Celebrity Life

Are jewellery brands moving beyond his and hers once and for all? Prestige speaks to brands big and small about genderless jewellery.

The topic of boys in bling isn’t new – even in this publication, we’ve noticed a rising trend in mainstream jewellery brands that, in the past year or so, have recruited male ambassadors and male models to showcase their latest collections.

Did Harry Styles start it? Some have pointed to the British singer’s red-carpet look at the 2019 Met Gala, when he paired his Gucci ensemble with a single pearl earring. Perhaps. It certainly marked a turning point for men’s accessories in recent years – since then, Styles’ sartorial sensibility has transcended the simple earring to include your grandmother’s pearls and feather boas, inspiring his peers to dress louder, bolder and more gender-fluid. The Jonas Brothers have been spotted rocking the pearl necklace, as has Shawn Mendes. Jake Gyllenhaal has been photographed wearing a simple gold chain necklace time and again. Appropriating “men’s jewellery” to simply watches, signet rings and cufflinks is no longer so appropriate.

Gender is a construct, socially imposed from the moment we’re born, divided into different things, activities, colours or careers deemed suitable for boys or girls. There’s nothing inherent in flowers and dolls that make them more appealing to girls, nothing to dictate that rocket ships and cars are made for boys (girls can play too, but they’re then labelled tomboys) – but somehow they’ve persisted well into the 21st century.

Few things around us are truly gender-neutral, though with changing attitudes towards gender and deeper conversations into inclusivity and representation, this is now changing.

The concept of genderless jewellery isn’t anything new but the years 2020 and beyond have shown an evident shift from mere trend to something that’s here to stay. Previously, genderless jewellery was seen as out of the box and utterly revolutionary – Italian jewellery designer Aldo Cipullo was well ahead of his time when, in 1969 and 1971 respectively, he designed the Cartier Love and Juste un Clou bracelets. The former was inspired by everyday screws and the latter inspired by the humble nail, speaking to the designer’s minimalist and androgynous style beloved by both men and women.

These days, the concept of gender-free jewellery has become the norm. Embodying the more audacious spirit, Roman jeweller Bvlgari has arguably been a champion of this category with its bestselling B.zero1 collection. The collection debuted in 1999, when Bvlgari decided to marry innovation with one of Rome’s most historic monuments – the Colosseum – to create an entirely unconventional and avant-garde design. It was the first collection to be described as unisex by the brand itself.

A major success, it inspired more iterations, from collaborations with the late architect Zaha Hadid, who reimagined the industrial, cylindrical shape with her fluid, undulating aesthetics, to the latest B.zero1 Rock collection, which adds irreverent studs to the design’s central band.

Even pearls – not just traditionally viewed as feminine, but also decidedly old-fashioned – were given an unexpected boost of gender-free appeal when Mikimoto partnered with Comme des Garçons to unveil the fashion label’s first jewellery collection in 2020. As a forerunner of avant-garde fashion under the leadership of Rei Kawakubo, Comme des Garçons challenged the norms of beauty and tradition – why can’t men also wear pearls? Through the collaboration, both brands aimed to adorn the necks of all, regardless of age or gender. Pearls were suddenly cool again when paired with chunky silver chains and emblazoned with the Comme des Garçons logo.

Louis Vuitton’s Volt collection by artistic director Francesca Amfitheatrof is another stellar example of jewellery transcending borders and genders. The brand takes inspiration from its classic leitmotif, allowing the capital L and V letters to intersect, stack up together, or connect at the ends to form lightning-bolt and pulse-line designs – new shapes that are decidedly graphic and cool. There’s a chain-link design as well as a mesh, presenting the L and V letters in myriad textures, finishes and dimensions with great gender-neutral appeal.

Expanding the Volt collection this year, Louis Vuitton brings us the LV Volt Upside Down, playfully turning the letters L and V on their heads to form lively and energising patterns in yellow- and white-gold pendants, highlighted with diamonds. There are radiant rings and bracelets that can be stacked and layered, and even a rocker-chic ear cuff that adds a bold and modern twist to the collection.

Locally, we see brands enthusiastically dressing up our city’s most treasured male idols. Hong Kong-based designers, too, are creating for a more gender-fluid crowd, utilising abstract themes and aesthetics that are universally appealing.

ZNS Jewellery is a brand-new concept that comes under long-established Hong Kong jeweller KS Sze & Sons and is headed by co-founder and chief creative officer Alan Chan. The traditional jeweller and the well-known designer had no qualms about entering the jewellery market anew, with a new attitude and gender-free positioning they believe was still underrepresented.

