are confronted with the vegetal vitality of fig sap.” says Thierry Wasser, Guerlain House Perfumer.
Art will always triumph in the end, even during these unprecedented times. Defying the Covid-19 pandemic, Maison Dior presented its haute couture collection for Fall-Winter 2020-2021 in an exclusive film broadcast live on its digital channels. Drawing inspiration from female surrealists, Maria Grazia Chiuri, Creative Director of Dior women’s collections, seized the opportunity to express alternative visions of femininity through the prism of the fashion doll.
“Surrealist images manage to make visible what is in itself invisible. I am interested in mystery and magic, which are also a way of exorcising uncertainty about the future,” says Maria Grazia Chiuri of her Fall-Winter 2020-2021 haute couture collection for Maison Dior. Taking inspiration from the work of artists like Lee Miller, Dora Maar and Jacqueline Lamba, the Italian designer champions less conventional versions of femininity. In their work, these artists transcended the role of “muse”, going beyond its merely aesthetic dimension.
The collection is embarking on a world tour in a magic trunk replicating Maison Dior’s historic address at 30, avenue Montaigne. The pieces are presented on miniature mannequins, a poetic emblem at the heart of the couture universe, which has previously been appropriated by artists such as Cindy Sherman, who featured this near-magical object in one of her first video projects. The fashion doll is also a reference to the Théâtre de la Mode, a roving exhibition of miniature designs by the greatest couturiers of the day, which toured Europe and America just after the Second World War.
This daring presentation represented a challenge for the Dior ateliers, which had to create flawlessly executed pieces on a miniature scale. Every handmade pleat and fold celebrates the beauty of an elegant, precise gesture, which is the very essence of couture.
Many pieces from the Fall-Winter 2020-2021 haute couture collection were inspired by nature, such as those displaying spectacular gradations of red, like a coral reef swaying in the glimmer of the ocean. The luminous, dreamlike hues of paintings by Leonora Carrington and Dorothea Tanning come to life on the designs of Maria Grazia Chiuri. The finale is equally dazzling, with a sumptuous wedding gown reviving one of fashion’s forgotten traditions.
