Did you know that Christian
Dior’s childhood can be related to travel ?
I did not, so you can guess how
pleased I am to discover I share one of the same passion as Monsieur Dior !
He indeed grew up in Granville, in a villa overlooking the sea, and named “Les Rhumbs”; the name given to the thirty two divisions of the wind rose (the ‘rose des vents’ in French)… Something directly related to travel, as everything about the villa alludes to travel: the Channel Islands are visible in the far distance when the weather is good, and the boats that passed near the steep coastlines had the Americas as their next stop.
Unlike Christian Dior’s
link to travel as he grew up, his passion for flowers is known to many. And “Les
Rhumbs” is where it all started – hawthorn, mignonette, and in particular his
beloved roses, which he grew himself.
The star, represented
in the “Rose des Vents”, pursued Christian Dior to Paris: did you know that it
was as the result of finding a somewhat mysterious star on the ground that the highly
superstitious Christian Dior decided to open his own couture house ? And it was
then from Paris, with that same lucky star in his pocket, that he headed off to
the four winds to discover the world and present his collections in which the
rose always played a starring role.
All these stories are
contained in the Rose des Vents collection by Victoire de Castellane. “I
wanted to start from the idea of a little motif pendant. And what is more
metaphorical than a medallion?” the Dior Joaillerie creative director asks.
“A symbol of travel, in it you find echoes of Christian Dior’s star
and the idea of the good-luck charm, but also the rose, his favorite flower.
The whole history of the house is there, implicitly.” In yellow gold
and mother-of-pearl, in lapis lazuli or turquoise, or rose gold with pink opal,
the jewels have all the delicacy of a little story gently whispered. In a nod
to rigging and an ode to the ocean, a twist of gold rice grains encircles the
medallion hanging from its chain, showing either its hardstone or wind rose
face, according to the wearer’s movements.
As bracelets, and
necklaces short and long, the collection develops the motif, broadening the horizon
for the medallion jewel. “Rose des vents is also a metaphor for creation,” explains
Victoire de Castellane. “Creating is about searching, turning things over,
and then finding ones cardinal point and setting off on a journey.
Creation is the product of a stationary voyage.”