A philosophy, rather than material inspiration was Chan’s starting point. “Despite my many years of experience in design, I’m a newcomer to the jewellery business and to come up with an original and unique concept in this competitive market is never easy,” he explains. “I looked back at my life to uncover the belief and values close to my heart that I wanted to crystalise in my design – the notion of “from eternity to infinity” is what I’ve instilled in my jewellery concept. This philosophy became the groundwork.”

ZNS, with an audacious motto – See No Limits – showcases jewellery that’s more abstract. “It shows the symbolic values instead of how much the diamond costs,” says Chan. The ZNS collection features the letter Z interpreted in various ways, depicting the infinity sign, or interlinked in chains. Many pieces are designed to be transformable, allowing the wearer to incorporate the jewellery into their everyday lifestyle with ease.

“With growing trends of brands positioning themselves around their values or attitudes, I envisage that gender-free or gender-specific will no longer be an issue,” Chan says of the future of jewellery design. “Only the ideas matter.”

And not just in fine jewellery. Boucheron has emerged as one of the traditional jewellery maisons to wholeheartedly embrace gender fluidity in its high-jewellery collections. The brand’s highly regarded Quatre fine-jewellery collection was already deemed unisex when it launched in 2004.

“High jewellery shouldn’t just be for women,” Claire Choisne, the house’s creative director said. “Boucheron wants men to wear our jewellery because we also design pieces for them. In fact, high jewellery has always been something for men: it was initially created for men, who adorned themselves with jewels at the time of the kings and maharajahs. It’s therefore quite natural to create high-jewellery pieces for men. Jewellery is not about gender, but about style. It allows everyone to express their unique personality.”

Choisne believes there should be no boundaries when it comes to who can and cannot carry her jewellery – this was evident in her jewellery campaign for her latest collection, where both sexes were dressed based solely on what looked good on them, regardless of their gender.

“We create jewellery for women and men who love freedom and independence and know what they want, and that best reflects their personality and taste,” says Choisne. “We want to enable them to tell their story in their own way. Creative freedom is at the heart of our philosophy. This means that our customers are free from any constraints when they wear our pieces … We want women and men to be able to wear our creations as they see fit.”

The post Genderless Jewellery: Going Beyond His and Hers appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Thierry Wasser, master perfumer at Guerlain, talks to Prestige about the latest compositions in L'Art & La Metière collection, and the past, present, and genderless tomorrow of perfume-making.

Perfume making at Guerlain is pretty much an elevated art form under the leadership of master perfumer Thierry Wasser, who ensures that all the house’s creations connect with the spirit of the time. It was under his watch that the exclusive L’Art & La Metière collection was established in 2005 as an ode to the source of all perfumes – the natural, raw materials themselves.

This year, the collection is relaunched as an impassioned celebration of the art of fragrance, with the original 11 scents joined by four beloved Guerlain fragrances – Frenchy Lavande, Hermès Troublants, Oeillet Pourpre and Épices Volées (formerly Le Frenchy, Un Dimanche à la Campagne, Lui and Arsène Lupin Voyou respectively). Two new compositions have also created by Guerlain perfumer Delphine Jelk. Rose Chérie and Santal Pao Rose are both interpretations of that most popular floral, the rose, to bring the L’Art & La Metière collection up to 17 unique and distinct scents.

Although the rose is popularly viewed as a feminine ingredient, Wasser insists this was an “occidental way of thinking”, and that the divide never existed in the world of perfume until marketing intervened. And Wasser would know: he’s worked with Jean-Paul Guerlain himself and, before joining the house permanently in 2008, he’d created many notable perfumes for others, including Christian Dior and Lancôme.

Wasser talked about his lifelong commitment to perfumes, the joys of creating perfumes that celebrate a singular accord, and his belief that the future of fragrances will be genderless.

I read that you collected plants to dry at home and make tinctures when you were young. Were you always fascinated with nature, raw materials and scents?

From about the age of 10, I began reading all the literature I could find regarding medicinal plants, then I’d search the hills outside Montreux for the species I’d read about. Indeed, I’d collect them, dry them, and make all sorts of potions. It was my first, innocent, romantic foray into perfumery.

You’ve made so many well-known perfumes in the past, for other houses as well as Guerlain. How would you describe what makes your signature?

I’d rather leave it to beauty journalists and fragrance critics to identify my signature, since self-analysis can be quite difficult. I do believe that I’m versatile as a creator, due in part to my natural curiosity and desire to explore.

How do you approach each new fragrance in a creative way? Is it important to you to create a completely new fragrance with a new story or do you look to the archives?

Formulating fragrance is a way to express oneself, sometimes creatively, sometimes emotionally. In order to do that clearly, one needs to have a sense of culture – its past and its present. There are times when I do take inspiration from the past; other times I literally begin with a fresh, blank page in front of me. I think creating from both perspectives makes for a richer, fuller expression.

Of all the senses, smell is the most powerful when it comes to evoking memories and feelings. Is this something you bear in mind when creating new fragrances?

