On the teeming accessories market, it breathes new life. If the shoes are made for walking and the bags for carrying a few treasures with you, the primary function of costume jewelry is self-affirmation.
In the 1900s, the inspiration for this trend was René-Jules Lalique, a brilliant and prolific creator who developed a fantastic bestiary using innovative materials, glass, enamel, leather or horn. But it is thanks to the large-scale manufacture that this accessory is permanently inscribed in the history of fashion. To pass the economic course essential to its survival, two visionary women: Elsa Schiaparelli and Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel.
Is fancy jewelery a claiming tool?
In the post-war period, these accessible jewels resembled a small social revolution and the image of haute couture opened up to the general public.
“We all certainly have this memory, as a child, of amazement in front of the jewels of our mother or our grandmothers, they were like candies”
At that time Gabrielle Chanel only had one boutique on rue Cambon, her jewelry enjoyed international renown. From this period, the phenomenon of costume jewelry continues to grow to reach its golden age in the 80s. Loulou de la Falaise is the one who best embodies this creative madness. From 1972 to 2002, Yves Saint Laurent entrusted him with responsibility for the knitwear and accessories of his house. Each year, she designs more than two thousand pieces, from bracelets to necklaces and hats, so she places accessories at the heart of her style. His definition of the latter is very particular: " If you go out to dinner and you don't have time to come home to change, you can take off your jacket and put on a piece of jewelry."
She designs each of her collections around an identifiable theme such as Les fleurs du mal by Baudelaire, her own exotic travels or an English flower garden. " During this period, there was an explosion of costume jewelery with a real creative impulse. It became excessive. All the women went out with costume jewellery, it was a tool to claim their femininity. It then became a market gigantic and copies made by the big brands have appeared" .
Costume jewelry from the catwalks to the street
With this massive industrialization, junk gradually takes precedence over the original fantasy. If couture still retains an artisanal DNA, the biggest brands understand the economic interest of this accessory, sometimes going as far as massive popularization and appropriation of shapes. If in the years 1990 to 2000, the wave of minimalist jewelry accompanies the commercial tsunami of bags and shoes, our era marks the return of a new creative breath.