OSCAR DE LA RENTA CALLS UPON AN OLD FRIEND FOR HIS NEW JEWELRY LINE.
scar de la Renta is recognized the world over for the impressive name he’s built as one of fashion’s top designers, and certainly its most debonair, with an empire ranging from fragrance to furniture. Loulou de la Falaise is famous for being the longtime muse, jeweler and all-around right-hand woman to Yves Saint Laurent. De la Renta is known for his supremely refined and feminine design ethos; de la Falaise, for her nonchalant, French-chic tomboy style. Given their distinct personalities, when news of a jewelry collaboration between the two first surfaced last year, the venture seemed a rather curious one.
But for all the surface contrasts, these fashion stalwarts have plenty in common. And while the partnership certainly wasn’t expected, it makes considerable sense. For starters, they go back—way back. “I’ve known Loulou forever,” says de la Renta with a laugh. “I don’t think it’s kind of me to say how many years.” He’s close friends with her mother, former model Maxime de la Falaise, as well as Loulou’s husband, Thadée Klossowski. Likewise, Loulou says that when the pair first got together to work on a jewelry line for the designer, “it was a bit like a family reunion. Oscar comes closest to the world that I used to know.”
But for all the surface contrasts, these fashion stalwarts have plenty in common. And while the partnership certainly wasn’t expected, it makes considerable sense. For starters, they go back—way back. “I’ve known Loulou forever,” says de la Renta with a laugh. “I don’t think it’s kind of me to say how many years.” He’s close friends with her mother, former model Maxime de la Falaise, as well as Loulou’s husband, Thadée Klossowski. Likewise, Loulou says that when the pair first got together to work on a jewelry line for the designer, “it was a bit like a family reunion. Oscar comes closest to the world that I used to know.”
THE PICTURE:22k yellow gold, silver, and black and white diamond brooch, $37,500, and 22k and 18k yellow gold, pearl, smoky quartz, red spinel and diamond necklace with silk cord, $40,500, at Oscar de la Renta, oscardelarenta.com.