Creating a fragrance is like telling a story, but instead of words I use raw materials – and, like words, each one has a meaning. That said, the story I choose to tell via fragrance is open to interpretation from the wearer and may be forever linked to their memories and feelings in a way that I never intended or imagined. I quite like that aspect of perfume. It’s intensely personal and eternal in a way that I’ll never know.

Perfumes are usually created as a mix of different notes, but with the L’Art & La Metière collection you placed a singular focus on a raw material itself to create the fragrance. What inspired you to do this?

The fragrances in this collection are of a style, one that distinctly expresses a feeling about a specific raw material. This collection reflects the unique marriage of intention and a singular note. That collision of emotion and solo raw material is very inspiring to me.

Are there certain raw materials that you find more interesting to work with than others?

My passion for specific notes is very capricious. Very often when working with one accord, I begin to fall in love with another complementary ingredient. I can’t name a favourite, because my interest is constantly changing.

The rose comes in so many variants. The new Rose Chérie and the Santal Pao Rose, for example, are two very different takes. Can you tell us more about the two fragrances and the ingredients you’ve chosen to work with?

Rose Chérie is about romanticism. It’s a romantic interpretation of the beauty of the flower itself. It’s like a sweet kiss. Santal Pao Rosa reflects a flower grounded in soil. The added touch of sandalwood gives the fragrance strength and even a sense of spirituality.

How do the new fragrances compliment the other rose scents in the line?

Rose Barbare, the other rose fragrance in the line, is a very sensual, carnal composition. I think these two new additions help to reveal more of the moods and facets of this endlessly inspiring ingredient.

You’ve credited Jean-Paul Guerlain himself for teaching you the importance of sourcing raw materials.

Jean-Paul Guerlain had a very logical, common-sense approach to sourcing, which I learned and appreciate greatly. I’m proud to witness and uphold Guerlain’s long-standing commitment to sustainability, a value of the house well before my arrival and before it was fashionable. Without sustainability, we’d never have been able to maintain our partnerships and relevance for so many years.

When did perfumes become gendered and, moving forward, will we see more unisex fragrances?

Fragrance became gendered in Europe on the democratisation of the use of perfume. The public’s mindset at the time liked to discriminate between male and female. It’s a very occidental way of thinking. If you go to other cultures, these divisions don’t exist in the world of perfume. I like to think that the future is to design fragrances that are genderless rather than unisex. It’s a fine difference but to me, it’s one that matters.

Is there more room today for men to express their beauty and style?

My hope and my belief are that future generations of perfumers will be free to create without limitations of gender or societal norms. Yes, there’s more room today for all of us to express our individual beauty in ways that my ancestors couldn’t have imagined, but there’s always potential to evolve even further. Freedom of expression in fragrance is the future.

The post Guerlain Leads the Way in Fragrance’s Fluid Future appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Shop our selection of fine jewellery rings that anyone and everyone can incorporate into their everyday wardrobe.

Bvlgari B.Zero1 Rock

Inspired by the distinctive form of the Colosseum in Rome, Bvlgari's B.Zero1 Collection disrupted the industry at its unveiling in 1999. An ultimate symbol of self-expression, it remains a bestseller among women and men. The latest iteration, with a new studded core for a total rock 'n' roll vibe, is aptly named the B.Zero1 Rock Collection.

Chaumet Torsade de Chaumet

Who says men can’t wear high jewellery? The Torsade de Chaumet ring in white gold and diamonds are perfect complements to a black-tie look. Chaumet’s new Torsade (twist) collection is dynamic and refreshingly modern, capturing the essence of movement within its swirling silhouette.

Following the launch of the high jewellery collection, Chaumet took inspiration from it to create a solitaire ring (pictured on the right) that shows off the tight twist of diamonds in a more wearable fashion — it's perfect as an engagement ring, or just for anyone who's looking for that extra bling.

Chanel Coco Crush

Borrowed from equestrianism and popularised by the fashion world, the quilted motif is now immortalised in jewellery. The Chanel Coco Crush collection of rings in the house’s proprietary beige, yellow or white gold, and dusted with brilliant white diamonds, is a timeless addition to any wardrobe for any occasion.

Boucheron Holographique

Boucheron jewellery designer Claire Choisne has never doubted that men look as good in jewellery as women — case in point being the campaign photos for her latest Carte Blanche collection, where a male model fabulously flaunts the signet ring-like Illusion pieces featuring fabulous opals from Australia and Ethiopia (pictured above).

Boucheron has applied the same holographique technique to its main collections, including the Quatre ring, for a sensational new jewellery capsule. The ring is an absolute testament to Choisne's skills and the brand's avant-garde DNA: white gold, holographic ceramic and diamonds come together to truly stunning effect.

