Hermès Celebrated Its New Line of Free-Spirited, Body-Inspired Jewelry with a Dance Performance at New York’s Lincoln Center

Earlier this month, Hermès
celebrated the American debut of its latest high jewelry
collection, Enchaînements Libres, with a dazzling spectacle in New
York City. The new line—comprised of statement necklaces, earrings,
bracelets, and a ring—was presented alongside a modern dance
performance choreographed by Christian Rizzo, who meditated on how
movement articulates these wearable works of art. 

A pair of interlocking dancers
commanded Lincoln Center’s Appel Room stage before a procession of
black-clad, dramatically-accessorized models circulated the space.
The moody showcase marked the third collaboration between Hermès
and Rizzo, the esteemed director of the International Choreographic
Institute who melds dance, fashion, and visual art with
mastery. 

Rizzo first partnered with the
luxury label in 2004 when he designed a backdrop for Le Cas du
Sac,
a scarf-patterned bag that Hermès
produced for an exhibition at the Musée de la mode et du Textile in
Paris. Over a decade later, in 2016, Hermès commissioned Rizzo’s
multi-media installation, entitled Avant la nuit dernière, at the annual Parisian art festival, La Nuit
Blanche.

“All of the pieces in this
jewelry collection have chains and links in common,” Rizzo said.
“For me, they evoke all types of collisions and embraces, like
pivots between two bodies, and all the possibilities of
movement.”

Enchaînements Libres, or
“Freedom in chains,” references the physical and figurative
significance of the link: the building block of metal jewelry, as
well as a symbol of strength and attachment, be it connectivity or
bondage. Hardy endeavored to defy the chain’s connotations of
restraint and visual homogeneity through bold pieces characterized
by asymmetry, spontaneity, and the refined assemblage of colors and
materials. 

Hermès’ collection is
subsequently made up of six thematic variations on the chain,
including Adage Hermès, an oversized necklace of linked ellipses
encrusted with over 110 carats of diamonds; Hermès Voltige, an
exquisite yellow gold and diamond necklace, bracelet, and earring
trio akin to medieval chainmail; and Hermès Grand Jeté, a chunky
composite necklace featuring unusual stones such as pink opals,
black jade, and orange sapphires.

“At Hermès, the chain is a
fundamental motif that draws on its origins as a harness-maker and
saddler, and on a long tradition of chain-making know-how,” says
Hermès’ creative director of jewelry, Pierre Hardy. “Taking the
chain as a theme is choosing to pay tribute to this unique métier
while exploring a shape, a form of great symbolic richness. To
build the collection, I started by reflecting on links, their
sequence, what connects micro to mega, the very human to the very
abstract.”

The concept for Enchaînements
Libres was likewise guided by joaillerie de la forme (French for “jewelry of shape”), an ethos which
Hardy considers to be a mark of virtuosity for the high jeweler. As
a sculptor or a dancer accentuates gesticulation, Hardy considered
how the human figure can activate the radiance of a diamond or the
mobility of a chain. Because unlike couture, which encases the
body, jewelry should allow for unfettered
motion.   

“The whole collection is
designed around the body,” Hardy says. “Far from the jewellery of
former times, which obstructed movement, these pieces are designed
for modern lifestyles. They dance in unison with the bodies that
wear them.”

The post Hermès Celebrated Its New Line of Free-Spirited,
Body-Inspired Jewelry with a Dance Performance at New York’s
Lincoln Center appeared first on artnet News.