The post 4 Fine Jewellery Rings Designed to be Worn by Anyone and Everyone appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

The Carlyle hotel-inspired bolthole -- slated to open on the uppermost floors of Rosewood Hong Kong later this year -- will offer a blueprint for the eponymous group's vision of "a new kind of international members' club". We venture north of the harbour to discover just what that entails...

Hitherto, the Hong Kong ecosystem of private members' clubs has been split broadly between two camps: at one end, you have venerable institutions catered to the needs of the city's professionals (the FCC) and those who surround them (the KCC); at the other, a burgeoning array of social haunts meant to profit from the growing number of Silicon Valley types -- hawkers of crypto, CBD cafes, and other speculative investment opportunities -- who reside here.

Call me Debbie Downer, but neither feels like an especially glam place to visit. After all, such clubs justify their patronage by way of mostly pragmatic considerations: a convenient location; access to business networking opportunities; affordable gym membership; and so forth. This, as Rosewood Hotels CEO Sonia Cheng well knows is where Carlyle & Co. can break the mould -- by conjuring a little glamour into Hong Kong's mostly comatose members' club scene.

Best thought of as a kind of pied-à-terre to the Rosewood Hong Kong (spanning the 54th-56th floor of the hotel) Carlyle & Co. is, in effect, Cheng's answer to the boutique members' clubs that have dominated pop culture these last 20 years. In Hong Kong -- where bureaucratic red tape is frequent; and decent-sized real estate scant -- her hotel group's latest venture feels especially impressive -- if for no other reason than the sheer audacity of it all.

In recent weeks, the first details of the club's leviathan 25,000 sq. ft. premises have begun to emerge, inspired in broad strokes by the "intriguing, inimitable and ultimately indefinable" style of The Carlyle in New York (incidentally also a brand owned by Rosewood Hotels). To orchestrate this vision of Hong Kong-via-Manhattan, Rosewood turned to British designer Ilse Crawford, whose approach has imbued the club's many rooms with a light, playful sensibility -- affording each a healthy dose of individual personality.

For fusty decadents like yours truly, the gentlemen's spaces -- including a barber, shoeshine, and capsule store by an award-winning haberdasher -- hold immense charm -- even though they espouse just one of many eclectic visual styles members will enjoy each time they navigate the club. The aforementioned differ significantly from spaces like the Cabaret Bar and Sitting Room, both of which employ the medium of painting (by artists Jean-Philippe Delhomme and Christina Zimpel respectively) to celebrate The Carlyle hotel's legendary Bemelmans murals.

Supper & Supping

In the spirit of its progenitor, the various dining venues at Carlyle & Co. seem to be accompanied by an august sense of occasion. The crux of the action happens at the brasserie, which (like any decent club restaurant in Hong Kong) serves a medley of Western, Chinese, and all-day delicacies. Here, the focus is on simply cooking the freshest produce the club can source -- various of the small plates are smoked, cured, or otherwise preserved in-house -- yet it's hardly the most theatrical outlet. That honour belongs to Café Carlyle, an intimate supper club intended as the local chapter of the eponymous tippling destination in New York. Members can expect this to be the repository of the club's live musical programming, which (consistent with the historic acts that have taken to the stage at the Carlyle hotel) will include an assortment of uniquely American artforms like jazz, funk, and blues.

Members craving a dose of sunshine can also take a selection of food and drink on the club's 55th-floor terrace, which (much like the Rosewood property at large) enjoys the sort of view that's conducive to sonnet writing or spontaneous tears of joy. Flanking one end of that terrace, you'll find the local chapter of Bemelmans Bar. Like its namesake, the menu here is split roughly equally between fine wines, punchbowls and classic cocktails; though, at the weekend, you can expect a certain frenetic atmosphere to take hold, as the space merges with the terrace for live DJ performances against the backdrop of Victoria Harbour.

Cosy quarters, brimming with personality

Though Carlyle & Co. members can easily book themselves into one of the 400-plus rooms at the surrounding Rosewood property, the entire 54th floor of the club is given over to eight themed suites -- all of which celebrate the history of The Carlyle hotel. More or less equal in size, each offers an inviting and distinctive interior personality. If you're retiring following an evening spent drinking (one too many) Martinis for instance, the 'Tommy' seems an apt choice -- named for and inspired by the legendary Bemelmans bartender Mr. Tommy Rowles. Other known personalities include Dorothy Draper, the original 'modern Baroque' decorator of The Carlyle's interiors; and Eartha Kitt, the renowned actress and Broadway musician. For dedicated students of café society, a stay in every single suite would seem like money well-spent.

A variety of membership packages are available at Carlyle & Co., with or without health club membership. To learn more about rates (or inquire about eligibility) visit Carlyle & Co. online.

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